Canute Anderson, born Canute Ingverson Eggum in Laerdal, Norway, arrived in the Grantsburg area in 1854 and established a stopping place and trading post where buildings later stood southeast of this site. He opened the first post office in his home and was appointed postmaster. He married Catherine Nelson, a Swedish immigrant, and they had twelve children. After establishing the Village of Grantsburg, he built a saw and flour mill, store, and hotel. When Burnett County was reorganized, the Governor appointed him Clerk of Court, and he also served as a presidential elector. Elected to the Assembly, he represented the six northwestern counties. He later helped bring the railroad into Grantsburg, founded the original Burnett County Fair, and served as first president of the Burnett County Agricultural Society. In 1860 he built a school at this location, where the first Swedish Baptist Church in Wisconsin was organized. Later he donated the land and helped organize Saint Olaf Lutheran Church, now Bethany Lutheran Church. At the time of his death, he was chairman of the combined townships of Anderson and Grantsburg.