HomeMy WebLinkAbout2016-10-11 PACKET 06.D.MmCottage
Grove
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TO: Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation
FROM: John M. Burbank, Senior Planner
DATE: October 6, 2016
RE: 80th Street Quadrant — Interpretive Signs
The attached narrative sheets are the draft text for one of the four interpretive signs that
will be constructed and placed in the new James Sullivan Norris public plaza located at the
intersection quadrant of 80th Street and Hadley Avenue.
The four historic interpretive sign topics that have been identified are:
➢ James Sullivan Norris
➢ Early Suburban Growth
➢ Prehistory—Geologic Information
➢ "Center of Town" Evolution/Growth (Atkinson Corner)
Recommendation
Review the submitted text and provide direction to staff.
JAMES NORRIS SULLIVAN
This public plaza is named respectfully in recognition of Mr. James Sullivan Norris of Cottage Grove, who
was one of the earliest settlers of Minnesota and specifically Cottage Grove. His story began on August 5,
1810 at Monmouth, Kennebunk County, Maine, where he was born to parents that were descendants of
early settlers of New England. While in his youth he obtained a good common school education and later
practiced farming and lumbering at Pittsfield and other places in Maine.
Mr. Norris traveled to the portions of the Wisconsin territory now known as Minnesota as early 1839 where
he engaged in lumbering on the St. Croix. In 1840, in partnership with a Mr. Joseph Haskell, Norris started
to farm in southern Washington County near the St. Croix River. The first field they cut in the thick prairie
sod was three acres in size and took four pairs of oxen with two men behind a plow six days to complete.
This early farming venture yielded corn and potatoes as first crops. It was reported that the men were of
such limited supplies that their bread had to be cooked on a shovel. In 1942 Norris went to work as a clerk
at the trading post of Joseph Brown, which was located on Lower Grey Cloud Island.
His toils and travels in this area led him to Sections 1 and 12 in the northeast portion of our community
where he filed claim. In July 1843 he built a cabin in the woods and called his homestead "Cottage Grove."
This homestead site is located north of 70th Street near Lamar Community Park.
At his new homestead he broke 40 acres of prairie. The native grasses with their deep and tangled roots
did not make for easy work. At that time it was noted as the largest plowed field in the Territory. The fate
of the famous first crop did not go well, as it rotted in the barn for lack of a convenient processing mill. The
1844 crop yielded from a total of 90 acres, but distribution of the grain was still difficult until several years
later when a new mill was built in Afton by LeMuel Bolles. The wheat crops planted in Norris's field has
given Cottage Grove the distinction of being the birthplace of wheat farming for trade in Minnesota.
Subsequent annual crops proved profitable to Norris and allowed him to live well off the profits from his
farming.
James married Haskell's sister, Miss Sophia Jane, in December 1845. The couple adopted a son who was
blind from birth and was reported to have been a very talented musician in his adult years.
The township incorporated on October 20, 1858, shortly after the State of Minnesota entered the union as
the 32nd state in 1858. Cottage Grove was the name chosen for the new township.
As Norris's own roots settled deeper in the area, he became actively involved in the growth of the
community, the region, and Minnesota as an early state. Some of the notable public positions in the early
government held by Norris were:
• 1843: Justice of the Peace
• 1849-51: Member of the first Territorial Council
• 1855: President of the Cottage Grove Lyceum Association
• 1855 & 56: First Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives
• 1857: Member of the Constitutional Convention
During all of those years serving in these various positions, Norris also simultaneously served the new
community as County Commissioner, Town Supervisor, Assessor, Town Clerk, and Master of the Accacia
Mason Lodge.
James Sullivan Norris was a well-respected and engaged civic leader and community member until his
death on March 5, 1874.
Suburban Development in Cottage Grove
From 1843 to 1955 residential growth and development in Cottage Grove was that of a rural community
with agricultural activities and structures.
That period of idyllic lifestyle in Cottage Grove was forever changed when Panorama City, the first
suburban plat, was recorded in Cottage Grove Township. The 13 -lot single family subdivision was
developed by the David Realty Company. Only 8 homes were constructed prior to the development failing
for financial reasons. The vacant parcels were eventually acquired by the City and developed as the
Granada Neighborhood Park and Open Space.
(INSERT PANAMA CITY PLAT MAP)
In 1958 Orrin Thompson Homes purchased the Belden Farm located in Sections 17 and 18 and began
construction on the Thompson Grove neighborhood.
(INSERT OLD PLAT MAP SHOWING BAILEY LAND HOLDINGS)
The housing market in Cottage Grove was dominated by Orrin Thompson Homes until the late 1980s
when other builders began to construct homes and offer other housing options and values to residents
of Cottage Grove. With this steady surge in housing growth, the population of the community also
significantly increased. The following table identifies the population growth from 1950 to 2015:
(INSERT TABLE HERE)
While housing has been the dominant growth on the landscape of Cottage Grove, agriculture is still an
important part of the fabric of the community and is one of the noted features that attract and retain
residents. Since the adoption of the zoning code in 1976, constant protection of agriculture has been
maintained through the Agricultural Preservation zoning classification that contains urban sprawl by
limiting density in rural agricultural areas to one dwelling unit per 40 acres.
The City's Comprehensive Plans have also consistently designated portions of the community as
agricultural as the City balances the current and future land use mix of Cottage Grove. Given its early
role as the birthplace of commercial wheat farming in Minnesota and now its role as a second ring
suburban community, Cottage Grove is a city that preserves its past while planning for and accepting
new growth.
Cottage Grove is a great place to live, work, and play