South of Scott and Dakota, and west of Goodhue, has 18 townships, or about 415,000 acres; about two-thirs timber, balance prairie gently undulating; all north and west of Cannon River, more or less covered with timber of the “Big Woods” variety—oak, maple, basswood, butternut, walnut, poplar, elm, and almost every variety growin in the Northern and Western States. A belt along Straight River, three or four miles wide, soil very deep and rich in timber; and arich black sandy loam 10 to 20 inches deep on a clay subsoil in the prairie. Natural meadows in timber and prarie. 20 Large lakes. Brick all ober the county, and limestone at Faribault. Water-power on Cannon and Straight Rivers. Price of Wild land, $2 to $15, improved $10 to $35; some goverment oland; crossed by St. Paul and Milwaukee Railroad. Population, October, 1853 about 100; 1860, 7459; 1865, 10,977; 1869, about 19,000; one-half Americans, one-sixth Germans, one-ninth Irish, 1000 Norwegians, 500 Bohemians, 500 French, balance others, Vote for Grant, 1785; Seymour, 1266.
Statistics.— Land assessed, 287,925 acres; value per acre, $5,22. School land, 3162; homestead, 3305; cultivated, 1867, 37,726 acres. Whear, 286,438 bushels. Assessed property, 1860, $1,364.071; 1868, $3,3130,184; Personal, $1,078,794. Horses, 3572; cattle, 8646; mules, 74; sheep, 7588; hogs, 3875; carriages, 410; watches, 330; pianos, 46; merchandise, $163,898; money and credits, $155,858. School districts, 95; houses, 84; value, $74,499; scholars, 5448; increase, 414; flouring mills, 10 of 12; saw mills, 2 or 3; churches, 15 to 18
Cities and Villages.—Faribault, the county seat, population 4000, at the junction of Cannon and Straight rivers, on the railroad, with a fine water-power, had an Episcopal College, High School for young ladies, a Theological Seminary, Deaf and Dumb Asylum, 2 Congergational churches, a Catholic, Baptist, Methodist, and Episcopal church, an Episcopal Cathedral now building, designed to be among the finest west of chicago, 5 flouring mills, 2 saw mills, 3 breweries, 1 tannery, 4 wagon and carriage, and 1 agricultural implement, plow, door, sahs, blind, and melodeon factory, 60 different buisness houses, 2 banks, 15 hotels, 9 lawyers, 7 doctors, a carding mill, shops, &c.Building improvements, 1866, $181,000; 1867, $184,000; 1868, estimated, $200,000. Its exports in 1867 were, by rail, 7, 500,000 lbs., and 7751 passenger tickets sold for $20,020. Average law buisness for several years, 18 new suits per annum. There is a weekly paper here
Northfield, 14 miles from Faribault, and 38 from St. Paul, on the railroad and Cannon River, has 2900 population, mostly from New England, with 200 or 300 Swedes and Norwegians, and as many Germans and Irish. It has 33 business houses. Mercantile business, 1868, $406,000: manufactures, besides flour from 2 mills, $180,000; building improvements, $102,000; estimated for 1869,$244,000. First-class water-power, a flour mill shipping 18,000 barrels per annum, and another costing $30,000, with a capacity for 80,000 barrels per annum. Five churches, and a Congregarional college just erecting a fine building. A bank with $25,000 capital, and another organizing with $50,000 capital. The town has 15 clergymen, 6 lawyers, 5 doctors, a weekly paper, claims to ship and recieve more freight tah any town in the coutny, and in 1868, that the railroad received at Northfield 40,000 bushels more of wheat than at any toher town on its line, except Minneapolis—flour being reduced to a wheat basis.
Dundas,
on the railroad and river, 11 miles from Faribault, has 500 population, mostly Americans and Canadians, a fine water-power, large flouring mill, saw mill, furniture factory, 4 stores, a Presbyterian and Episcopal church, hotel, shop. The town is growing.
Morristown,
is also a growing village, ranking next to Dundas.
Warsaw, Cannon City, Sheildsville, Walcott,are also small places, with stores, shops, mills
Post Offices.—Fowlersville, Hazelwood, Millersburg, Union Lakes, Wheatland, Wheeling. Back Home