Northfield began in 1855 when John Wesley North founded the town and built a dam and lumber mill on the Cannon River. After he left, Charles A. Wheaton operated the mill until 1865, when Jesse Ames purchased it. In 1869, Jesse Ames & Sons built a new mill on the west side of the river that produced 150 barrels of wheat a day. The Ames & Sons Flour Company won top honors in the Straight Flour category at the 1876 International Exhibition in Philadelphia, and in 1879 the mill gained steam power and a new floor, reaching five stories. In 1927, John Campbell took over the Ames Mill and produced Malt-O-Meal hot cereal for the Campbell Cereal Company. As milling prospered, Northfield grew from a small farming community into a culturally vibrant, business-friendly college town, and the sculpture "Harvest" was created as a symbolic link to the town's wheat farming and milling heritage.