As I Remember: Tricks, not Treats!

The following is from "As I Remember Scott County," a collection of oral histories from Scott County's senior residents in the 1980s. Leo Michael of Jordan remembers getting up to trouble with his friends in the 1910s.

In school days of long ago, one Halloween Day came around when the boys were aching for some excitement and decided to go out for the evening and celebrate as best we could. After school we practiced football until dark, and then Halloween took over. We walked down to the brewery and there we saw a wagon near an open well. We removed the top of the well and dismantled the wagon into small sections and dropped them into the well. Then we replaced the cover of the well and left for other fun and excitement.

Couples in a wagon, c. 1900

Soon we came upon an outhouse…sitting there so quietly in the darkness. Just as four of us boys gave a good push to tip it over, we heard a voice saying, “Take it easy there boys!” Hearing that, we very gently set it back. As we walked away I said, “Guess it is the wrong time…we will inconvenience a lot of people doing this at this time.” So we walked back into town; some of us went to the Halloween dance, and others went home.

As I Remember: My Experiences Travelling with a Band

The following is from "As I Remember Scott County," a collection of oral histories from Scott County's senior residents in the 1980s. Mayme Dvorak Borak, of New Prague, shared some unique experiences below in "My Experiences Traveling With a Band."

I was a freshman in high school in 1919 when I was asked to play the piano with a seven piece band by the name of Borak and Boudin, the best modern and old time band around New Prague. We would rehearse at the Frank Borak house once a week. Then we were hired two or three times a week to play for wedding dances, K. C. dances, and Fireman's dances, as far away as the Iowa border. 

It really wasn't much fun to travel 64-years ago in summer or winter. The roads were narrow and when it rained it was muddy because there was no gravel or blacktop at that time. In winter we would travel with horses and a sleigh which had hay in it for us to sit on to keep warm. Many times, if it was stormy, the horses went into the ditch and tipped over the sled and all the instruments were scattered on the field. It took us many hours to get home. I would sleep maybe two to three hours and then go to school. 

In 1926 we got uniforms and I believe I was the first woman to wear slacks. We had tan slacks and blue corduroy jackets. 

At some dance halls they had very poor pianos. St. Patrick had a small piano and I had to chew hum to paste the black key on in order to play it. Then at St. Thomas, they had an organ, which I had to pump with my feet all night to keep up with the band. I played with different bands for over 20 years and enjoyed every bit of it. Most of the orchestras now use an accordion instead of a piano because it is easier for them to tune up with. 

A Necessary Utility: Scott County Water Towers

By Charles Pederson, Guest Blogger

Are they giant Martians, marching with their spiderlike legs across the countryside? No! They’re water towers. Once you notice one, you begin to see them everywhere, especially in the Midwest. Greg DiLoreto, past president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, commented that the flatness of the landscape lends itself to water tower usage. “Elsewhere, we have reservoirs, but they’re tanks that are up in the hills.”

Most water towers are administered by municipalities (towns, cities), though many companies or other organizations (3M in Saint Paul or Eaton in Eden Prairie come to mind) have their own water sources. Depending on size, most municipalities have one or more—sometimes many more. Shakopee, for example has five water towers and three in-ground storage tanks.

Water Tower Basics

The concept of storing water for later use is ancient. The ancient Romans, for example, used the impluvium, a cistern-like basin, to catch rainwater and store it beneath a house.

The idea of water towers, however, goes back to the later 19th century. Early wooden structures gave way to modern building materials including concrete, metal, and other materials.

Wood was a common building material used for early water towers, such as this reservoir used to refill the boilers of steam trains. (Photo courtesy of Scott County Historical Society.)

Water towers, water tanks, and other reservoirs serve two purposes: first, to store water and, second, to distribute water by creating water pressure within a pipe system. Water towers are placed in strategic water pressure zones, each serving a given number of homes in an area. The tower is located at the highest place in a zone, reducing, according to Tony Myers of the Shakopee Public Utilities Commission (SPU) “the overall cost of the water tower as it does not have to be constructed as high to achieve the desired water pressure.” Correct placement also ensures consistent water pressure even at moments of heavy use. The pressure uses gravity to push that water through large pipes that branch off into smaller and smaller pipes until they finally enter your home. You’ve seen the effect: you turn on a faucet, and water comes out. Thank you, Local Water Tower!

The first water tower in Shakopee was constructed in the 1920s, according to Myers, and was among the first in Scott County. It was a standpipe (exactly what it sounds like: a tall pipe with water inside it) at Holmes Street and Shakopee Avenue.

A standpipe from ca. 1910 stood at the northern edge of Gustavus Adophus College in Saint Peter, providing water pressure for the campus and town. (Photo courtesy of Nicollet County Historical Society.)

As of 2022, Minnesota had 1,056 water towers, according to the very helpful Minnesota Water Towers (MWT) website. Scott County alone boasts about 20 water towers, along with additional in-ground storage tanks. Said Myers, “The average water tower costs between 2 and 5 million dollars to construct and between $750,000 and 2 million dollars to repaint.”

Types of Water Towers

The MWT website counts 11 different types of water towers. Most fit into a few categories: standpipes, cylinders with a round or flat top, spheres or spheroids, and short or tall reservoirs. Water towers can have a single central pillar or several legs supporting them.

The most common type of water tower in Minnesota (at a total of 335) is the one-thin-leg­-with-round-top type, sometimes called a watersphere. These golf-ball-on-a-tee-shaped water towers can be found on the Shakopee Mdewakanton tribal lands (SMSC) near Prior Lake, as well as in Belle Plaine, Savage, Elko New Market, and New Prague. Most modern towers can hold in the hundreds of thousands, or even millions, of gallons of water.

Waterspheres are popular types of water towers, such as the water tower at Belle Plaine. (Photo courtesy of SCHS.)

The average age of tee-shaped water towers is 28 years. Constructed in 1940, the tower, located near the Shakopee community center, is certainly among the oldest currently standing in Scott County. At 130 feet in height and a capacity of 250,000 gallons, it was hailed as an engineering breakthrough. It greatly increased local water capacity, its spherical construction reduced wind resistance, and its steel plates were welded rather than riveted for strength and lightweight performance. It replaced the earlier Shakopee standpipe.

Scott County Water Towers

We couldn’t find definitive historical information on water towers for all Scott County towns, but we were able to dig up some other interesting information.

Belle Plaine

Downtown Belle Plaine, 1896 (Image courtesy of the Scott County Historical Society).

An 1896 photo (above), apart from looking quaint and old-timey, shows off Belle Plaine’s “giraffe” water tower, so called because it was considered a monstrosity. The giraffe replaced a town well, located in the center of town, which had been used mainly for fighting fires. A special election was required in late 1907 to replace the giraffe with a new steel water tower—capacity 50,000 gallons. It cost $8,786 (around $300,000 today).

Jordan

Jordan water tower photographed by LeRoy Lebens, c. 1975-1985 (Image courtesty of SCHS).

The Jordan Independent reported on a near-fatality when a newly constructed water tower was painted in the 1970s. “Tragedy almost struck when a worker fell while painting a leg on the tower.” It’s unclear whether he was injured.

New Prague

Main Street looking east, New Prague, Minnesota (Image courtesy of the New Prague Area Historical Society).

New Prague water tower photographed by LeRoy Lebens, c. 1965-1975 (Image courtesy of the Scott County Historical Society).

A 1900-era photo of New Prague’s Main Street (top) includes a view of the water tower. The land had been donated by local Elias Bruzek. A 1970s-era photo shows a newer, 300,000-gallon water tower. The Jordan Independent reported that “a 22-year-old painter from Stephen, Minn., died [when he] fell 90 feet off the New Prague water tower.”

Prior Lake

Prior Lake water tower, 1973 (Image courtesy of the Scott County Historical Society).

A wooden water tower from ca. 1875 (top) was located at the edge of Prior Lake. The Scott County Historical Society in Shakopee displays an 18-foot-long board from that tower. A 1973 photo depicts a later downtown cone-hat water tower on Main Street. The current 750,000-gallon tower was constructed in 1973 and repainted about 20 years later at a cost of $790,000.

Savage

(Image courtesy of the City of Savage)

Photographed in the mid-1960s, the first Savage water tower stood near city hall. The tower was demolished in 2000.

Shakopee

(Image courtesy of the Scott County Historical Society).

The spherical tower near the Shakopee Community Center was constructed in 1940. A sign at the tower’s base proclaimed that the tower was 130 feet tall with a 42-foot “ball.” The April 1, 1940, Shakopee Argus claimed that it was the world’s tallest of its kind. Filling the 250,000-gallon reservoir took all night and then some. The letters in the word Shakopee were more than four and half feet tall, with the entire word coming in at 28 feet long. In September 1940, the Argus noted that, when the water was released into the city water mains, the sudden increase in water pressure caused some bursting of home water pipes. A major rupture in the mains occurred at the Rock Spring bottling company downtown.

Shakopee Water

Tony Myers of SPU provided more specific information about Shakopee’s water. SPU began in 1951 as a nonpartisan organization operating with qualified experts to maximize efficiency in the water utilities.

·         Shakopee maintains five water towers and three ground tanks located in three pressure zones.

·         Shakopee relies on four wells for water supply. The wells draw from three aquifers, which hold underground water: Jordan, Tunnel City Wonewok, and Mount Simon Hinkley.

·         Over 20 miles of water pipes crisscross the city.

·         Approximately 300,000 gallons of water are pumped daily.

·         Shakopee maintains 500 fire hydrants.

·         New water towers are constructed as development occurs in an area, increasing water demand.

·         Aquifer levels are monitored daily. A critically low level has not yet been reached. “Since SPU’s wells are spread throughout the city,” said Myers, “we have the ability to alternate which wells run, as not to significantly impact the aquifer levels in an area of town.”

·         Water is constantly tested for contamination. If contamination were detected, wells and towers could be isolated from the system without interrupting the provision of safe drinking water.

Aquifer Primer

To have a well, you need an aquifer—a layer of underground permeable or porous rock, sand, or gravel deposit that can hold water. Sandier, looser deposits typically refill faster than clayey deposits. In eastern and northeastern Scott County, especially along the Minnesota River, the fastest recharge rates are found. Central and southern areas consist of more clay-like deposits. Dale Setterholm in the Geologic Atlas User’s Guide likens an aquifer to a bank account. Water coming in is like income, and water pumped out is like spending. When more water is pumped out than comes in, the level falls. “This is like spending money faster than your income provides it,” says Setterholm. “Your bank account shrinks.” Aquifers are refilled through infiltration (movement of water from surface to aquifer) or recharge (movement of water below the surface).

Water falls to Earth’s surface and infiltrates the underground layers to refill aquifers (Courtesy of Geologic Atlas User’s Guide).

Aquifers are often sandwiched between moisture-resistant underground layers called aquitards (Courtesy of Geologic Atlas User’s Guide).

For assistance with this article, many thanks to Diana Brenke of the Jordan Area Historical Society, Emily Gunderson of the City of Savage, and Tony Myers of the SPU. If you have more information on water towers in Scott County, we’d love to hear about it. Contact us via either our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/SCHSHistory) or our email address (info@scottcountyhistory.org).

Learn More!

Henderson [KY] Water Utility. (n.d.). Why Do We Have Water Towers? Retrieved from https://web.archive.org/web/20210722182032/https://www.hkywater.org/education/i-didnt-know-that/why-water-towers

Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. (2021, March). Groundwater Atlas User Guide. https://files.dnr.state.mn.us/waters/groundwater_section/mapping/groundwater-atlas-user-guide.pdf

Minnesota Water Towers. (2022). [Home Page]. https://www.minnesotawatertowers.com/home

National Geographic. (n.d.). Aquifers. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/aquifers/

Reinan, John. (2019, November 2). Why Do We Have Water Towers and What Do They Do? https://www.startribune.com/why-are-there-so-many-water-towers-in-minnesota-and-what-do-they-do/563803581/

Scott County (MN). (2006). Subsurface Recharge and Surface Infiltration. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.scottcountymn.gov/DocumentCenter/View/989/Plate-6-Subsurface-Recharge-and-Surface-Infiltration-PDF&ved=2ahUKEwiryc-Lx4qFAxV6E0QIHbGeAVkQFnoECA8QAQ&usg=AOvVaw0R8yDSABT9i4DMJvMwWaPh

Setterholm, Dale R., & Tipping, Robert G. (2006). Plate 6, Subsurface Recharge and Surface Infiltration. In Geologic Atlas of Scott County, Minnesota. https://hdl.handle.net/11299/58717

Setterholm, Dale R. (2019). Geologic Atlas User’s Guide. https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/166713/CGA_users_guide2019.pdf?sequence=12&isAllowed=y

Staff Report. (2023, March 2). Plans Finalized for Water Tower [Jordan] Repaint. https://www.swnewsmedia.com/jordan_independent/plans-finalized-for-water-tower-repaint/article_5a6f526c-b451-11ed-9200-d7d64acd84ec.html

SWnewsmedia. (2020, Jan 23). 50 Years Ago: Jordan Water Tower Constructed. https://www.swnewsmedia.com/jordan_independent/news/local/looking_back/50-years-ago-jordan-water-tower-constructed/article_0c92145d-9274-5516-ab5d-df1ba12d2666.html

Wikipedia. (n.d.) Water Tower. Accessed January 31, 2024: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_tower

The Shakopee Tornado of 1977

By Jacob Dalland

It’s not often that Shakopee gets tornadoes. It’s even less often that a tornado strikes the business district, or downtown, of a city. However, on May 21st, 1977, one of the most notable tornadoes in Scott County history struck the heart of Shakopee and left much damage in Shakopee neighborhoods, mostly by destroying trees.

These two photos from Shakopee Valley News show two damage scenes: an uprooted tree (left) and a destroyed storage shed (on right).

The tornado began just north of Heidelburg in Le Sueur County. It tracked northeast from there. The whole track until Shakopee was all through farmland, though the tornado got close to both New Prague and Jordan. That being said, the damage must have been quite minimal in the countryside, for neither the New Prague Times nor the Jordan Independent mentioned any tornado in their next editions.

Shakopee, however, was different. Although no one was killed or even injured, the tornado tore out many trees and ruined a few buildings, sometimes due to toppled trees. The path through Shakopee began roughly where the new Shakopee High School is today and ended at Huber Park on the Minnesota River. There was plenty of damage, but some of the large buildings that were damaged by a previous tornado in 1925 (such as St. Mark’s Catholic Church) were apparently spared this time, despite being affected by both storms.

The tornado uprooted a large portion of trees on Shakopee's streets. Lawns were sometimes pulled up like thick carpets with the trees. Photo from the Shakopee Valley News.

Although the tornado of 1977 was not as strong as the one in 1925, it nonetheless left a noticeable blemish on the streets of Shakopee for years to come. In comparing aerial photographs of Shakopee from 1970 and 1980, you can see the decrease in the number of trees in the image from 1980, 3 years after the tornado hit. You might also notice the expansion of Shakopee’s suburban neighborhoods as well.

Overall, the tornado that struck Shakopee in 1977 might not have been Shakopee’s worst tornado, but it was a memorable one nonetheless. It was the first one to strike downtown Shakopee since 1925, and the last one up to now. The lesson to be learned is: know how to stay safe during severe weather if you live in Shakopee (or anywhere in Scott County, for that matter), for whether you remember a tornado in your lifetime or not, the city of Shakopee remembers.

References:

ArcGIS. “Tornado Paths”. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://www.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=01672085b139432e8fe1296a743f67d7.

Holtz, Kristin. “Are We Tornado Safe?” Shakopee Valley News, April 19, 2012, p. 1.

“ScottGIS3”. Scott County | Minnesota. Accessed March 19, 2024. https://gis.co.scott.mn.us/sg3/.

Shakopee Valley News, May 25, 1977, p. 1.

The Tornado of 1925

By Jacob Dalland

On June 2nd, 1925, Scott County found itself on the edge of a strong tornado. Although the damage was mainly in Carver and Hennepin counties, Shakopee especially had enough damage from the storm to be considered the most severe tornado damage in Shakopee history.

The tornado was part of a larger severe thunderstorm that swept through both sides of the Minnesota River in Carver, Scott, and Hennepin counties. The severe weather that evening concluded a heat wave, as many severe thunderstorms do; Memorial Day was the hottest in many years at over 94 degrees. The day of the tornado was nonetheless pleasant until the storm started. Many people were outside eating their suppers at picnics before the storm started.

Just before 7 p.m., the sky started getting dark with storm clouds. The severe weather caught many people off-guard. However, those outside were for the most part able to find shelter quickly. Blakeley residents were the first in Scott County to be hit with damaging winds, which damaged or destroyed many barns and trees, but no lives were lost. Similar damage happened in Belle Plaine, though a horse and a calf were killed. Minimal damage was done in Jordan.

The tornado itself apparently touched down somewhere between Belle Plaine and Carver at 7 p.m. Three people were killed in Carver who were out picnicking at the park and had a tree fall on the pavilion they took shelter in. The tornado soon moved into Chaska. No deaths occurred there, but many buildings were damaged. Guardian Angels School, for example, had most of its rear wall destroyed (which meant eighth graders didn’t have to take a high school entrance exam)!

Shakopee was, apparently, just on the edge of the tornado. Logically, the western side of town was hit the hardest. The Mudcura Sanitarium, on that same side, received special attention in the Shakopee Tribune. A few garages were destroyed by the storm on the sanitarium grounds. Dr. Fischer, who ran the sanitarium, broke his arm when the wind slammed a door on him. His assistant, Larry Hunter, was injured in the same way. One of the hardest-hit places in Shakopee was St. Mark’s Catholic Church: the steeple’s cross was torn off, and so was one of the spires, which resulted in damage to the interior of the church. Many houses and buildings in downtown Shakopee had moderate damage. That being said, no deaths occurred in Shakopee, and most of the damages were covered by insurance (including that at St. Mark’s).

The tornado proceeded on through farmland in Chanhassen, Eden Prairie, and Minnetonka before ravaging one more town: Hopkins. Although only one death happened there, more buildings were destroyed there than in Carver, Chaska, or Shakopee. For example, a Moline warehouse was reduced to pieces as well as a historic schoolhouse from 1862 (whose fate was being debated before the tornado happened). After a brief entry into St. Louis Park, the tornado finally dissipated.

Overall, the tornado of June 2nd, 1925 is arguably the most historic tornado in Scott County history and even more significant for places in Carver and Hennepin Counties. While there were some strong tornadoes (EF-2) in 1952 and 1977, the one in 1925 appears to be the one most remembered by the communities it hit. This could be because of the level of damage. Mary Raabe, of the Hopkins Historical Society, wrote that “it could easily be a stage three tornado by today's standards”, probably meaning to say it would be classified as an EF-3 tornado. Based on my own comparison of the reported damage and the damage criteria for an EF-3 tornado, she is likely correct.

References

Barac, LaVonne E. Chaska: A Minnesota River City, Prehistory to 1950. Chaska: Chaska Historical Society, 2019.

Hopkins Historical Society. Hopkins, Minnesota: Through the Years, edited by Beverly O. Ewing. Hopkins: Hopkins Historical Society, 2002.

“Local Weather Highlights”. St. Louis Park Historical Society. Accessed March 15, 2024. https://slphistory.org/weather/.

Olson, Mark. “Look Back”. SW News Media. Accessed March 15, 2024. https://www.swnewsmedia.com/look-back/image_9f89e970-fcf8-5a97-9626-45fa27e95b5c.html.

Raabe, Mary. “June 2nd, 1925”. Hopkins Historical Society. Accessed March 15, 2024. https://www.hopkinshistory.org/tornado-of-1925.html.

“Scott County Escapes a Tornado’s Worst”. Jordan Independent, June 4, 1925, p. 1.

Stolzman, William F. A History of the Church of St. Mark, Shakopee, MN, 1856-2006. Unpublished, 2007.

“Three Killed in Storm at Carver – Many Barns Wrecked in This Section”. Belle Plaine Herald, June 4, 1925, p. 1.

“Tornado Kills Three at Carver”. Shakopee Tribune, June 4, 1925, p. 1.