Almelund is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

in Amador Township,

Chisago County Chisago County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 56,621. Its county seat is Center City. Chisago County is part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul- Bloomington, MN- WI Metropolitan Statistical ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, United States. The community is located east of North Branch at the junction of State Highway 95 ( MN 95) and Chisago County Road 12 (Park Trail). Nearby places include North Branch, Center City,

Sunrise Sunrise (or sunup) is the moment when the upper rim of the Sun appears on the horizon in the morning. The term can also refer to the entire process of the solar disk crossing the horizon and its accompanying atmospheric effects. Terminology Al ...

, and Taylors Falls. ZIP codes 55012 (Center City), 55056 (North Branch), and 55084 (Taylors Falls) all intersect near Almelund. Almelund is located 51 miles north-northeast of

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

. The community's population is 2,945 people (as of 2018).

History

The first European visitors to the area were French traders, who bought furs from the resident

Ojibwa The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...

Indians in the 17th century. Yankee settlers moved to Amador Township in the 1850s living along the St. Croix River, which also had the first post office. Dr. Carmi P. Garlick platted the village as Amador (in Minnesota) in conjunction with the village of Sebetana (in Wisconsin) across the river from each other. He took the name Amador from Amador County, California where he had panned for gold. In 1857 he built a saw mill on the St. Croix River. Swedish immigrants arrived in the township in the 1870s to buy farm land. The village of Almelund was founded in 1887 by Swedish Immigrant John Almquist who heard Swedish settlers were building a Lutheran church in this area. Almquist knew these settlers would need supplies, built a general store and operated it there for thirty years until it burned down in 1911. The first wood-frame one-room school was built in 1890 and is today used as the Amador Town Hall. A two-room brick school was built in 1910 which is now the Amador Heritage Center, a museum which also includes three log cabins, a log barn and log granary. Still in a prominent place at the center of town is Immanuel Lutheran Church. Originally known as the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Emmanuel Church, the current building was built in 1926.

Community

Almelund is bordered on the north and east by the St. Croix River and Wild River State Park. The township formerly was predominantly farmland with farm families raising corn, soybeans, dairy and beef cattle, and feed for those cattle. Many were descendants of the original Swedish immigrants. Today most of the township is no longer as farm oriented - many local residents commute to the Twin City area for employment. The area is also known for its water sports and other outdoor recreation. Almelund is three miles south of

Wild River State Park Wild River State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, curving along of the St. Croix River (Wisconsin-Minnesota), St. Croix River. This long, narrow park is shaped somewhat like a sideways 'S', with development largely concentrated ...

and west of Wild Mountain Recreation Area. Almelund is also well known throughout east–central Minnesota for hosting the annual Threshing Show. It is a sixty-year-old celebration of vintage

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...

s, old farm equipment and traditional

threshing Threshing, or thrashing, is the process of loosening the edible part of grain (or other crop) from the straw to which it is attached. It is the step in grain preparation after reaping. Threshing does not remove the bran from the grain. History ...

methods. Almelund's slogan is "the busiest small town in MN".

References

External links

Amador Township

Almelund, Minnesota
at the

Minnesota Historical Society The Minnesota Historical Society (MNHS) is a nonprofit educational and cultural institution dedicated to preserving the history of the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was founded by the territorial legislature in 1849, almost a decade before statehoo ...

.
TopoQuest map of Almelund
{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Chisago County, Minnesota Unincorporated communities in Minnesota