Lengthy earlier than the arrival of tweets, texts, posts and chats, vacationers recounted their holidays with household and associates by mailing postcards.
Lead interpretive naturalist Connie Cox just lately shared Itasca State Park’s postcard assortment, relationship from the 1900s by means of Sixties. Many have been donated to the park by collectors or members of the family, she stated. Cox additionally seeks them out at vintage shops.
Contributed/Minnesota Division of Pure Assets
Her presentation opened the Headwaters Heart for Lifelong Studying’s fall season.
Talking on Tuesday, Sept. 2, Cox stated the photographs and private messages reveal behind-the-scenes tales from the early days of vacationing within the park.
“Itasca has 1,001 tales. I’ve not even touched on all them,” she stated.
As of June, Cox has labored on the park for 30 years. She has a level in wildlife administration, “however I like historical past, so I’ve a minor in American research, which is American historical past.”
“I discover class in postcards as a result of you must take time to write down on the again. You must take time to pick the proper image,” she stated.
Park workers additionally make the most of postcards for analysis and reference.“For instance, the place have been the massive pine bushes in entrance of Douglas Lodge? When a wind storm comes, like we had on June 20, they usually knock our bushes down, we are able to attempt to plant bushes again to create a sure feeling that space has,” Cox defined.
A 1910 postcard reveals that Itasca was as soon as spelled Itaska.
These early photographs additionally unveil the deep ruts shaped by horse-drawn wagon wheels – the principle mode of transportation.
“Most individuals both walked, rode a wagon or got here by stage,” Cox stated. “We’ve got footage of the early stagecoach. It was both a two- or four-wheel wagon pulled both by a mule or a horse. Nothing fancy.”
It was a full-day of journey from Park Rapids to the park on a gravel, two-rut street, she famous.
Cox stated park workers usually scours the Park Rapids Enterprise’s archives, searching for historic details about Itasca.
In 1915, roads and cars have been rising, Cox stated, making recreation extra accessible.
“Again then, it was fairly a journey,” Cox stated. “These roads traveled by means of a patchwork of farm land and undeveloped forests. It was simply an journey for vacationers that have been going to make the journey to Itasca State Park.”
Area people members constructed roads – not state or federal companies – at the moment, she famous.
Gasoline stations have been uncommon. Based on an Enterprise article, the primary one arrived in Park Rapids within the early 1910s.
A 1939 postcard from one household describes their journey as “far-off from civilization, out within the wilds of Minnesota.”
Contributed/Minnesota Division of Pure Assets
“When Jacob Brower helped set up Itasca State Park in 1891, Governor Lind was serving in workplace,” Cox defined.
The governor appreciated to horseback experience, so the park created a path particularly for guests who got here by horse.
It was “a pleasant loop,” she stated, that included the headwaters. “Over time, it turned a automobile touring route.”
A customer penned, “I haven’t misplaced my again finish, thus far,” on a 1914 postcard of the Lind Saddle Path. Cox is uncertain if they’re referring to a rear-axle roadster or saddle soreness.
Resorts, cabins and campgrounds
Established about 1916, the Headwaters Inn sat on the north entrance of the park. Its moniker advanced by means of the Seventies, as totally different individuals owned it, based on Cox.
The resort’s bungalows have been “designed due to the auto. They have been automobile pleasant,” she stated.
Contributed/Minnesota Division of Pure Assets
One other standard lodge was Park View Resort, situated on No Title Street, close to the park’s swimming seaside.
It was owned by August Schneider, a brother to Johanna Wegmann, based on Cox. The Wegmanns have been among the many first white settlers within the Itasca space, she stated.
Among the park’s unique log cabins now not exist.
“A few of them have been constructed within the 1910s,” she stated. “They have been quite primitive building.”
Vacationers weren’t in a rush again then, Cox added, staying for as much as 30 days at cabins or campsites.
Historic data recommended that cabins have been inbuilt 1925, however postal stamps on postcards return to 1921.
Contributed/Minnesota Division of Pure Assets
Do you know Itasca had a zoo?
Within the Twenties and Thirties, elk and bison roamed the park. Cox defined this was a re-introduction effort by the state of Minnesota.
“We had black bear, bison, elk, deer, raccoon,” she stated. “I don’t suppose we wanted squirrels as a result of they only made their presence identified all over the place!”
In fact, some park actions stay unchanged: wildlife watching, canoeing, fishing, swimming and boating.
A number of boats operated on Lake Itasca over time, providing guided excursions.
Contributed/Minnesota Division of Pure Assets
Lake Itasca Normal Retailer offered gasoline, postcards and ice cream. Theodore Wegmann, the proprietor, would carry his cream cans full of ice to a Park Rapids store, load up on ice cream and return to the park, Cox stated.
“Discuss ingenuity as a result of when did electrical energy lastly get to Itasca State Park? 1953.”
Headwaters marker and rocks
The headwaters itself has reworked.
Contributed/Minnesota Division of Pure Assets
Cox shared a 1923 postcard, the place it was “slightly extra marshy.” The well-known rock crossing nor the marker had not but been put in by the Civilian Conservations Corps (CCC).
A 1936 postcard shows a wood footbridge over the headwaters, Cox calling it “a tripping hazard.”
Indicators marking the start of the Mississippi advanced as properly.
The CCC restored the realm between 1933 and 1941, following 18 years of log drives, based on Cox.
Postcards “assist us to recount, mirror and keep in mind,” Cox concluded.
She urges the vacationers to purchase a postcard and ship it with a notice to a pal. “As a result of who is aware of who might get pleasure from it 100 years from now?”
