Local Geography:Wright County in 1850

Grade 8Buffalo Community Middle School

Fall 2008

Silas WrightNew York Statesman

Wright County

1850s

MONTICELLO

CLEARWATER

ROCKFORD

Wright County’s Earliest Settlements

1852 MONTICELLO (Mortzious)

1854 CLEARWATER (El Dorado)

1855 ROCKFORD (Big Rock)

Common Transportation

Common Transportation

The “Big Woods”

Clearing the “Big Woods”

Prairie = Advantages

Prairie = Advantages

Easy Transportation:

Mississippi River

Mississippi River

Crow River

Crow River

Water Power = Mills

Water Power = Mills

Water Power = Mills

Water Power = Mills

Other Sources of Power

Wright County

1850s

MONTICELLO

CLEARWATER

ROCKFORD

BUFFALO

COKATO

NORTHWOOD

MAPLE LAKE

DELANO

ST. MICHAEL’S

Wright County’s Earliest Settlements

1856 BUFFALO (Winnebago)

COKATO (Moer’s Prairie)

NORTHWOOD

ST. MICHAEL’S

MAPLE LAKE (Geneva)

1868 DELANO (Crow River Crossing)

Wright County

1850s

MONTICELLO

CLEARWATER

ROCKFORD

BUFFALO

COKATO

NORTHWOOD

MAPLE LAKE

DELANO

SMITH LAKE

WAVERLY

HANOVER

ANNANDALE

Wright County’s Earliest Settlements

1869 SMITH LAKE

WAVERLY (Cowell)

HOWARD LAKE (Victor)

1877 HANOVER (Frankfort)

1878 MONTROSE (Marysville)

1886 ANNANDALE (Abbeyville)

N

Settlement Factors(why did they settle in Wright County)

• Good FarmlandEspecially prairies

• Access to Good TimberFor building materials and fuel

• Easy TransportationRivers, bridges and ferries

Clearwater Ferry 2005

Settlement Factors(why did they settle in Wright County)

• Good FarmlandEspecially prairies

• Access to Good TimberFor building materials and fuel

• Easy TransportationRivers, bridges and ferries

• Water PowerWaterfalls for grist and lumber mills

• SafetyOpen areas, nearness to neighbors