Category Archives: Readers’ Stories

Early Logging around Lake Itasca

My thanks to Wayne Ostlie, who has donated the following photos related to early logging around Minnesota’s Lake Itasca. These historic photos (ca 1910) reflect the hardships early loggers faced in cutting the timber that was floated on the Mississippi … Continue reading

Posted in All blog entries, EDGE OF ITASCA stories, Readers' Stories | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Latest addition to “Shared Photos”

We are pleased that Rick Wolfe has shared another 70+ postcards, his twelfth contribution. These photos are especially significant to Rick, since some of them show early life at Serpent Lake, located between Crosby and Deerwood, where Rick currently lives … Continue reading

Posted in All blog entries, Minnesota Resorts, Minnesota Tourism, Readers' Stories | 1 Comment

Here’s Mud in your Eye: Photos of Minnesota’s Early Health Spas

Our many thanks again go to Rick Wolfe, who is once again sharing images from his extensive postcard collection–this time 1910-1940 postcards of early Minnesota health spas. Spas go back at least as far as the Greeks and Romans. Their … Continue reading

Posted in All blog entries, Minnesota Tourism, Readers' Stories | 1 Comment

Radio interview

I was recently interviewed on Your Best with Kathy Weckwerth. On Kathy’s radio show we discussed her family’s purchase of a historic resort cabin, my books, and how Minnesota’s resorts are changing from the early era of smaller resorts with rustic … Continue reading

Posted in All blog entries, EDGE OF ITASCA stories, Minnesota Resorts, Minnesota Tourism, Readers' Stories | Leave a comment

Kurt Brown’s Leech Lake Postcards

Kurt Brown’s family has been going to Leech Lake, Minnesota since the 1930s when Kurt’s grandparents started staying at Sunset View Resort, near Brevik. His grandfather eventually built a cabin near Sunset View. Later that cabin became part of Carlson’s … Continue reading

Posted in All blog entries, Minnesota Resorts, Readers' Stories | 1 Comment

Early Clearwater Lake at Annandale, Minnesota

Steve Briggs, from Eagan, Minnesota, is a postcard collector with a special interest in Clearwater Lake in Minnesota. He has generously contributed fifty cards to the “Shared Photos” section of this website. Most are associated with early resorts, and many are over … Continue reading

Posted in All blog entries, Minnesota Resorts, Minnesota Tourism, Readers' Stories | 2 Comments

You Can’t go Straight to Crooked Lake

I recently received some old photographs of the Crooked Lake Fishing Camp, located in the boundary waters area near Ely, Minnesota. The camp was dependent primarily on float planes to transport tourists and supplies from Lake Shagawa, at Ely. In … Continue reading

Posted in All blog entries, Minnesota Resorts, Minnesota Tourism, Readers' Stories | 1 Comment

Will we hear your tree when it falls?

“The unrecorded past is none other than our old friend, the tree in the primeval forest which fell without being heard.” –Barbara Tuchman, American historian and author As we grow older we discover that the past becomes more important to … Continue reading

Posted in All blog entries, Minnesota Resorts, Readers' Stories | 3 Comments

Postcard Images Donated by Lyell Henry

I want to thank Lyell Henry for his recent donation of postcard photos viewed in the “Share your History” of this website. Lyell shares a varied background and a common interest in early tourism, especially as it relates to motels, … Continue reading

Posted in All blog entries, Minnesota Resorts, Minnesota Tourism, Readers' Stories | Leave a comment

Postcards donated by Darryl Hensel

Darryl Hensel helped me immensely in gathering resort information from the Park Rapids–Itasca Park–Mantrap Valley areas. He unselfishly contributed many early resort images from his collection for my book, The Early Resorts of Minnesota. Now Darryl has offered all the … Continue reading

Posted in All blog entries, Minnesota Resorts, Minnesota Tourism, Readers' Stories | 1 Comment