History of Elko New Market, Part 2

Postcard of the Fred Meinke Saloon and Lunch Room in Elko. A sign on the building reads "Lunch Room/Hamm's Beer/Fred Meinke." 1905. SCHS Collection.

Businesses of Elko and New Market

Elko’s first general merchandise store opened in 1903, conducted by the Herder Brothers. It was followed closely by another important business—a local bar, opened by Peter Ring in 1904. In 1906, the Shien brothers of Lakeville opened a slaughterhouse near the railroad to process all the local “cattle, hogs, poultry, veal and sheep.”

Pete Welter, grocery store owner in New Market. 1895. SCHS Collection.

The New Market Hotel was built in the 1890s and is still standing as a member of the National Register of Historic Places. Helen Kaufberg grew up in the hotel, and described her experiences in “As I Remember Scott County.” She recalls: 

My earliest memories of my childhood are the first ten years of my life that I spent in the hotel that my parents operated.  It was a busy little place as very few people owned cars. The traveling salesmen came by train to the neighboring village of Elko. They would then come to New Market. If they came in the evening, they would have to stay until the next day. Also the farmers from neighboring Cedar Lake Township had to haul their grain to the elevator at Elko by team, so many of them would stop at the hotel for a meal, for which they were charged 25¢. This was about 1910 to 1920. We had several girls who helped with the cooking and other chores.

I remember mother getting up some mornings at 3 o’clock to do the laundry. There was no electricity and it was a little scary to come downstairs alone. I also recall that some of the laundry was sent to the Cities by train. It was put in large canvas hampers around 4 feet long and 3 feet high.

There were dances held in the Village Hall and during intermission a supper was served at the hotel. On one particular night, they served a turkey supper. They had everything waiting for the crowd when the stove pipe on the wood range fell down. It was really a disaster.

Another time, my folks told about a burglary at the Post Office next door. A salesman for the Schmidt Brewery had been on the train and got off at Elko. He had seen two suspicious men get off the train. He immediately walked around to the other side of the train and walked towards the grain elevator. He called from the depot and alerted the people at New Market, so when the hotel closed at 11 o’clock, some of the people stayed up and watched through a window at the back of the hotel. They were watching the Post Office and also the bank which was next to the Post Office. The salesman got a hold of a gun and opened the window just enough to put the gun through and when the burglars tried to get in the back door of the Post Office they were frightened away. There had been evidence that the burglars had waited in the choir loft of the church as there were cigarette or cigar stubs left behind.

The Elko Bank was also almost the target of a burglary during the 1920s. According to the Shakopee Tribune, at 2:00 a.m. on Friday, May 12, 1921, “auto bandits” pulled up to the bank. Before they arrived, they had cut the telegraph wires to the town, hoping to escape before help could be contacted. What they didn’t know was that a bank teller named B. F. Case and his wife had an apartment in the basement of the bank. Case snuck upstairs in the dark with his gun. He fired on the bandits, scaring them away and preventing the robbery.

Gas lighting came to the businesses of New Market in 1901, as was described in the following article giving a summary of New Market happenings that was published by the Shakopee Tribune in May of that year:

Under the radiance of the gas light as reflected from the hardware establishment of Math Hauer on Main street and the saloon of Radermacher and Young on St Joseph's street, our village at night, from a distance, has the appearance of a modern city. We are told that this gas illuminating system is the sole invention of Mr. Hauer, our ingenious mechanic and hardware dealer. The system seems practical, useful, economical and satisfactory in every respect as far as it has been tested. And we hope to see it make such headway in its usefullness, that before long our village officials will adopt it as the means of illuminating the channels of commerce of our village-the streets. We always nursed the idea that if our burgh would once be lit up and assume metropolitan airs in such a manner, so that strangers could see it from afar and behold its beauty in location, as it is nestled in among the Jerusalem-like hills, that the railroad kings and the people in general would no longer believe it a ruined, lost, dirtcovered Pompeii.

St. Nicholas Church

One of the defining features of Elko New Market is St. Nicholas Church. The church’s first incarnation was a log structure built in 1861 on the property of Peter J. Bates. The community soon outgrew the church. In 1872, the Shakopee Mirror wrote: “The Catholics of New Market are preparing to build a new church. It will be much larger than the old one and is rendered necessary by the large increase in their congregation. Our New Market friends are able to do whatever they undertake, and we doubt not their new church will be a credit to them.”

Book titled "Celebrating 150 Years" by the Church of St. Nicholas 150th Anniversary Committee. 2009. SCHS Collection.

This church was replaced, and the new structure dedicated in November of 1911. The ceremonies included a celebration of the 50-year anniversary of the original parish, confirmation of a class of 99 young people, along with high mass, choir, and a sermon in English and German. Four of the original parishioners were present—Mr. and Mrs. Peter Wagner, Anton Degross, and Hubert Kloeckner.

A school was added to the facility in 1915, after parishioners were concerned that local public schools were allowing children from neighboring communities to attend and not teaching religion. The first school building included three large classrooms and started with 126 students in 1916. Because farms at the time were spread out, and Minnesota weather conditions were volatile, it was not uncommon for students to stay in the convent throughout the week and only return home on weekends. Classes were only conducted in English, and some of the sisters, who were teachers, noted that this was a challenge for some students who did not speak English at home. In 1969 the Veseli, Elko, New Market, and Lonsdale Catholic schools merged. Today the descendant of the St. Nicholas school is located in Webster.

Elko Speedway

Elko Speedway opened in 1965, providing a local space for thousands of fans to enjoy the sport. 

In 1987, they became formally associated with NASCAR. Today, approximately 150,000 fans turn up for races each year, which include Late Model, Thunder Car, and Power Stock divisions. According to their website, “The Late Models are highly modified with fabricated frames and fiberglass or aluminum bodies with specialized power plants. Thunder Cars are stock cars with minor engine and suspension modifications allowed. Power Stocks are a low-cost entry level division that are nearly straight from the factory. Other common divisions that also compete at Elko Speedway include the Great North Legends and Bandoleros.”

Elko has added space for concerts, a drive-in theater and concession stand in recent years which have attracted more attention and fans to the area. 

After being closed for a while because of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the racetrack was eager to reopen to 1,500 guests in August of that year. In an interview with Sun This Week, Ryan, then in his 21st season as Elko Speedway’s owner, explained how local race tracks can’t operate without spectators like many of the bigger racetracks. He said, “Our business model depends on spectators. The people who race pay entry fees, but some of the money from ticket sales and concessions also go to purses. We don’t have TV revenue like NASCAR, so we need the fans.”

Racing pennant from Elko Speedway. Ca. 1965-1975. SCHS Collection.

While the ⅜ mile track was closed, Elko’s drive-in theater was able to continue hosting movies and video concerts. 3,000 viewers came to watch the virtual Garth Brooks concert from their cars.  

History of Elko New Market, Part 1

Aerial view of New Market, ca 1958. SCHS Collection.

Early Elko and New Market

Rail access could make or break a fledgling town. Trains brought goods and supplies and allowed local manufacturers and farmers to conveniently ship their products. It also brought new people to settle and expand local communities.

The process of bringing the railroad to Scott County began with a series of stops and starts. The Minnesota Territory first received federal land grants to provide for railroad construction in 1857. Unfortunately, the next decade contained a series of tumultuous events that delayed construction. First, there was “the panic of 1857,” an economic depression in the United States characterized by a declining international economy and overexpansion of the domestic economy. During this time, rail companies were reluctant to add to their lines. Next came two concurrent wars—the US-Dakota War of 1862 and the Civil War (1861–1865)—that disrupted lives and businesses throughout the country. Rail finally came to Scott County in 1865.

The settlement that would become New Market was formed before the railroad came to the area. The first known European Americans living in the settlement were Patrick White and his wife, who moved to the area in 1855. They were soon followed by others, including John Mahowold, who broke ground for the township’s first European American farm in 1857. This event was rapidly followed by many more recorded firsts. The first religious meeting happened in 1858—a German Catholic service held in Martin Eishen’s farmhouse. The first church was built on the property of Peter J. Baltes in 1861. The first school was built on land donated by Peter Wagner in 1865, and the first post office, which was simply the living room of Peter J. Baltes, opened on April 7, 1867.

An 1876 article in the Scott County Argus described the area thus: “Fourteen families. Their nationality was as follows: one Irish family, three Yankee families from the state of Maryland, nine German and two Norwegian families. Their buildings were all log houses with elm bark covering the roof, and the windows mostly one light 8x10, and no floor and no furniture.”

Schoolchildren and their teacher outside a schoolhouse near Elko. The boy with the X on him is Michael Schneider, ca 1910. SCHS Collection.

The same Scott County Argus article described another local first: “The first teamster in New Market was Peter Hoffelt. He made a small hand sleigh, loaded it with seventeen rabbits, and went to St. Paul to sell the rabbits and to buy a sack of cornmeal. He procured the meal and started for home, his wife in the meantime feeling very uneasy about him. On the second day about nine o’clock in the evening he arrived in New Market. He stopped at the house of Martin Eishen about bedtime and cried out three or four times: ‘Woah! Woah! Them d--d cattle never would stand.’ Mr. Eishen opened the door and said, ‘Where is your team Mr. Hoffelt?’ He laughed and replied, ‘I am the team and the driver too!’ and then started forward, reaching home about 11 o’clock that night. His wife met him on the road and assisted him in drawing the sled home. This is the story of the first teamster in New Market.”

In 1895 the area was officially incorporated as New Market. They built a hotel and school and continued to grow through the turn of the century, supported by the train station at nearby Elko. 

When the Chicago-St. Paul Railroad mapped out the area of Elko as a stop on their expanding rail lines in 1902, new businesses grew up around the railroad and existing businesses in New Market prospered. The town of Elko was officially incorporated in 1949 after a conflict with the township over liquor licenses. 62 of the 114 residents had petitioned to the Scott County Board of Commissioners requesting to become a village. The Board approved the petition and then the citizens of Elko voted on the measure. 

Advent of the Interstate

Use of railroads declined as automobiles became more popular and interstate highways popped up across America. Interstate 35 was constructed in the 1960s and the railroad left Elko a decade later. With these changes, business declined in both towns but housing construction boomed. 

As housing exploded, concerns grew surrounding the capacity of the existing sewer system. Housing construction stopped in the 1980s and a new sewer system was built─shared between Elko and New Market. 

Merger 

In 2004, the city councils of Elko and New Market began to consider the possibility of a merger.  Together, the two towns drafted a Cooperation and Combination Plan, which laid out the steps they would have to take for the approval and implementation of a merger. This plan was completed and approved by both city councils in January 2006.

Even before the merger, Elko and New Market shared several services in addition to the shared sewer system. Elko contracted with New Market’s fire department, and New Market borrowed Elko’s police department.

A public merger vote, open to all citizens of Elko and New Market, was held on March 21, 2006.  The merger passed with resounding success. In Elko, 213 people voted for the merger, while only 38 voted against, and in New Market the score stood at 224 to 47.

Sign for the merger between Elko and New Market, 2006. SCHS Collection.

The new Elko New Market was honored with two awards for the successful unification: an Excellence Award for Municipal Consolidation from the League of Minnesota Cities and an Innovation Award from the Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. 

Today, the unified town of Elko New Market is home to more than 4,500 people, longtime natives and new arrivals alike. While distinct from New Market Township, the town of Elko New Market remains the commercial hub for township residents.

Scott County Memories: A New Market Hotel

These recollections were dictated by Helen Kaufenberg of New Market in 1980 and originally shared in the collection “As I Remember Scott County”

New Market MN around 1900. Photo from the SCHS Collections.

My earliest memories of my childhood are the first ten years of my life that I spent in the hotel that my parents operated. It was a busy little lace as very few people owned cars. The traveling salesman would come by train to the neighboring village of Elko. Then they would come to New Market. If they came in the evening, they would have to stay until the next day. Also the farmers from neighboring Cedar Lake Township had to haul their grai to the elevator at Elko by team, so many of them would stop at the hotel for a meal. They were charged twenty five cents. This was around 1910 to 1920. We had several girls who helped with the cooking and other chores.

I remember mother getting up some mornings at 3 o’clock to do the laundry. There was no electricity and it was a little scary to come downstairs alone. I laso recall that some of the laundry was sent to the cities by train. It was put in large canvas hampers around 4 feet long and 3 feet high.

There were dances held in the Village Hall and during intermission a supper was served at the hotel. On one particular night they served a turkey supper. They had everything waiting for the crowd when the stove pope in a the wood range fell down. It was really a disaster.

St. Nicholas Catholic Church of New Market, 1890. Photo from the SCHS Collections.

Another time, my folks told about a burglary at the Post Office next door. A salesman for the Schmidt Brewery had been on the train and got off at Elko. He had seen to suspicious men get of the train. He immediately walked around to the other side of the train and walked toward the train elevator. He called from the depot and alerted the people at New Market, so when the hotel closed at 11 o’clock, some of the people stayed up and watched through a window at the back of the hotel. They were watching the Post Office and also the bank which was next door. The salesman got ahold of a gun and opened the window just enough to put the gun through. When the burglars tried to get in the back door of the Post Office they were frightened away. There was evidence that the burglars had waited in the choir loft of the church as there were cigarettes and cigar stubs left behind.

On the Hunt…

This summer the Scott County Historical Society turns 50 years old. To commemorate our golden anniversary, we are having a summer full of events, festivals, and grand picnic (August 25th), and we have launched the Great Summer History Scavenger Hunt!

Visit 10 historic locations (or as many as you can) in Scott County before our 50th anniversary picnic! Take a picture at each one and email it to us (info@scottcountyhistory.org). Complete the quest and you will win…

• A prize at our 50th anniversary picnic

• The chance to have your photos featured in an upcoming exhibit

• everlasting fame and glory.

The great hunt has already spawned stories. A woman and her father have been visiting a new town’s locations each day and are trying new restaurants. A family has been making a summer scrapbook with their photos. To augment those tales, here are some of the stories behind the 10 Scott County locations you will visit as you complete your summer adventure:

Location 1: The Stans House/ Scott County Historical Society – Shakopee

The Stans House was built in 1908 by Hubert Stans. It is constructed in the Dutch Colonial Style, popular at the time. One of our long-serving volunteers recounted visiting the house while she was girl, but sad she never got past the kitchen because Mrs. Stans didn’t want young folks mussing up the rest of her house. Luckily, today you can visit the whole lower floor. It has been restored giving visitors peek at what life was like for a middle class family in Scott County near the turn of the 20th century. Inside you can wind a Victrola, learn how an icebox works, and recline on a fainting couch. If you are interested in touring the house, be sure to call us and make an appointment in advance- 952.445.0378.

Next door to the Stans House is the Scott County Historical Society. Inside the building is used for a wide variety of  purposes. We have rotating exhibit galleries: currently you can learn about Scott County in WW1, toursim in Scott County, American Indians of the area, and the history of the Stans Family. Coming soon are exhibits on sports in the county, and the use of tools to build Scott County. The building is also home to a  research library featuring the lineup of newspapers throughout county history, subject folders, historic maps, county books, and a card catalog to help you track down your family’s history. The museum and library are open:
Tuesday , Wednesday and Friday- 9am to 4pm
Thursday- 9am to 8pm
Saturday- 10am to 3pm
Come pay us a visit!

Location 2: Veterans Memorial- Shakopee

Located off of highway 101, Memorial Park is Shakopee’s largest. The 147 acre park features picnic shelters, friendly mill-pond ducks, multiple playgrounds and shady walking paths. Centrally located is an AH-1F Cobra helicopter. The design was prominently used during the Vietnam war, and now serves as a sculptural tribute to Shakopee’s veterans.

Location 3: Mudbaden (now called the SCALE Training Facility)- Jordan

Mudbaden was a health spa founded by Ose Rosendahl in 1906. Around 1900, a peddlers cart and horse got stuck in the mud while trying to pass through Rosendahl’s property. As they worked together to free the cart. As they labored in the mud, the murky ground began to release sulfurous fumes. Rather than be offput by the smell, the men realized that Rosendahl had a business opportunity on his hands. The smelly mud was believed to have health benefits, and mud spas were making money throught Europe at the time. Rosendahl began cooking up mud treatments in his kitchen, and soon “Rosendahl Sulpher Springs” was born. 

By 1910 a new building was built to house up to 70 people who had come to visit the restorative mud. The sight was renamed Mudbaden, and it began to become a serious tourist attraction. By 1912, ten plus trains were stopping at the site each day.

In 1914 the modern brick building was built with a capacity of 200 visitors. Mudbaden was a true resort, with dancing, music, parties, movies and banquets complimenting mud treatments. The facility continued to grow, acquiring the rival Jordan Sulpher Springs site in 1925. It continued to host a steady clientele until the 1940s when medical advances made mud treatments seem out of vogue. Mudbaden finally closed it’s doors for good in 1952, but the beautiful structure created for the mud baths still stands. Now known as the SCALE regional training facility, Mudbaden is located at 17706 Valley View Dr and is a pleasant bike ride from Jordan.

Location 4: Ambrose Friedman Cabin – Jordan

One of the oldest European American homes still standing in Scott County. It was being used as a storage shed, but was purchased, restored and moved to its present location by Clement Nachbar in memory of his parents, Mathias Nachbar and Wilhelmina Mertens Nachbar, who settled near Jordan in 1855. The cabin is now open as a museum on Memorial Day and for special events. The cabin is found at the intersection of Water st and Varner st, near downtown Jordan

Location 5: Episcopal Church of the Transformation – Belle Plaine

The Episcopal Church of the Transfiguration, an Episcopal church building in Belle Plaine,  is a Carpenter Gothic style building with wooden buttresses. Sometimes referred to as a “prairie Gothic” church, it was built in 1868 for English-speaking parishioners, but most of the rural residents at the time were German and Irish immigrants who brought their own languages and religious practices with them. The result was a church building that struggled to attract worshipers for 80 years before the beautiful church was abandoned. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Memories, details and stories about the church can be found in the book “What Happened Here: A History of the Episcopal Church of the Transfigoraton” by Lee Howard Smith, available at the Scott County Historical Society. Here is a taste, recalled by Hinrietta Hillstrom Smith: 

I have many memories of this church. I remember the early services at 7am with the early morning sun streaming through the east window above the alter with its beautiful colored glass. I remember the 5pm services during the winter months when the church had to be heated. The fires were started during the morning and kept going most of the day in order to get it warm enough to spend an hour at service. Later to save time and heat services were held in the Vestry. I had a round oak stove which wasn’t being used that I loaned to the church, some benches were moved in, a small table with white linen was used as an alter. It provided warmth and since there were so few people there was a closeness, and a closeness to God.

The Episcopal Church of the Transformation is at 201 N Walnut St in Belle Plaine

Location 6: Two Story Outhouse – Belle Plaine

The Hooper–Bowler–Hillstrom House was built in 1871 in Belle Plaine, Minnesota, United States, by Sandford A. Hooper, a local businessman and promoter of the town. By 1886 it was sold to Samuel Bowler, a founder of the State Bank of Belle Plaine and lumber-yard owner. Bowler added a new kitchen, buttery, and , most famously, a five-hole, two-story outhouse that is connected to the house via a skyway. He also added a copper-lined bathtub. When the Bowlers moved to Denver, Colorado in 1901, the clapboard frame house was sold to Alfred Hillstrom whose family lived in the house until it was purchased in 1975 by the Belle Plaine Historical Society. The house is now furnished in a variety of periods that reflect its long life. It is open for tours from 1-4pm on Sundays between Memorial day and Labor day. Find the Hooper-Bowler-Hilstrom house along with its famous toilet at Court Square Park in Belle Plaine

Location 7: New Market Hotel and Store – Elko New Market

The Elko New Market Hotel and Store was built by Joesph Baltes in 1897. The building was originally given the cozy name of Home Hotel, and featured a first floor tavern with sleeping rooms upstairs. The hotel served visitors a business people traveling throughout the region. It also was a local social gathering place, holding suppers during dances at the Village Hall, and as a place to meet with locals and visitors.
The hotel was typical of its time, with no electricity, and the owners living on site in the back of the first floor barroom. Laundry services were also offered for a small fee, and the owner’s wife would start washing sometimes as early as 3 O’clock.

Today the building still looks the same as it did in 1897, though with some different paint around the old windows, and big green sign on the front. . Visitors to the hotel today can walk up the double-wide staircase and peek into original rooms, each with a different theme which constantly changes. The current operators of the hotel maintain six rooms that visitors can see. The first floor is still a shop that is open periodically throughout the year.

Visit the Elko New Market Hotel and Store at 441 Main St, New Market, MN

Location 8: Church of Saint Wenceslaus – New Prague

The group of immigrants who settled New Prague had originally settled around Dubuque, Iowa, but many of them died of cholera. Four men from the community traveled up the Mississippi River to Saint Paul, in search of a healthier climate. They met with Catholics in the area who advised them that Benedictines from Saint John’s Abbey near Saint Cloud, Minnesota, were helping settlers find land. The explorers from the Czech community got lost, though, and ended up following the Minnesota River to Shakopee instead. They found that there was ample land to the south, so the four men purchased land and brought their families north from Iowa.

The parish of St. Wenceslaus was organized in 1856, and a log church was built the following year. The log church was destroyed by fire in 1864, so a more permanent building was erected in 1866, built of brick and stone. As the parish grew, though, more room was needed. Father Francis Tichy (pictured) directed the building of the new church, which was designed by St. Paul architect Hermann Kretz. Archbishop John Ireland dedicated the new building on July 7, 1907.

Brick and Kasota limestone were used for constructing the spacious building. It dominates the skyline of the small city of New Prague, measuring 165 by 67 feet , with two towers that rise 110 feet. The architectural style combines neoclassical and Romanesque architectural styles, and is based on a church in Prague. Czech Republic. The church, rectory, and school were listed together on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

Location 9: Train Depot – New Prague

One of the most important developments in the new village occurred in 1877 when the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway (M & St. L) reached New Prague. The arrival of the railroad era expedited agriculture as New Prague’s most important industry. A link with the outside world enabled farmers to send their commodities to markets and created a conduit to bring inventory to the village’s businesses. Just four years after the M & St. L reached New Prague, the first grain elevator and flour mill were completed, marking the beginning of New Prague earning its nickname, the “Flour City.”

The historic New Prague Train Depot is still standing next to the flour mill on 2nd ave in New Prague

Location 10: Your Hometown History!

For site number 10, choose a place that has historic significance to you or your family. It could be a home that goes back generations, or simply a place that you enjoy today. Take a picture and share your story with us- these stories are what make history come alive. 

Please join us in the 2018 summer history hunt- and share your pictures and stores with is at info@scotthistory.org, even if you are unable to make it to every site. Happy hunting!

Tale of Two Cities – Merger

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the merger of Elko and New Market into one unified city.  Today the long-term residents of the two towns live side by side with new inhabitants, people who came to the area in search of small-town life, but who enjoy the convenience of the nearby suburbs.  The population of New Market quadrupled between 2000 and 2004 due to the influx of young professionals settling into the area.

In 2004, the city councils of both towns began to consider the possibility of a merger.  Together, the two towns drafted a Cooperation and Combination Plan which laid out the steps they would have to take for the approval and implementation of a merger.  This plan was completed and approved by both city councils in January 2006.

The merger plan was detailed, laying out the exact changes in city structure and services that would follow a successful merger.  The Cooperation and Combination Plan was especially thorough when it came to development and land use, facilities, services, finances, and governing structure, as these would be the most important elements to consider in a merger.

Even before the merger, Elko and New Market shared several services.  Elko contracted with New Market’s fire department and New Market borrowed Elko’s police department.  The two towns even shared a sewer system.  A successful merger would only compound the symbiotic relationship that existed between the two settlements.

A merger vote was held on March 21, 2006.  This was a public vote, open to all citizens of Elko and New Market.  The merger was passed with resounding success.  In Elko, 213 people voted for the merger, while only 38 voted against, and in New Market the score stood at 224 to 47.  The referendum to merge passed.

Once the merger passed, the towns’ administrators had just over nine months to implement the Cooperation and Combination Plan before the towns officially merged on January 1, 2007.  The city councils and administrators from both towns came together to form a single interim government in charge of implementing the merger plan.

Today, the unified town of Elko New Market is home to over 4,500 people, long-time natives and new arrivals alike.

To learn more about the histories of Elko and New Market and the merger that brought them together, visit the new exhibit on Elko New Market, opening soon at the Elko New Market Library.