The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1906-06-15
How to Build Up a Town.

What can be done to build up Man.
kato? John ID. Holowell of Winona, who
has Just returned from a trip to Ian
sing, Mich, tells how that city was
built up. While there Mr.. Hollowell took
occasion to investigate the manner in
which that city has made it's phenom-
email growth in the past fourteen years,
and found it to be along the plan pro-
posed for Winona, and could be intro
duced with profit in Mankato, which
plan after his investigation at Lansing,
Mr.. Hollowell most heartily endorses. 1t
has built up Lansing from a city of
10000 in 1892 to city of $4,000 at the
present time.
Mr.. Hollowell secured most of his in
formation on the subject of city build
ing as practiced at Lansing from III. III.
Larned, president of the Lansing State
Savings bank, who has played an i'm
portant part in city building and who
speaks very highly as the services rem
dered the city in this respect by Mr..
Randle Mr.. Larned told Mr. Hollowell
that the Lansing Improvement company
was organized in May, 1892. 1t pur-
chased eighty acres of land and plated
the same to $50 lots, reserving twelve
acres for manufacturing sites. These
lots were sold for 5000 each, with the
streets graded, but with no other i'm
provement made in connection. The pay.
ments for the lots were made $40 down
and $40 a month, and the profits were
devoted entirely to the best interests
of Lansing, regardless of locality. From
the profits seven factories have been 10.
Gated on the twelve acres and directly
and indirectly about two thousand en-
plOyes have been added to the city and
it has not cost anyone dollar The
total cost of the land was $4,000 and
the cost of grading the streets is esti-
mated at $4,000, making a total orig
inal investment of $25,5OO. This money
in the first place was borrowed from To-
cal banks on the signature of ten re-
sponsible men of the place, and was
soon paid back as the lots were sold.
The total income from the sale of the
lots was $4,000 and of this sum there
is still some $4,000 left, which was
recently turned over to the Business
Mems association of that place.
Mr.. Hollowell says that while only
seven factories were located on the lands
especially reserved for that purpose,
there were many other factories aided
to locate in other parts of the city. Mr..
Larned told him that by not putting all
the factories in one location much bet
ter general support was secured in the
sale of the lots as citizens were more
ready to buy when they knew one spe-
ial locality was not to be favored.
Speaking of how the factories had
been secured for Lansing, Mr.. Larned
told Mr.. HOllowell there had been no
bonuses in any instance, merely gift of
a free site. After the lots had been sold
and the money raised with which to go
after new factories, the Lansing I'm
provement company inserted advertise
ments In papers reaching manufacture
ing centers in the east pointing out the
advantages of Lansing for location of
factories and to these advertisements
some eleven hundred replies were re-
ceived. Of this number those consider
cred the most likely, concerning factor
les which it was thought it would be