The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1882-06-02

wheat grow in greatest abund anc', and
both of these are found in all parts OF
Blue Earth county.
MARKETS AND ROADS.
With regard to local markets, Manka-
to the county seat, n city 5000 inhabi-
tants, is accessible from all parts of the
county by railroads, and also by excel
lent wagon roads. Lake Crystal and
Mapleton are flourishing towns, the for
mcr in the western, the latter in the
southern part of the county. The vii
lagos of Eagle Lake, Good Thunder,
Garden City, Vernon and numerous rail
road stations, provide markets easy of
access, and the Touring mills of Man
kato, which rank among the best in the
State, use a large portion of the wheat
raised in this and the ncighborinS
couuties.
The roads of Blue Earth county are
such rs would reflect credit "A en- much
older community. The county com
missioners and the supervisors CT the
different towns have from the first rec
ognized the fact that IN enlightened
and liberal policy with regard to the
means of communication and transport
tation is of vital importance to the pros
perty of any country. The numerous
rivers required generous outlay for
bridges, and of these structures Blue
Earth county is justly proud. Twenty
one bridges have been built by the
county, five of them wooden Howe
trusses and sixteen iron arch and truss
bridges, at an aggregate cost of $780,
900. Thus by means of these bridges,
AZ. \ multitude of smaller ones built by
the towns, every stream is spanned and
fording is thing Of the past.
SCHOOLS.
The county is divided into about $50
school districts, every one of which has
a good school house, many of them sub
stantially built of brick. The State
Normal school at Mankato and the ex-
ccllent High school of this city, send
out corps of well trained teachers, in
structcd in all the modern and approved
methods. The Minnesota State School
Fund, richly endowed with lands by a
wise provision of the general govern
mcnt, distributes each year its surplus
among the districts of the State, of
which in 1881, the portion received by
Blue Earth county was over $4,000.
This surplus, the interest on the State
School Fund, the principal of which is
kept as perpetual fund, is distributed
to the several districts in proportion to
the number of their scholars.
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS.
This county is sufficiently diversified
in Its natural appearance and character
to attract the attention of men of very
various tastes and pursuits. Tho north.
eastern portion comprising the towns of
Lime, jamestown, LeRay, Mankato and
parts of Dccoria and Mcpherson, was
originally covered by a continuous for
est, and although large tracts are now
cleared and cultivated there is still
great abundance of timber, principally
oak, ash, maple, elm, blackberry, hick-
ory, black walnut, Eastwood and cot
tonwood, all useful to farmers and some
of them becoming very valuable for the
manufacture of wagons, furniture and
farming implements. Lime and Manka-
to also contain incxhaustibe quarrics of
limestone suitable for building and for
making lime and cement, and excellent
brick clay, and to such an extent have
these Industries already been developed
that stone, lime and brick are among
the most important exports of Mankato
Great quantities of wood are shipped
also by railroad to the treelcss regions of
Dakota from this part of the county.
The southern and western portions
nearly two-thirds of the sur
face of the county are composed of
prairie, with, however, an abundance of
timber along the rivers, surrounding the
numerous lakes and dotting the prairies
IN groves. In the central portion on
the Blue Earth, lie Sueur, Watonwan
and Maple rivers, there are many valua-
BILE water powers, some of which are
already improved. The Blue Earth, the |
largest of the streams, has continuous