The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1909-04-09
Advertising the State

pie of Minnesota have never learned
/ the art of advertising their own state
/ The very neglect of this important
matter, however, furnishes good evi-
dence that advertising pays. 1t is
found contrasting conditions in this
state with those of other sections
/ which have not neglected to let the
world know what they have that
should prove attractive to settlers and
homeseekers. The prosperity of the
whole Pacific coast and the wild rush
to the Canadian Northwest demon
strate the value of advertising. 1t is
not that those remote regions have
so much more to offer to the investors
and the home maker that they attract
! population, but that they persistently
and obtrusively force such advantages
and opportunities as they offer upon
the attention of the public. Single
counties in the state of California
could easily be cited, which have spent
more money and more effort i'm ad.
vertising, than the whole state of
Minnesota. Yet here in the central
| portion of the state is a great body
of land which, rightly treated, is ca
pable of adding enormously to the
field and garden and dairy production
of the state.
Something is known of the wonder
fnl development in and about Hinck
ley where the most disastrous fire i'm
the state dozen or fifteen year sage
swept the country clean, leaving only
blackened, ash strewn region. The
persistence and courage of those who
had made beginnings in that region.
together with its natural advantage
for agricultural purposes, have now
developed it into very prosperous
farming country in which dairying
especially has been brought to a high
degree of success; and what is true
of Hinckley may be made true with
regard to other sections of central
Minnesota which have not suffered the
calamity that once overlook that dis
trict.
There is bit of country lying be-
tween the Duluth line of the North
ern Pacific on the south and the
Fosston line of the Great Northern
on the north which has hitherto been
almost entirely neglected, largely be-
cause OF the lack of railroad facilities.
In this immediate region from which
write, however, that deficiency has
been supplied. An independent railroad
IS Just about to be opened from Swan
River Station on the Great Northern
INTO the northwestern corner of Aitkin
county, with this village of Hill CITY
as the terminus. The steel is beino
laid at the present time and road will
be ready for operation within thirty
days. 1t will furnish access by rail in
to new town, the center of a splen-
did hardwood district where the soil
is exceedingly rich. and in which the
opportunities for settlers are especially
attractive.
An important advantage is the con.
struction of mills and factories here at
Hill City for the manufacture of hard
wood timber and hardwood specialties.
creating a market for timber and en-
ablng the settler out of mis- own
timber to provide a liberal means of
support for his family while bringing
ms lands into use for agricultural
purposes and dairy farming.
This region has not yet suffered
from any land boom to such an extent
That prices have advanced unreason.
ably. On the contrary lands may be
obtained all the way from S. to SIS
or SlS an acre, the price depending in
some measure upon he quantity and
quality of the timber There are
also thousands of acres of meadow
lands susceptible of easy drainage.
and in which the state has already
commenced its drainage operations
These low lands are exceedingly rich.
and properly treated are capable of
being made the most productive in the
state.
Hill City itself is an attractive vii |
lage of about two hundred people. |
which is now apparently at the be- t
ginning of a period of great prosperityl
and rapid growth. 1t furnishes splen !
dld opportunities for business in NOR
chandlsing as we'll as openings for pro- !
fessional men, for skilled workmen and
any one who, with moderate capital is
for business opportunities in
new, thriving, railroad terminal in /
rich and growing section of the
state. At the present time it is a
ground floor proposition with moderate
prices for lands and town properties
and excellent business prospects in a +,
prosperous town situated on the
western shore of Hill lake.
With such openings for men Of
moderate means so near at hand If
IS difficult to understand WHY so
many will follow the land boomers
INTO the far northwest, and into 70. f.
5ions remote from markets, when here
next door to the iron range. min;nu
towns, they may nave the best mar.
Nets IN the world for all their garden
leld and dairy produce.
I ,
Leaves a Fat Job Vacant
.. q. Armson, Saltwater. is nv
'ected to enter upon his duties ne
;tatp tax commits ;ono,