Early History of Longville, Minnesota

It was the first of November 1904 that I was asked by my good friend William Locke of Brainerd how I would like to take a homestead. I was just past twenty-one then. There was a timber cruiser just told him about it and said it was worthwhile and would like to see some young man take it. Mr. Locke said he planned on moving here the next spring and start a store, so we went to the courthouse in Brainerd and filed on a homestead, like a blind date now.

So on May 1, 1905, I left Brainerd by stage to Cross Lake then came to Longville by logging train, got off the train and looked around at my new undertaking and new home with all old friends left behind.

I found we had a post office with mail three times a week which looked pretty good to an already homesick kid. There was a large logging camp, about fifteen buildings in all, besides a few small houses that some families lived in and the hotel, that was built the summer of 1904 was the only place outside of the logging camp.

The hotel was managed by Mr. & Mrs. Tom Nashe family of Brainerd and Pine River, it was the foresight of Mr. J.G. Dawes of Pine River that thought this was an ideal spot for a town site. So he bought the property and had the town site platted. I thought this a real lively place just starting building the railroad to Pine Lakes as it was the starting of cutting timber on the reservation by the Northland Pine Company under the management of James A. Long, of which the Longville Post Office was named. He was the first postmaster.

There was several hundred men employed. Seven large camps were built and timber cutting started late in 1905 and winter of 1906 logs were landed on lakes for summer hauling, some landed along the railroad and hauled in the winter to Cross Lake. There was three engines, two hauled to Cross Lake, one did the local loading and switching.

The store building was built in the summer of 1905 and in the fall the Lockes moved in and William Locke was the second postmaster. I came along and built on my homestead and got out timber all winter. All the goods for the store was shipped to Jenkins then hauled to Longville by logging train. The first mail was carried from Pine River on horseback. It is impossible to find some of the trails now as we had no roads then, just woods, everyone walked.

I found a few homesteaders ahead of me. They were Joe Carver, John Ford, Jacob Smith, George Woodley, George A. Ford, Al Showalter, William Tumpe and Frank Pinkert. Then Fred Craig and Frank Kinkle the barber. First thing we got together and said if we intend to stay here what we will have to have, so we got a petition and signed and got our first school room. It was then District No. 1. Olaf Oleson, who was superintendent at that time, helped start the Longville School. The fall of 1905 school started with about twenty pupils. Miss Nellie Timple was the first teacher, who walked from their homestead near Little Rice Lake, by Bill Johnsons, done her own janitor work and got $35.00 per month. One teacher later rode a horse seven miles each way.

All road work was done free. We finally got a road to Longville and Pine River built. The bridges with poles and poled the swamps as there was lots of water then, also mosquitoes and flies. All team work was done with oxen at this time. I got married so quit batching.

Most everything was hauled from Pine River now. Then came the end of log cutting and headquarters camp moved to Leech Lake so this portion was open to homestead. We sure welcomed the new homesteaders. To help boost Longville, Ardell Craig became the village blacksmith and saw mill man, sawed lots of lumber for the homesteaders. Henry Manders and Joe Berres were the carpenters and James Haskell the stone mason and brick layer. Ben Clarth was the surveyor and locator. He surveyed nearly all the township roads. At this time we built the creamery which operated a good many years. It now is a locker plant.

At this time the little school house was too small and we got two more rooms built on and Howard Chambers became superintendent, which position he held about twenty-five years. Then more rooms was needed and thanks to W.P.A. we got an up-to-date building and High School. The first class graduated in 1940. There are very few of the pioneers left. Mr. and Mrs. John Ford still live on the original homestead, then myself and wife, Mrs. Ben Clark, Charley Wheeler is on his original homestead, Lloyd and Carl Showalter who grew up here, those who came later, Charles Slagle family, Margaret Culhane, Herman Yochum, Mrs. Harder, R.A. Manders, Mrs. H.C. Manders, Mrs. Charles Hoirton, Mrs. Maud Underhill and Charles Wilson are on their original places. Fred and Leo Jordan bought the property from J.G. Dawes and had the hotel a good many years.

We got our first telephone line the fall of 1919 which Mrs. Fred Jordan operated, and thanks to the late H.V. Jones of the Minneapolis Journal we got the Bell Telephone line from Brainerd, now we can call anywhere. Then we got a good road to Pine River which now is state road 84 which is tarred and connected to highway 34 so we can travel anywhere by car on tarred road. Now we have electricity and a good busy village, thanks to the Pioneers.

The first logging camp in this area was built in the middle 1890's. It was known as the "Girl Lake Camp" and was the organization that cut timber south of the Reservation line. Logs were loaded out of Girl Lake, the last ones being hauled to Cross Lake in 1904. Some of the land was then put up for sale.

J. G. Dawes of Pine River saw an opportunity, so bought this piece of land east of Girl Lake, had it platted and built the Hotel Dawes Block in 1904 (this building is the present Longville Hotel). This called for some sort of mail service so James A. Long negotiated for the establishment of a post office which was named "Longville" and he was the first postmaster. Mr. Long was also the Superintendent of the logging company that was to cut the timber on the Reservation. This operation started in the fall and winter of 1905-1906. The railroad was built to Pine Lake and Long Lake during the summer of 1905. There were seven camps, with about 125 men employed at each camp.

All this activity and growth brought in many families with school age children, so a petition was made to the Unorganized District for a school. This was erected in the summer of 1905 so that in the fall thirty students entered school under the direction of Miss Nellie Timpe. The teacher's wages then were $35 per month, plus an additional $1.50 for janitor work. The first school board was Olaf Oleson, County superintendent, C. D. Bacon, Clerk and Andy Linden, Treasurer. This original building is still in use, having been incorporated into an addition that was built many years later.

The first general store was built in 1905 and operated by William Locke, a friend of James Long. It was located on the site where the Fuller's Shopping Center now stands. William Locke was appointed postmaster so the post office was moved into his store building.

The mail came three times a week, by horseback. The rider traveled trails around Wabedo Lake. A lot of donation work was done on a road to Pine River so that a stage line could be operated. Bill Burrell was the mail carrier. All of the roads in the area were built by donation work, swamps were "poled" as was the first bridge across the Boy River east and south of Longville. Among those I would like to give credit as the first "trail blazers" and road builders were Mark Snell, George Snell, Charley Wheeler, Saul Whitted, Frank Dinkle, Lee Rose, also Nate and Frank Rogers.

The John Fords and the Woodleys came to Cross Lake from Brainerd, loaded their belongings on the logging train and landed on the south end of Inguadona Lake. They built a raft and floated it, loaded with possessions, to the John Ford homestead. The Joe Carvers came by team via trail around Wabedo Lake to the Hunter Lake Camp, thence to the present George Hagen place. From there it took two days to cut trail and travel to their homestead on Woman Lake (the present Jim Stuart and George Cook property). The Barker girls arrived by ox team from Crosby, via Cross Lake then the old railroad grade to Longville. Showalters came by team from Jenkins in 1906. Lloyd and Carl are still with us.

Longville was first incorporated as a village in 1906 with William Locke as the first mayor. Logging was in full swing by this time. Logs were loaded out of Long, Pine and Island Lakes. Log trains were side tracked in Longville. Trains made trips daily to Pine Lake and often jumped the tracks. Two wood burning steam engines made three trips daily to Cross Lake. Wood was $1.45 per cord, ties twelve cents each. The last logs were loaded out of here during the summer of 1909.

Headquarters was moved to Leech Lake from Cross Lake and cutting operation began on what is called the "Island" between Leech and Big Boy Lake. Part of the cut over land was opened to homesteaders and this encouraged a number of new settlers.

We had a lot of "get together" picnics, the highlight of which was the "Good Roads Picnic" held in the summer of 1921. The late P.H. McGarry, who was then our State Senator, was the speaker. He urged everyone to vote for Amendment No. 1, which was the beginning of the present State Highway System. In his speech he said, "Who knows, perhaps you people in Longville might have a state road someday." His prophecy came true, as today we have tarred highway to Pine River and one to Walker.

Longville today is a model little village, and a fine resort center. It was re-incorporated in 1940 with L.W. Orton as Mayor, Ed Johnson, Fred Jordan and Florence Nyvall on the council. The village has made fast growth since, a municipal liquor store building, village hall, fire department, street lights and the beginning of a municipal park. Longville has four nice churches, a beautiful cemetery where most of the old settlers are now peacefully at rest.

Written by Mrs. Carl (Betty) Showalter

I first lived in Longville in 1906 while my father, Ben Clark, was working for the Northland Pine Company, whose operations were under the direction of Jimmy Long, for whom Longville was named. We lived across the dam and I have vivid memories of the loads of logs on the box cars as the Company had a railroad coming from Cross Lake. After living at Longville for two years, we moved to "Headquarters Bay" on Leech Lake and lived there during 1908-1909.

In March of 1910 we came to our present home at Lake Inguadona. Never will I forget the trip from Pine River to Longville. Bill Burrell, who was the first stage driver, had horses and a spring wagon. It took from early morning until noon to reach Pontoria, which was the half-way place to rest the horses and to eat dinner.

There was only a logging road eastward to the new home my father had built. Ardell Craig and his brother Fred built our home. Since my sister Victoria, who was twelve years old, had enrolled in the Longville School, it was found to be too much of a walk for her, so my parents went to the different families to see if they would be interested in getting a school. Our first school was named the Clark School after my father, who leased the land to the school board. It was built in the fall of 1910.

The great barrier to travel was the narrows between Upper and Lower Inguadona Lakes, a shallow portion of water which tended to remain open even in winter. A bridge was built in 1914 so that people could travel without fording the stream with horses. With the building of the bridge we were able to have a mail route from Remer to Inguadona three times a week.

The first Inguadona Lodge was built by George Woodley. They also had the first post office. In the early days the Indians came with their wild rice to trade with us. Only the Indians harvested wild rice in those days. They liked to trade for staple things such as flour.

More families came to live in our community in 1914. There were the Hortons, Slagles, Gadbals and Ewings. So at one time there were twenty-one children crowded into one small schoolroom. Inguadona School became consolidated with the Longville School in 1920, and the children were transported by bus.

The site of the cemetery at Longville was owned by the Jordan brothers of Bide-A-Wee Inn, the hotel. An infant child of one of the brothers, Leo, was buried there. There was no cemetery in the township, and the town board was asked if they would consider taking over the responsibilities of a cemetery organization. They refused, and a ladies society, "The Willing Workers," took the matter under consideration.

The Jordan brothers gave them an acre of ground along the Little Boy River and then sold an adjoining acre to the organization for $100.00. On the thirty-first day of May 1921, articles of incorporation under the name of "The Longville Welfare Society, Inc." were signed by Mrs. Florence Craig (President), Mrs. Louise Jordan (Vice President), Mrs. Letta Manders (Secretary), Mrs. Gladys Fuller (Treasurer), Mrs. Jessie Englehart, Mrs. Marie Thorson, Mrs. Iona Rose, Mrs. Emily E. Spooner, Mrs. Florence Nyvall, Mrs. Aurla Jordan, and Miss Amanda Toland.

The improvement and fencing of the cemetery was financed by card parties, socials and dances. In 1929 the name of the cemetery association was changed to Riverside Cemetery Association. In 1942 this association turned the business of the cemetery over to the Village of Longville, as most of the original members had passed on or were no longer able to carry on.