History of the Annandale Area

Long before the Dakota (Sioux) and Ojibway (Chippewa) Native Americans lived in the Annandale area, there were Mound Builders who left burial mounds as evidence of their presence. They lived here after the glaciers receded leaving the abundant lakes that so define our area. White explorers, trappers, and traders co-existed with Native Americans for two centuries before settlers came in the mid-1880s; then came significant clashes between the two peoples. The Dakotas relinquished their rights to the land with the Treaty of 1851, but the whites did not honor their end of the bargain. Cheating traders and unpaid mandated annuities from Congress prompted Chief Little Crow to lead the Dakota in war in 1862. Fear prompted many settlers to move away, and stockades were constructed, including a log structure called Fort Harriman (Fort Skedaddle) on the southwest shore of Pleasant Lake in Annandale, and another one around the hotel in Fairhaven. By the late 1860s, the Native Americans had largely been pushed out of the area. 

There are several versions of the source of Annandale's name. The village was originally named Abbeyville, but a new name had to be chosen when applying for a post office permit revealed there was already an Abbeyville in Minnesota. In one story a showbill for Lizzy Annandale was on display just outside the window when the decision was being made. Another version has the town named after Annie, the sweetheart of James Pratt, the man who platted Annandale in 1886. The third and least colorful account is that it was named after the Annan River in Scotland. Whatever the true origin of the name, Annandale was incorporated in 1888 with 187 citizens and John Buri as the first mayor (president of the council). 

In 1889 when Annandale celebrated its first July 4th, the money leftover from the event went equally to the Methodist Episcopal Church where Mayor John Buri was secretary and the school where he was school board clerk. Buri opened the first store in Annandale, a hardware store, and when the State Bank of Annandale opened in 1893 he was vice-president. Our first mayor was a busy man!

RAILROAD
The coming of the Minneapolis and Pacific Railroad, later called the Soo Line, was a key factor in Annandale's early prosperity. Many early towns such as Fairhaven, Silver Creek, and French Lake were bustling population centers larger than Annandale before the railroad passed them by. Before there were decent roads, the rail lines provided the main method of both personal and business travel. Passenger trains provided transportation to and from Annandale until the 1960s, but by then the post-WWII highway system was in place, and again Annandale is fortunate to be located at the intersection of two state highways, MN-24 that passes through the downtown main street, and MN-55 (originally #69). But it was the arrival of the railroad in the 1880s that originally determined its fate and enabled it to grow and prosper into the central town between St. Cloud and Buffalo. 

CHURCHES
In Annandale, like in most small towns, the churches have always been and still are an integral part of the social fabric. Many were formed by the early settlers and have celebrated centennial anniversaries. More than just places of worship, churches in the 1800s were centers for language and culture brought over from Europe, and many still conducted services in their native tongue in the 1920s and 1930s. In 1928 at the Mt. Herman Lutheran Church the language for services changed from Swedish to English, but not everyone was in agreement. When the pastor said that "God will understand English," another church member replied, "God will understand it, but He's not going to like it."

The ethnic background of many current Annandale residents relates to the churches of the early settlers, and many of the same names can be found in the old cemeteries and the current phonebook. The Silver Creek Community Church to the northwest of Annandale dates back to Dutch settlers with names like Naaktgeboren and Vandergon. The Finnish, Lampi and Hoikka, are south of town; Germans Kiehn and Schultz are north and west; and the Swedes, Olson, Johnson, and Nordberg, are all around. St. Ignatius Catholic Church was originally located in French Lake, but when it moved to Annandale many of the Irish moved east to Maple Lake. 

Today Annandale is like Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon in that the Catholics and Lutherans are in the majority. There are two Lutheran Churches, one Missouri Synod and one ELCA. Other churches right in town include the Methodist Church, consolidated from various Methodist Churches in the past; Jehovah's Witness-Kingdom Hall; and the fast growing Anndandale Free Church recently renamed the Heartland Evangelical Free Church just east of town. The newest addition is the Lakes Community Church, an Assemblies of God fellowship.

Current Annandale residents are still mostly of Western European descent with very few people of color, but one's ethnic background is less significant than in earlier times when it was an important link to a culture brought over from the old country. While ethnicity is less important than it once was, church life in Annandale is still alive and well. 

SCHOOLS
The first school in Annandale was a log structure put up by settlers in 1869, and when Annandale was incorporated in 1888 the new community erected a 2-story building. That serviceable building later became the city hall and remained standing until 2001 when it was razed to make room for the new city hall. 

From 1911 to 1923 some classes were conducted in a brick building, a former rural schoolhouse that had been pulled across the ice of Pleasant Lake into town.  That building housed the public library for 80 years until 2003. Since that time it was an art gallery for ten years, then a cafe, and now it's the In Hot Water Coffee Shop.

In 1923 the 3-story school opened on Cherry Avenue that housed all twelve grades for the next fifty years with several additions. Bendix Elementary opened on Park Street (MN-24) in 1972, named after Dr. Lester Bendix, long time local doctor and school board chair for 27 years, so then the 1922 building, along with several additions, serviced grades 7-12.  In 1971 the last of the rural one-room schools closed. The Annandale Schools opened the current high school on Hemlock Street in 1991, adding a Performing Arts Center in 2000. In 2013 the new Annandale Elementary School opened with grades P-K-5 and Community Education, replacing Bendix Elementary on the same site. The 1922 building closed that same fall and remained empty until it was razed in 2015. Middle School grades 6-8 were then held in the remainder of the building on Cherry Street. The first class that graduated from Annandale High School in 1907 had 5 students, all girls including historian Lotus Williams and ancestors of some current residents. Over one hundred years later, in 2024 AHS graduated 149 students. 

BUSINESS
At the beginning of the 20th century most area residents made their living by farming. In earlier years farmers raised grain and some livestock including turkeys, chickens, hogs, and some dairy cattle; but by 1940 90% of the farms in the county were dairy. Low milk prices inspired the infamous dumping of 40,000 pounds of milk at the West Albion Creamery, and dairy farming was down to 53% of county farms in 1972. The robust dairy business gave rise to one of Annandale's major businesses, Browns Velvet Ice Cream, that was run for 90 years by the Brown family. Today all of the creameries have closed due to the much smaller percent of dairy farming, and there are fewer farms but much larger than before, growing mostly corn and soybeans. Annandale is still very much a rural community, surrounded by farm land on all sides, and farming continues to be a significant part of our economy.

Several businesses have been part of the Annandale area since the 19th century: Lundeen Bros. Ford began as a bicycle shop, Kaz Hardware was formerly Dunton Hardware, and when French Lake was a thriving community larger than Annandale there was Lantto's Store. Annandale State Bank, now Lake Central Bank since 2017, started in 1893 as State Bank of Annandale, and The Annandale Advocate has been serving the community as a continuous chronicle of its history since 1888. 

Some of the second generation (and more) family businesses include Kaz Hardware, Marketplace, Petty Brothers' Meats, French Lake Auto Parts, Malco Tools, Roth Insurance, Dingmann Funeral, M&M Bus Service, Mid-Minnesota Hot Mix, Howard's Plumbing (3rd gen), Lampi Auction (3rd gen), and Miller's Jewelry (3rd gen). Some other businesses that were important in earlier years but are gone now include Browns Ice Cream (3 gen), the Pickle Factory, Shell Oil (2 gen), The Annandale Creamery, Lakedale Telephone, and Dayton's Furniture, Lantto's Store (3 gen), and Lundeen Bros. Ford (4 gen).

Several of Annandale's early businesses have been recreated with actual artifacts and are on display at Minnesota Pioneer Park, located just east of town. They include the barbershop, harness and buggy shop, blacksmith, dentist, doctor's office, general store, millinery, and funeral parlor. 

A significant portion our area economy for more than a century has been the tourism that is based on our abundant lakes. 

LAKES (map of area lakes)
The lakes define our area and are one of our biggest assets. The Heart of the Lakes, as it is now called, was a popular resort area in the 1900s. People came out from the Twin Cities by train and then later by roads, and there was a sign along the road boasted of the Annandale areas 50 resorts and 30 lakes. There were many resorts on the area lakes, particularly on Clearwater Lake and Cedar Lake. Geardink's Resort on Cedar Lake, a family run resort operated by Charlie and Ella Geardink, had customers that went back five generations. It was one of the few remaining resorts in the 21st century along with Maple Hill Resort on Clearwater Lake. Now both are closed.  

By the late 1990s most resorts were closed and seasonal vacationers used personally owned cabins instead of staying at resorts. Today many cabin sites have been transformed into bigger, modern homes, used both year round and seasonally. Very few rustic cabins remain, and the resorts are nearly a thing of the past. 

The advent of better roads enabled Annandale to become something of a bedroom community as owners converted their summer cabins into year round homes and commuted to the Twin Cities for work. Another group of current residents are cabin owners who have retired, sold their homes and moved here full time. 


RECENT HISTORY
Several large visual icons of earlier times have gone down in the recent past, the grain elevator which was replaced in 2003 by the Lions Memorial Park, the old water tower, and the demolition of the 1922 school building. But more icons have arisen. A prominent landmark was added in the 1970s with a canopy system over the storefronts in the downtown area that captured the flavor of Annandale's pioneer beginnings for 40 years when it was replaced by awnings. In the 1980s a 40' clock tower was erected by Lakedale Telephone on Main Street at the corner of Oak and Cedar, and it has been turned into a community gathering place, Clock Tower Park.

A valuable asset to the community has been the Care Center that opened 1982 and now includes Assisted Living, Memory Loss, and Pleasant Vista senior apartments. The end of the 20th century brought the city's first stoplight in 1999, located at the intersection of MN-55 and CR-5. Some of the 21st century additions include a new big Marketplace located right next to a new motel; Star Bank, a second bank in town after having just one for 70 years; a Wastewater Treatment Plant with Maple Lake and Howard Lake; a Business Park; a new City Hall, Library, Elementary School and Fire Hall; an 80 acre Recreation Park; and a roundabout at Hwy 24 and Hemlock Street.

From a population of 187 in the Village of Annandale in 1888, in 2022 it was 3,374, though the greater community, the school district, is around 11,000. To accommodate our continued growth there are numerous new residential developments: Eastview Mobile Home Park, Southbrook, Purcell Ponds, Triplett Farms, The Cottages, and Annandale Square.

Annandale continues to prosper in large part due to volunteers participating in the numerous civic groups and annual events. Women in the Annandale Improvement Club have been serving Annandale since 1898, and the very active men's Lions Club has supported the community with their projects since 1963. The Annandale Community Team (ACT), Kiwanis, and Youth First have all made great comtributions to the community. Some of our annual events include the Business Expo in April, Youth Fishing Contest in February, New Year's Eve Ball Drop in Clock Tower Park, and our popular July 4th celebration that has been held annually since 1889.

Although national franchises such as Dairy Queen, Subway, Holiday, and Dollar General have made their way to Annandale, many are owned by local families. So far the Big Box stores, Target and Walmart, are 15 miles away in Buffalo, close enough to use yet still far enough away to let our small town feel intact. 

Thanks to high speed Internet everywhere, Annandale area residents are able to enjoy the good life here while staying connected to the hustle and bustle of the outside world. Today Annandale remains a thriving small town with just one high school, one post office, one major grocery store, a weekly newspaper and a distinct Main Street (Oak) all contributing to the strong shared sense of community that began long ago. 

 -Jill Bishop, 2024