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SFWT
Lindenwood Park
Fargo’s second oldest park, following Island Park, is Lindenwood. This area was purchased in two parts by City of Fargo from William and Alice Resser to be used as a park showcasing the lovely mature trees along the Red River. The first purchase, a $32,900 parcel, was completed on Sept 29, 1917. Sale was made with the agreement that Resser could farm the land just west of the tree line during the 1918 growing s
Read MoreS.F. Crabbe
Samuel Crabbe, born in Wisconsin to a merchant and his wife, came to Fargo in 1891. Sam had his civil engineering degree from University of Wisconsin and his first job in Fargo was the paving of Fargo’s first street. Crabbe oversaw Broadway’s “paving” with wooden blocks. As Fargo City Engineer, Crabbe had an office in City Hall and lived a few blocks west of his work. Sam had an interesting hobby ou
Read MoreAda Jane Healy-Andrews
Born in Michigan in 1852, Ada Jane Healy, along with her sister Emma, were orphaned when Ada was only 7. Ada’s mom had died in child birth and her father lost his footing moving from car to car and was killed under a train. Ada and Emma grew up in Ann Arbor, MI with their maternal grandmother, Subniet Disbrow and their widowed Aunt Abigail. Perhaps it was growing up in a college town, perhaps it was Subniet’s work as
Read MoreLindenwood Park’s Camping and Shelters
Lindenwood Park’s Camping and Shelters One of Lindenwood Park’s earliest features was the camping area. Later, during Roosevelt’s New Deal era, Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) workers added shelters, walking paths, and modern toilet facilities with potable water. The CCC operated under the army’s control. Camp commanders had disciplinary powers and corpsmen were required to address superiors as “sir.” B
Read MoreErasmus D. Angell
E.D. Angell came to Fargo in August 1881 from New York. Born in 1855 to native New Yorkers who farmed in tiny Lapeer, Erasmus attended local primary schools, Cazenovia Seminary, and Syracuse University, graduating in 1880. He taught for a season at the orphan school in Mansfield, PA before trekking over 1300 miles to Fargo. Upon arrival he worked for a short time as a thresher near Casselton. He then worked for N.K.
Read MoreSmith Stimmel Home
Smith Stimmel was born in Ohio in 1842. After joining the military at age 20 during the Civil War he was appointed to the Union Light Guard and assigned to The White House. From December of 1863 until April 14, 1865, Stimmel was a bodyguard to President Lincoln.1 Following Lincoln’s assassination, Stimmel returned home to attend Ohio Wesleyan University, graduating in 1869. He practiced law, married, and was mayor of
Read MoreInterstate Highway 94
As I author this entry, I’m sitting at home on 25th Ave S on a lovely October 2016 evening with the windows open listening to the traffic on I-94 only a few blocks north of me. In 1958, when this section was being constructed, the city hadn’t crept much past 17th Ave S, meaning Lindenwood Park was just south of town. Fargo now stretches down the Red River of the North to 76th Ave South! I-94 was a big deal in ND, wit
Read MoreWilliam Lemke
William Frederick Lemke, US Congressman and Union Party Candidate for President in 1936 (FDR won) William Lemke led a rather fascinating life as a fringe politician. He was affiliated with North Dakota’s Nonpartisan League, led by former Socialist party members. The NPL dominated state government by 1918 with ideas to improve state services, obtain full suffrage for women, and move towards state ownership of b
Read MoreRiverside Cemetery
Established in 1879, Riverside Cemetery is Fargo’s oldest, and largest, cemetery with over 18,000 citizens of the dead. In 1880 Fargo’s sprawl only reached as far south as Roberts Street (now Seventh Avenue), putting the cemetery a mile and a half outside of town. Why the long trek? Before 1830 cemeteries as this one were non-existent. The dead were generally buried near the town chapel or in the town commons (places
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