Why Settle Here? / Time to Play

Timber drew many settlers west to Anoka, where the Rum River provided transportation and power for the lumber industry, logs floated from camps to mills, and milled lumber traveled by riverboat until the railroad arrived. Many people with lumber experience came for the promising timber trade, and in 1860 three fourths of Anoka's residents were originally from New England and adjoining areas of Canada. By 1879, four saw mills operated in Anoka, while stores, hotels, blacksmith shops, doctors' offices, churches, schools, and government buildings grew with the community. Farmers also came for land and reliable markets, as the lumber industry helped clear land and created demand for farm produce. Anoka's population rose from about 300 in 1855 to over 1,400 by 1870. As lumber declined, the Anoka Board of Trade encouraged other businesses, helping bring flour mills, creameries, a starch factory, a shoe factory, and other enterprises, while agriculture and related businesses became a driving force in the local economy. The potato starch factory let farmers use lesser quality potatoes for starch and sell only the best for food, helping give Anoka a reputation for especially fine potatoes and the nickname "Potato Capital." By the turn of the 20th century, the Rum River had become a place for recreation as boating grew popular, some residents spent weeks on houseboats above the dam, and changing industry, transportation, and sewer improvements made the river better suited to leisure. The Giddings family landscaped their riverfront grounds with terraces, a water wheel, flowers, a boat landing, and several stone houses for quiet summer evenings, though only one stone house survived. In 1914, the west bank of the Rum River gained an outdoor stage and seating area for musical events, plays, speeches, and community gatherings, with its center portion built by individual donations and likely inspired by the Cities Beautiful movement associated with the Chicago Exposition of 1893. The pageant The History of Agriculture used 13 scenes presented by different Commercial Clubs from across the county to tell the story of farming in Anoka County, and the venue was known over the years as Eastman Stadium, Windego Park, and the Amphitheater. The Green Theater opened on Main Street between Second and Third Avenue in 1915 for stage and screen productions. In 1937, a Community Center named Greenhaven opened on the west side of town with a bowling alley, skeet shooting range, golf course, and other activities. In the early 1900's, George Green and other community members began a city-wide Halloween celebration to curb escalating pranks, and its success quickly made it a tradition; continuous since 1920 except for two years during World War Two, it is the oldest running city-wide Halloween celebration in the nation. Street fairs in the early 1900's often celebrated the harvest with palaces of corn and other produce, carnival acts drew hundreds into the city, and parades were also popular, including a 1900 flower parade intended to rival California's Rose Parade.

Anoka, Minnesota · United States