A slice of Stillwater's history surfaced this week as crews working on the St. Croix River bridge project uncovered two glass bottles that date back to the early 1900s. Chris Anderson, an inspector for the Minnesota Department of Transportation, found the bottles -- one clear, the other light green -- while working on Minnesota 95 north of Sunnyside Marina in Oak Park Heights. MnDOT officials checked with Brent Peterson, executive director of the Washington County Historical Society, to learn the history of the bottles. The bottles will be donated to the society. According to Peterson, the clear bottle came from the Joseph Wolf Brewery, which was in downtown Stillwater. The brewery operated from 1871 until Prohibition and was one of the largest breweries outside Minneapolis and St. Paul, he said. The bottle with the light-green tint came from Antone Schuelling, who was a soda pop manufacturer in downtown Stillwater in the late 1800s. Schuelling made "Pop, Lemon Beer and Ginger ale ... (and) has a large trade throughout the city," historian Don Empson wrote in a study of the Dutchtown residential area of Stillwater. Coincidentally, the bottles eventually will be displayed at the society's new history center -- which will be in the Greeley Street building where MnDOT has its office for the bridge project. MnDOT is renting the space from the historical society; the society expects to open the Washington County Heritage Center in 2017 or 2018, Peterson said. "The bottles are unique St. Croix Valley artifacts that were produced by the thousands in the early 20th century, but now only a few remain," Peterson said. "These are symbols of businesses and manufacturers that once dotted the St. Croix River Valley and Wash County in our early history." Mary Divine can be reached at 651-228-5443. Follow her at twitter.com/MaryEDivine.
Source: www.twincities.com
Source: www.twincities.com