The History of Louisville Township Part 2: Louisville

Building a Town

Louisville was originally platted by French fur trader Louis LaCroix who established a trading post on the bank of the river, likely in 1850. In 1853, H. H. Spencer arrived from Louisville, Kentucky with his family. He envisioned a community in the northwest corner of the township thriving on steamboat travel and trade along the Minnesota River. Spencer soon began buying up lots. He built a home for his family, a grocery store, and a post office where he established himself as postmaster - and also offered free lots to other tradespeople who were willing to set up shop in the new community. Spencer then began working to recoup his investment, and make the town a financial success. Soon, he was advertising the prospects of  Louisville in newspapers around the region. 

This lengthy paragraph about Louisville was placed in the Minnesota Democratic Weekly on May 23, 1855: 

“Located on the South Bank of the Minnesota River at the nearest point below the Little Rapids that is above high water, it is about 50 miles above St. Paul, by the river and 34 by land, and 10 or 12 miles by the river and 6 miles by land above Shakopee. Louisville is on a high rolling Prairie, with a number of springs of the best water and an abundance of good limestone in the vicinity. Louisville has a first rate landing for steamboats and is the landing place for that rich expansive country bordering and on the prairie and the big woods, and when the water is low for steamboats to cross the rapids, it is the place for the travellers to and from the Upper Minnesota country to leave the steamboat and take one when bound for st paul, being the principal traveled road from St Paul to St Peter, Fort Ridgley etc. Travellers to the upper country will find teams at Louisville and vicinity to convey them up to this country. Strangers looking for claims can get information of conveyances to a very rich country back unclaimed and well timbered and water interrupted with meadows and beautiful lakes abounding with fish. Louisville has a store and hotel in operation, and a blacksmith shop and several dwelling buildings. Persons looking for liquidations are also invited to visit this place where H. H. Spencer, one of the proprietors, will be found ready and willing to sell property at fair prices. Great induments will be offered to mechanics, merchants etc to settle her this season. The place is laid off on a liberal plan. Lots 50 by 150 foot. Streets and alleys wide, and liberal donations have been made by the proprietors in the way of public grounds for churches and school purposes. ”

— Minnesota Democratic Weekly on May 23, 1855

Another example is this advertisement, published in the Daily Minnesotan Newspaper, November 1st, 1854: 

“A new town is to be laid out on the Minnesota River, some 15 miles above Shakopee. A saw mill, warehouse, and a large hotel are to be erected this fall and early in the return of spring. Enterprising gentlemen from New York and Wisconsin have recently made purchases at the place, and will be on with their families in spring. A friend of ours in the section says we in St Paul can have no real conception of the rapidity with which this whole upper country is being filled up with immigrants. He estimated that no less than six thousand settlers have gone in above Shakopee since the opening of navigation last spring. This village is situated on the south side of the Minnesota at the foot of the little rapids. The town is going ahead- keeping pace with other thriving villages of the valley.  Mr. H. H. Spencer is one of the proprietors and he has set up business on the spot. He took up by the Black Hawk yesterday several families to settle there, and lumber to build them houses. The land in the vicinity is excellent, and the country is rapidly filling up.”

— Daily Minnesotan Newspaper, November 1st, 1854

As a result of this campaign, around 30 families moved to the settlement.

A section of the obituary for J.W. Sencerbox, printed in the Scott County Argus, January 16, 1896

Building up Business

In 1856, Spencer built a gristmill in Louisville. Later that year, two steam mills were constructed, one by Ezra Gibbs, and one by J. W. Sencerbox. Both mills were operated by steam, as the Minnesota River was too placid at the townsite to provide enough power to operate a mill. Neither mill was destined for a long life, however. Gibbs’ business was unprofitable from the onset, and closed within the year. Sencerbox’s mill only lasted four years, closing its doors in 1865. 

In 1857, Spencer put down the funds to have a schoolhouse built in the town. A teacher, Hattie Kingsly, was brought on board. However, a 1937 article in the Jordan Independent describes the grim future of the schoolhouse thus: “An interest in education did not take in Louisville and from 1859 to 1863 the schoolhouse stood idle. Summer school was conducted in the next two years, and in winter of 1865-1866 Miss Belle Spencer held classes, but they were the last for Louisville”

Louisville never established a church, often a bedrock of early European American settlements in the area. Services were only held intermittently by circuit riders, usually in the home of H. H. Spencer. 

The Decline of Louisville

In this period of history, rail could make or break a fledgling town. Trains brought goods and supplies, as well as convenient shipping lanes for local farmers and merchants. They also brought new people to settle and expand local communities.

Soon after Louisville was constructed, shipping and travel began to move from steamboats to the more convenient rail lines. Louisville’s death was foretold when the St Paul and Sioux City railroad was mapped out. It bypassed Louisville entirely, traveling from Shakopee to Jordan, and crossing with the Minneapolis and St Louis railroad line at a point called Merriam Junction.  Farmers in the area began to take their goods and business elsewhere. 

In spite of his hearty publicity campaign, Spencer’s interest in the town soon began to wane. He closed his original grocery store in 1859. By the end of the 1860s, the town was nearly deserted. 

Railroads in Louisville Township. Photo from the Shakopee Valley News, September 16, 1987.

The History of Louisville Township Part 1: Louisville Then and Now

Map showing Louisville Township, including Louisville Swamp.

Beginnings of Louisville Township

Louisville Township is located in the northwestern corner of Scott County, boarded by the twists and turns of the Minnesota River. The natural landscape is varied, including prairies, forest, marsh and swampland, an oak savanna. Like most parts of Scott County, the Louisville Township area was originally settled by the Dakota, thousands of years before European Americans came to the area. The area was home to the Eastern Wahpeton band of the Dakota. 

In 1930, a priest named Father Klien wrote a lengthy and detailed history of his church in Marystown in Louisville Township and the surrounding area. In his discussion of early census attempts, he wrote “The reported census did not measure up to the actual number of people”, and that “The territory was recognized as the legitimate domain of the Dakota”.

He goes on to describe the rapid change brought to Louisville Township by the 1851 Treaty of Traverse De Sioux. Like in other parts of Scott County, “settlers began to pour in from the Midwest, East, Germany, Ireland...drawn here by the chance to get good farms with what little money they possessed”

The history of Louisville Township is intertwined with the history of transportation in the region. Along with connections to Shakopee and Jordan due to proximity, the township was home to three European American towns. Two of these, Louisville and and Merriam Junction, grew and died along with transportation changes. 

Louisville was planned as a port city along the Minnesota River, taking advantage of steam travel. Merriam Junction was placed at the crossing of two major railroads, hoping to benefit from rail travelers. A third community, Marystown, sprung up around one of the oldest catholic churches in the region. 

Newspaper article showing the H.H. Spencer home which was the only structure still standing. “Spencer used it as living quarters, store and inn.” The man in the photo is August Holm who was one of the last Scott County residents who could remember going to Louisville. Jordan Independent July 8, 1937

Louisville Township Today

One of the most well-known yearly events in Louisville Township is the Minnesota Renaissance Festival. 

The first Renaissance Festival was held in Laurel Canyon, California in 1963. It was started by a local teacher who wanted to create an experience to share history with adults, modeled after the medieval fairs she would put on with her students each year. As the years progressed, the fair attracted members of the 1960s counterculture movement, and became less about historical authenticity and more about theater and community. 

As the Renaissance Festival expanded, people in other states began to take interest. Minnesota was home to the first festival outside of California, which took place in September of 1971 on a 22-acre field in Jonathan, Minnesota. It billed itself as “A Celebration of Nature, Art and Life,” and brought in over 25,000 people. 

The Renaissance Festival moved to its current location in Louisville Township in 1973. Today, it is the largest Renaissance Festival in the United States, attracting over 300,000 visitors yearly. It has launched the acts of nationally known performers, including Penn and Teller and the Flying Karamazov brothers. Singer Jason Mraz also had his first job at the Minnesota Renaissance Festival, selling pickles.

Another Louisville Township attraction is Louisville Swamp. Louisville Swamp is currently part of the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge, located between the Minnesota River and Highway 169. It was purchased by the US Fish and Wildlife Service in 1979 from Northern States Power Company. 

Newspaper article quoting Ranger McDonald on the attraction of the wildlife refuge at Louisville Swamp. Savage Pacer, October 31, 1998.

The title of “Swamp” is actually a misnomer, as the land includes prairies, forest, marshland, and oak savanna. The oak savanna is especially important. There were once an estimated 300 million acres of oak savannah in the United States. As of 1998, only 6500 acres remained. The area is important for local wildlife. It is a prime spot for birders, with sightings of hawks, kestrels and woodpeckers. Deer, raccoon, coyotes and walleye live in the park, and in the fall it is a resting place for migrating monarch butterflies. There has been an active effort to preserve native plants and reduce invasive species in Louisville Swamp, making it a home for flowers including the lady slipper and the nut rush. 

The area that is now Louisville Swamp includes parts of the ghost town of Louisville, and you can still see the foundations of several homesteads in the swamp. Hiking paths are open year round - visit the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge for details. 

A Few Early Settlers of Union Hill

The Hauer Family

The Hauer family included five brothers, four of them civil war veterans. They were Andrew, Jacob, Matthias, Nicholas (Klaus) and Nicholas (Nick). The family also had a daughter named Margaret. They moved to the area in 1867

Only Mathias and Nicholas (Klaus) remained in this area after long-term. Andrew moved to Fort Dodge, Iowa and Jacob left and settled near Montgomery. Nicholas (Nick) lived briefly in Iowa before settling in the town of Belle Plaine. In later years he returned to Union Hill and lived with his niece. 

The children belonged to Nicholas and Eva Schlinker Hauer who brought their family from Trier, Germany. They first settled in Michigan, but did not like it and moved to St Paul around 1850. Although they remained in Union Hill, the elder Nicholas Hauer is noted as saying for the rest of his life that he wished he had never left St Paul. 

In August of 1861, Matthias, Jacob and Andrew enlisted in the Union Army to fight in the Civil War The three boys served with the Minnesota Second Infantry Regiment, and all three were discharged at the end of the conflict in 1865. Nicholas (Klaus) joined them in the military in 1864 when he was drafted into the Minnesota Fourth Infantry Regiment. Amazingly, none of the four sons suffered injury during their time in the military. 

In 1865, Matthias  was married to Mary Peters of St. Benedict. They were the first couple to be married in St. John's, and although their marriage took place in Union Hill, they had known each other as children and even been neighbors in Germany. 

Nicholas (Klaus) Hauer lived to be 96. Before he left for the Civil War, he married Gertrude Renneberg at her home in Shakopee. The couple had ten children: eight sons and two daughters. 

The Schoenecker Family

Nicholas Schoenecker is believed to be the first European American settler in the Union Hill area. He arrived from Waxweiler, Germany in 1852 and purchased  section 25 of Belle Plaine Township. This land was still in the family over 100 years later. 

Six years after his arrival in Union Hill, Nicholas briefly returned to Germany after the death of his father. When he returned, he brought back his mother Katherine, his brother Matt Schoenecker, and Matt’s wife Anna Maria. Katherine passed away in 1868 and was the first adult buried in St John’s Cemetery at Union Hill. 

In 1867, Nicholas was elected as spokesman for the community in their attempt to convince the Bishop Grace in St. Paul to assign a permanent priest to the community. 

Matt and Anna Maria lived to celebrate their golden wedding anniversary. They had five sons and five daughters. Nicholas married Katherina Lochen and they raised a family of six boys

The Witt Family

Carl Witt and their four children came from Wangerin, Germany to LaCrosse, Wisconsin in 1857. In 1859 the family relocated to begin farming in the Birch Coulee area of the Minnesota River Valley in Renville County near Morton, Minnesota. Three years later, Mrs. Whitt was killed by a stray bullet during the US Dakota War of 1862. One of their children, Carl Witt Jr. was also wounded After her death, the family packed up their possessions and moved into Fort Ridgley, where a doctor was able to tend to Carl’s wounds. The family remained for a time at Fort Ridgely, before traveling with other families who had lost their homes in the conflict to New Ulm, and later Belle Plaine. 

After a brief stay in Belle Plaine, the Witt family went to stay with Franz Giesen in Union Hill. Carl Witt Sr. later married Mrs. John Giesen, a widow with two children.

Early Sand Creek Township

The Landscape of Sand Creek

Like most parts of Scott County, the Sand Creek Township area was originally settled by the Dakota, thousands of years before European Americans came to the area. We don’t know many details of this Dakota Settlement, but early European Americans in the area commented on Dakota communities on the bluffs along the Minnesota River in the township. The area was home to the Eastern Wahpeton band of the Dakota. Given the landscape of the area, it is believed that there were likely seasonal hunting villages in what is now Sand Creek Township. 

Sand Creek was originally part of the Big Woods. This landscape was made up of heavy oak, basswood and elm. In fact, the forested area in Sand Creek was described by early European Americans as “impenetrable”. The thick trees made traditional European farming methods challenging. 

Early European American presence in the area was tied to milling. The nearby community of Jordan sprang up for this reason as well. The first European American structure we know of in the area was a sawmill built by William Holmes in 1853. William was the brother of Thomas Holmes, a land speculator known as the “Father of Shakopee”. Thomas Holmes eventually left the county, but William stayed on and settled in Jordan. After the mill was constructed, a few homes sprang up in the area, owned by men named John Smith and Comfort Baines. In 1854 a second mill was built, this one a grist mill operated by William Varner. In 1855 the first frame house was built. This small community in Sand Creek Township came to be known as St Joe. 

At this time, Sand Creek was known as Douglas Township, and was officially organized in 1858. Several months later, it was renamed St Mary Township. In 1859 the name was finally hanged to Sand Creek.

Early European American Settlers of Sand Creek Township

On January 20, 1927 the Shakopee Argus Tribune ran a piece profiling the early settlers of St Joe.

W. B. Baudy was born in Indiana in 1822, and came to Minnesota in 1857. While in Indiana he listed his profession as “hired man”. After arriving in Minnesota, he spent several years working in Scott County’s brick industry, and in various pineries. Finally, he was able to purchase 77 acres in section 4 of Sand Creek Township. He didn’t remain on the land long, but enlisted in 1862 and served for two years in the Union army. His first wife, “Miss Springer” passed away while he was at war. After he returned, he married “Miss Barrisford”, and they had two children. 

Frank Matchett was born in Ohio, and studied journalism at the Hiram Institute. After graduating, he worked as printer for the Elmira Eagle for several years, then became a typesetter in Cleveland. He came to Minnesota after accepting a position to work at the St Paul Press in 1874. He did not stay there long, choosing instead to move around the state, helping to start small newspapers including the Wright County Eagle and Howard Lake People’s Advocate. In 1878 he came to Scott County and settled in Sand Creek Township, starting the Scott County Advocate newspaper. He married Sarah Reed of Jordan in 1879. 

Eli Palmer was born in Syracuse, New York in 1818. He soon moved to Illinois where he remained for 37 years. In 1855 he agreed to captain a wagon train to California, where he built a trading post and remained for two years. After this time, he sold his property in Illinois and bought land in Sand Creek township. Eli Palmer enlisted in the Union Army in 1861 and served for three years. 

Henry and Francis Eckman came to the United States from Germany in 1850. They originally moved to St Louis where Henry drove a butcher’s wagon. After saving up money for several years, they came to Sand Creek Township and claimed a homestead. Henry built a small log cabin with a bark roof. For their first year, they had no oxen to help with breaking the ground. They used horses to “scratch the surface” of the land and planted a few crops among trees and stumps. The next year they bought oxen. Over time, they were able to plow the land and eventually built a barn and upgraded from a log cabin to a brick house. Eventually they focused on dairy cattle and sold butter and cheese. Henry and Francis had seven children. One started a sawmill, one a furniture store in Jordan, and three joined forces to open a brewery in Glencoe.