The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-05-26


mere than justified the efforts put
forth
Broad weil-paved streets traverse
the business section of the little city
(not so little" either, as it easily
boasts of 5000 population), and the
public buildings of the city and county
(the city is county seat of Polk coun-
ty), as well as the business houses of
the community are evidences of the
material prosperity which has been
visited upon the city as the CONNER
cial and industrial center of Polk coun-
ty, itself one of the richest agricul-
tural districts of the Greater North
west.
The city is beautifully situat-
ed on the banks of the Red
river, which is skirted with
1uXuriant growth of handsome trees
and shrubbery. This, taken together
with the countless number of trees
planted by the city and private citi-
zens which line almost all of the
streets, gives the city a beautiful APP
pearance, particularly in the summer
when all the foliage is in full bloom
and in the fall, too, when nature puts
on her more gorgeous and brilliant
covering. The contour of the city is
not flat, but slightly unduIating, so
that there is nothing of the monoto-
nous appearance about it. The river
meanders leisurely through the city,
making the air cooler for it's presence
during the warm weather and furnish
ing ice during the winter.
Beyond the city, to the north, the
south, the east and the west. stretch
the great prairies of the Red river
valley, known the world over At the
expense of the state and the county
those parts of this territory that are
not now under cultivation owing to
their not being properly drained, are
being traVerSed by a network of canals
and bitches, so that the time is not far
distant when all the land in this sec
ton of the valley will either be pro-
ducing grain OF furnishing fodder for
cattle.
The business standing OF the city is
excellent there being a long list of
substantial improvements to show for
the money expended. There is the
county court house, q handsome build
ing with all the modern cOnvenienceS.
1t is the property of the county, to be
sure, but the city as such, apart from
the county taxes paid, turned over
to the court house fund a large sum Of
money claimed to be due the city from
the county.
The building, which cost $4,000, was
paid for by the county without neees-
Sity of a bond iSSue-SOmething more
than unusual - and the county had
in its treasury Dec. 10, 1903, the
enormous sum, for a county of it's size
of $149, S59.37. This is certainly good
showing in county where lands are
selling at from SIS to $35 per acre
The city hall, erected at a cost of
$4,000, is a fine building, affording
ample room and accommodation for
the administration offices of the city. p
The city's school system is one we'll
worthy of Crookston. There are seven
school buildings, three of them brick.
They are well equipped, and the largest
of the buildings contains fourteen
rooms.
The postal department has installed
free delivery system.
Among the vital necessities to a
growing city are a good sewage sys-
tenn, and an ample supply of good wa
ter. In both of these particulars
CrookstOn is far ahead of the average
city of it's size. A first class sewer
system drains the principal part of the
town, and the water works system is
all that could be desired.
1t is from the condition of a city's
banking institutions that the financial
world judges of its resources, and the
condition of the Crookston banks is
excellent.
There are two national banks, one
state bank and one private bank, in
the city, and the statements made by
the first three to the comptroller of
the currenqy-the private bank is not
under the jurisdiction of the comp
troller-from time to time show that
they are on a solid financial basis and
doing large business. 1t can be said
without fear of contradiction that the
banks of no other town in the state
have better withstood financial crises
and panics than have the banks right
here. In the great panic of 1898, when
mills all over the country closed down,
thousands of workmen were thrown
out of work and banks were going to
the wall, Crookston would hardly have
known of the storm had it not been
for the reports in the daily papers.
In the fall and winter of 1896-1897,
when banks in almost every town and
city in the land were closing their
doors and going out of business, the
Crookston banking institutions stood
firm and did business all the time. 1t
may be said here, in passing, that at
that same time, when money was a
scarce article, indeed. in most places
in the United States, there was secured
by subscription from the citizens of
Crookston 100000 with, which to build
the Hotel CroOkStOn. 1t might also be
added by way of showing the solidity
and stability of Crookston as a bust
ness center, that during the twenty
five years and more of the city's his
tory there has been but few business
failures. This is evidence that there
has been no unnatural booming of
the town and that the business is con-
Quoted with care and along business
lines.
The excellent railroad facilities Of
fered by the Great Northern and
Northern Pacific railroads at Crookston
have aided in making it somewhat of a
jobbing center for the district. 1t
boasts a wholesale fruit house. a
wholesale grocery house, and a house
jObbing granite, marble and building
stone through the Dakotas and North =
western Minnesota.
Were Crookston able to boast of be-
ing nothing more than a purely agri-
cultural town, she would still grow
steadily greater, keeping constant pace
with the growth of the thriving cities
of the Red river valley. But while
Crookston rightly reckons its broad
prairies as its most fertile field OF
profit, it has far other resources. A
hundred diverse forms of life and in
dustry, which have here found firm
footing, defend its claim to the title
| of the Queen City of the Red River
Valley.
Among the city's manufacturing in
dustries may be numbered two flour
ing mills, shipping considerable flour
| eastward each week; a foundry ma
chine and boiler works, whose business
| extends beyond the borders of the
state;-a wirldstacker company, en-