The City Of Bethel

Preface The first settlement in what is known as Bethel Township was made in the northern part in the spring of 1856 by an unidentified group of Quakers. The place came to be known as the Quaker Settlement, and had its own church and school. Some of the early settlers did the necessary work on their clams during the summer, and made sure of leaving in the fall before the Rum River froze up as that was the only route of transportation At the time of the Indian Massacre of 1862 these settlers removed their families to Anoka and Minneapolis. Most of them returned when the excitement calmed down; however the Quakers never returned. James Cooper picked the name “Bethel” from the Bible, and named the township when it was organized in 1858. It included nearly all of the present township of Linwood. Bethel Township was reduced to its present limits when Linwood Township was organized in 1871. The Bethel Post Office was established in 1863. James Cooper was appointed postmaster and served for 15 years. In 1898 the Great Northern Railway cleared a right of way for a short cut to Duluth. The section house, depot, bunk house and stockyards were built as the tracks were laid. On July 4th the first train was run this far and the town had a celebration. Old and young were on hand to see the train ,and several of the settlers had a ride. As soon as regular train service was established, mail came by train. The new village became known as “Bethel” as was incorporated in 1901. Some of the streets in town were named after early permanent settlers, and for Admiral Dewey who was in the Spanish American War. Bethel had many businesses back in the early 1900’s. There were Hotels, general stores, hardware stores, a feed mill, potato warehouse, blacksmith shop and a pickle factory. Other businesses included, doctor’s office, dentist, and mortuary. A livery stable, meat market, real estate offices, pool room, café and drug store were also included. We had our own Bank, and the “Bethel Banner” newspaper.

Before there was Bethel Back in 1858 when Minnesota was being surveyed, Bethel was little more than a mud puddle.

Bethel? In the early maps in the library of Congress the township of Bethel doesn’t appear, or is in a different spot from the present location today.

Bethel is on the map. Bethel became organized as a township in1858, the same year Minnesota became a state.

Bethel is in the Anoka Sand Plane. Bethel is in the Anoka Sand Plane with not much sticking out of the wetland. Most of the town is less than 10 feet above the water table.

The First Train Depot of Bethel. The first Train Depot was built in Bethel in 1898 when the railroad came through.

The Changing of the Railroad. The Train Depot is now a local business that makes hearing aids.

From Depot’s to Locomotive Repair. In the early 1940’s, The City of Bethel had a locomotive repair shop that started after the Depot closed up.

The changing of Locomotive Repair Today, Independent Locomotive Service is a company that rebuilds and/or restores diesel Locomotives for Coops and small power plants.

Bethel Sewer Project The Bethel Sewer Project Started in 1993 due to the poor drinking water conditions. This picture is of the proposed sewer site.

The 2003 Sewer Upgrade The city received a grant to rebuild the existing sewer site and to increase capacity for future expansion. The upgrade will only allow for 15 new sewer hookups.

The MNDOT Weather Station The MNDOT weather station / communications tower was established in 1958.

The New School The old school house was torn down, and the new school was built back in the early 1950’s. My father-in-law attended school here.

Sandhill Center for the Arts The “new school”, as it was known, has not been used by the school district for more than 35 years. It has been converted to the Sandhill Center for the Arts, and the early childhood education center for the last 10 years.

One Square Mile? The City of Bethel used to be exactly one square mile. A 40 acre parcel of land in the south west corner was annexed into Bethel in 2003 for development, but due to sewer conditions the land has yet to be developed.

The Post Office The first postmaster was James Cooper back in 1863. Since then, Bethel’s mail doesn’t come on the train anymore. There is a truck that picks up and delivers the mail every night at 5:30.

The Bank The bank that survived the Great Depression is now a office building for a physical therapy company.

The Inn The old Inn is now a private residence. This building used to be a boarding place for railroad employees who were working on the railroad.

The Volunteer Fire Department. The City has had their own volunteer fire department for over 40 years.

The former City Hall has been turned into a community center.

What would a Small Town be:

Without a couple of Bars? I have to say that the Dugout has the best hamburgers south of Cambridge.

References http://www.results.net/US/MN/Bethel http://www.city-data.com/city/Bethel-Minnesota.html http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/map_item.pl http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/gmd:@filreq(@field(STATE+minnesota)+@field(COLLID+rrmap)) http://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/101466/2/S21_map.pdf http://www.arcgis.com/home/webmap/viewer.html?webmap=375ca3103d7d4f15a26513a613b67b1a&extent=-99.8007,43.4063,-88.32,49.4335 http://www.googleearth.com Interview: Bethel City Clerk