My Great Great Great Grandfather, Charles Bazille, arrived in St. Paul in 1843. He married Annie Jane Perry, built the first frame house in St. Paul (for Louis Robert) and donated the land for the first State Capital. It’s interesting that he was on the City Council, even though he signed his name with an X. I’m guessing the donation of land for the Minnesota Capital had something to do with that. As you might imagine it was a very interesting time that led to many interesting stories. These stories went right up to the 1960’s battle over the original State Capital land reverting back to the heirs. There are St. Paul Pioneer Press stories from this time as the battle was over several acres of downtown St. Paul. Not surprisingly, the heirs did not win that one. The family oriented historical research led me to an interest in the history of locations. If you haven’t checked out the MHS facebook page you should. Rick Kruger does an excellent job of researching locations in the Minnetonka area. I use my metal detector all over, but I’ll mention a couple of Minnetonka examples here. I read that the workers on the railroad sometimes camped alongside the railroad tracks. Many of these workers were Canadian. There are a number of walking trails just NE of the Burwell House with railroad tracks running through the center of this walking area. I was able to locate one of these temporary camps near the tracks with my metal detector. I found some refuse, like old cans, but I also found a 1901 Canadian Penny about 6 inches down. This penny had a hole drilled in it. I can picture a railroad worker wearing this penny around their neck on a string as a reminder of home. That’s the main thing I like about metal detecting, is that it triggers the imagination on how an item was lost and the person who lost it. Another example relates to the emergence of an automobile culture. In the 1930’s a number of auto parks were built along roads for picnicking and such. One of these is on Highway 7 near Minnetonka High School. You may have driven by without even noticing it, but it is visible from the road. I was able to find dozens of coins, radio show premiums, etc. from this era of auto parks at the Highway 7 auto park.

History is rewarding and important. Not only is it enjoyable to learn, but it has important lessons to teach us. It’s been a lifelong passion of mine and if you are a member of the MHS, I suspect it’s an interest of yours as well. Thank you for supporting us so that we can continue to open others’ eyes to the joys of learning about and preserving history.