Nobles County MN Archives History .....County History 1939 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mn/mnfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com January 19, 2007, 9:57 pm County History NOBLES COUNTY, consisting of 20 organized townships, is located in the extreme southeastern part of the state of Minnesota. The county seat is Worthington. Nobles County is hounded on the north by Murray County; on the east by Jackson County; on the south by the state of Iowa, and on the west by Rock County. Principal industries: farming, stock-raising and dairying. In Nobles, county there are 2,191 farms. The average farm is 209 acres. On these farms there are approximately 1,000 tractors, 30 combines, and 11,200 horses and mules. Nobles county ranks close to the top in buying power. Some of the first settlers in Nobles County were: Isaac Norton, the first settler in Indian Lake township district in 1869; Henry Brayton, Chas. W. Bullis, R. L. Erskine. B. W. Woolstencroft was one of the first settlers in Graham Lake. Others included John and William Anscomb, C. M. Thompkins and Chas. Haus. In early days Worthington was known as the Hay Capital of the world. Thousands of tons of hay were shipped from there. It was also the overnight stopping point for from 30 to 60 prairie schooners daily, on their way to the far west. The Nobles County Fair Association was organized in 1879, with A. L. Runyon as its first president. The history, of Leota goes back to 1891 when John and Nick DeBoer and James TenCate erected a store. Wilmont got its start in 1899 when a survey was made for the Burlington right of way, and the townsite was selected by T. H. Brown, a Burlington man. The founding of the Ellsworth State Bank dates back to 1893. Adrian grew in 1878 to lead the western part of the county in a rapid growth. The State Bank of Lismore was organized in 1900. Brewster was originally called Hersey and was started in 1870. The Reading townsite was called Walter at the beginning. H. H. Read homesteaded on the Reading townsite in 1873. The town was named for him. Round Lake was founded in the 1890's. Rushmore was once a stage station and was first named Miller when plans were made for the railroad. The actual building of the town was begun in 1878 by the S. M. Rushmore Company. Additional Comments: Transcribed from: FIRST EDITION NOBLES COUNTY FARM DIRECTORY MINNESOTA 1939 Published by Dakota Directory Service File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mn/nobles/history/other/countyhi36gms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mnfiles/ File size: 2.8 Kb