Opportunities

Like many of you I was fortunate to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with family.  And like many of you we began our meal with sharing what we are most thankful for.  Many of the thoughts included things like faith, family, health and mashed potatoes and gravy (from my 12 yr. old son).  What came to my mind when the fork passed to me was Opportunities.  Not only am I thankful for my new opportunity at the HHH but I am also grateful for the freedom to pursue paths that interest me.

In his unpublished autobiography George Hormel describes an opportunity he was given in 1879 when we was just 19 years old.  After being told there were no jobs available at a Kansas City hide and wool company, the business owner had a change of heart and told him “Go to the office and see McDonald; he’ll equip you for the road and give you a routing.  Good Luck.”

George writes “Speechless with surprise and relief and also fright at this sudden turn of fortune, I stumbled into the office to be supplied with report sheets of various kinds, a telegraph code book, and a book of drafts to use in payment for the hides, wool, and furs I was to purchase.  On the assumption that I already knew what these things were for, I received a few brief directions on the firm’s methods of handling the various transactions, but I remembered nothing of what I heard when I left the office beyond the indisputable fact that I had been hired as a buyer by Major J.N. Dubois, late of the Confederate Forces.  I shouldn’t even have believed this if it were not for the code and draft books clutched in my perspiring hands.”

George was thrilled with this opportunity at a time when jobs were scarce and he was in desperate need.  Throughout his writing he mentions several times in his life and career when the freedom to attempt something, however risky or scary, often led to his greatest successes. 

Working in the space that was once George and Lillian’s porch reminds me that opportunities often come along when we are least expecting them.  They can bring challenges and hurdles but will always provide a time of learning and growth in an individual.   And so, I am thankful for opportunities!

Music, A Family Passion

After one month in my new role I am quickly learning that the mission and tradition of the Hormel Historic Home covers many areas but most specifically hospitality, music, and education.  Last Saturday I was fortunate to be a part of that mission by helping to host the first annual Harris Piano Competition.  This event was made possible by a financial gift from MarySue Hormel Harris who is the granddaughter of Ben Hormel, George’s youngest brother. 

I have gleaned from the little research I have been able to do that the Hormels were an incredibly musical family.  This interest in music was passed through the generations and MarySue is an accomplished pianist herself.  She generously supports the musical endeavors that the HHH sponsors and was thrilled that the Home would be sponsoring this contest. 

35 youth from Austin and the surrounding area shared their talent, and I was amazed by them all.  So much poise and composure was shown and I know that George and Lillian would have also been impressed.  The gorgeous grand piano that stands in the Hormel’s living room sounded glorious when played by such motivated and confident performers.  St. Olaf Lutheran Church and The Paramount shared their space and pianos with us as well so that we could have so many kids compete at the same time and I know those sites were also blessed with great performances.

Music was also a popular feature in the HHH during the time of the YWCA.  A February 9, 1928, article reports the festivities from a Membership Party held at the Y…

“In the afternoon Lorna Bluhm favored the company with two vocal solos, “Where Dreams Are Made” by Johnson, and “The Wind “ by Spross.   She was accompanied on the piano by Constance Becker.  William Alderson played two piano selections, “A Nocturne” by Slater and “To the Rising Sun” by Torjussen, and Mrs. Ray Pooler sang a vocal solo, “ Mignon”-d’Hardelo, accompanied by Mrs. Fred Rayman at the piano.  An evening program is also described in the article as was the social half hour following the program where the tables were decorated with “pink tapers in green candle holders with pink roses in a green glass bowl as a centerpiece”.

Although we didn’t adorn the House or the Paramount with candles and flowers we were entertained with wonderful music.  So the music mission is still very much alive at the HHH and will be continued for years to come.

Introduction of Holly Johnson

I know this article is meant to be a look into the past of our Austin, and I plan to hold to that pattern in the coming weeks.  However, for my first column I have decided to give you a little history on me-Holly Stover Johnson.

Although born in San Antonio, TX, I have been fortunate to live in several parts of the country.  At age 3 my parents moved my brother and I north and we settled in a small town called Neodesha, Kansas-go ahead, Google it.  I didn’t really appreciate life in the middle of “no where”, but I now look on small town life as an opportunity to really know people, to recognize the gifts in every individual, and to lift others up in true community.

My parents were small business owners in a place filled with many entrepreneurial-minded people.  I saw them work together to help a town in the middle of a wheat field thrive.  I saw a group of faithful energetic people work to offer arts programs, musical endeavors, and educational opportunities that have influenced my life greatly.

From Kansas I went to college in Boston and then in Indiana, and after graduating from Purdue I moved to another small town but this one was surrounded by corn fields-Austin, Minnesota.  After nearly 2 years I moved to Minneapolis to work for Hormel in a sales position.  I met my husband there and in 1998 we moved to Kansas City and then to Charlotte, NC.  We have now been back in Austin for 5 ½ years, and after all that moving, when people ask me where I am from, I am proud to say Austin, MN, Spamtown, USA.

So my journey has brought me here, to oversee the historic home of a small town business family.  Being surrounded by pictures of such an influential and giving family is humbling.  They started a business to benefit their family and ended up helping a whole town grow.  This beautiful facility has served many purposes during its 141 years of existence and all of them have benefitted Austin. And now I hope I can be a benefit to the organization by continuing the home’s tradition of hospitality, outreach and education while preserving and restoring the historical past.

Now that you know a little (ok, a lot) about me I hope you will stop by for a tour, or to introduce yourselves and share some of your memories

Austin's 1949 Million Dollar Investment

After writing about Klagge's Ice Cream, a reader asked me to check on an ice cream shop he remembered in the Sterling Shopping Center. Thanks to the crack research team at the Mower County Historical Society, I have some information.
From the Austin Daily Herald on April 5, 1954: "Sterling Shopping Center will observe its fifth anniversary this week with open house, free movies and a candidate for Miss Austin... Today, the center comprises 26 stores and service establishments, the largest retail development in Austin area's history. Investment has exceeded a million dollars...
Building boomed with the opening of the first store and by the end of 1950, the following 10 businesses were in operation:
Trowbridge Super Market, Enstad Nash Garage, Sterling Motel, Kenneth Rosenthal Painting and Decorating Store, Chuck Hall Cleaners, Sterling Barber Shop, Sterling Pastries, Warn's Shoe Store, Earl's Furniture and Sterling Ice Cream Store...
Announcement was made Saturday that Janice Plager is Sterling's candidate for Miss Austin."

1868 Courthouse Site of Lynching Trial

Four courthouses have served Mower County since it was founded in 1855. The first courthouse in Austin was built in 1868 on the corner of Maple and Main Streets. The building had three levels: jail in the basement, offices on the first floor and the Court Hall on the second floor. Old timers told tales of going past the old courthouse and looking down through the bars to the prisoners in the basement and getting a ‘thrill out of it.’
According to the Austin Daily Herald on March 17, 1934, “The new courthouse was the scene of a sensational murder trial in 1868, a crime growing out of lynching, the only one that ever occurred in this county. In 1868 John and Oliver Potter and William Kemp, and several others were arrested as having caused the death of Chauncey Knapp. It is interesting to know that the accused were defended by John Q. Farmer (pictured above), who was later to be judge of our district court and to deliver the dedicatory address on that occasion.
The lynching occurred near Grand Meadow. Knapp was accused by citizens of being intimate with a woman of the neighborhood. The indignation waxed warm and one night some fifteen men caught Knapp, rode him on a rail, took him to a pond where he was so roughly treated that he drowned. His body was taken to a corn filed and buried between the rows of the growing corn. Knapp was missed, search was made and his body found. There were disagreements of juries and in the end all the suspected parties were released and no one ever punished.”
More next week on courthouses.

Early Cola Wars in Austin

Austin Bottling Works, Inc. was founded in 1924 by George Wilson and his father-in-law Dr. Charles F. Lewis. Wilson was a Scottish immigrant who worked in sales for Geo. A Hormel & Co. in Texas and Alabama before coming to Austin. Wilson married Marjorie Lewis, daughter of one of the founders of the Austin Medical Clinic.
The first plant was located at 400 2nd St NE (near the current Austin Daily Herald). By 1930, the plant moved to 403 4th Ave NE (near the old downtown utility plant). The business focused on bottling and sales of soft drinks and the sales of fountain supplies such as extracts, cider, crushed fruit and cleaning supplies. In 1949,  a new plant was built at 1600 1st Ave NE (across from East Side Lake).
Back in the 1920s, Coca Cola was less popular and, according to Wilson family legend, George Wilson would slip a bottle into a case of more popular grape, cherry or orange flavored sodas to build exposure to the product. George's sons, James and  Charles took over the family business and it remained a a pillar of the community for decades. Changing with the times, the bottling company eventually became a distributor and dropped bottling several years before it was sold in 2002.

Dr. Vern Cullen: A Life of Service

A few months ago I was working on the names of places in Austin. A thoughtful reader sent me some information on the man that Cullen Park is named after. Cullen Park is on the east side of 12th Street SW, across from Sacred Heart Care Center.
From the May 31, 1969 Austin Daily Herald:
“Dr. Vern R. Cullen, 73, Austin dentist and former alderman, died Friday at St. Olaf Hospital.
Surviving are his widow, Augusta; a son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Vern (Joanne) Torrens, Bloomington, Minn.; four grandsons, Scott, Steven, Jay and Jeff; nieces and nephews.
Dr. Cullen was born in Austin. He served with the Army in World War I and with the Navy Dental Corps in World War II, discharged as a commander after serving in the Pacific theater. He graduated from the University of Minnesota Dental School in 1923 and came directly to Austin to practice. After World War II he did post-graduate work in orthodontics at the University of Minnesota and returned to Austin to open his practice in 1946...
Dr. Cullen was a city alderman 1933 until 1941 and Cullen Park was named after him. He was a charter member of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church and a life member of the University of Minnesota Alumni Club; a member of Austin Post 91, American Legion, the 40 and 8, Olaf B. Damm Post 1216, VFW, Eagles, Southeastern Minnesota Dental Society, American Association of Orthodontists, Osmond Temple Shrine, Legion of Honor, Austin Shrine Club, Unity Chapter 29, OES, Fidelity Lodge 39, AF & AM, from which he received his 50-pin in 1967, St. Bernard Commandry, Royal Arch Masons Ch. 14, National League of Masonic Clubs, Square and Compass Club. He was the first commander of Chapter 27, Disabled American Veterans...”

For more on Cullen Park: http://www.ci.austin.mn.us/Parkandrec/Parks/cullen.html

Some new information on Klagge’s Ice Cream: In the 1980s, there were two Klagge’s locations. One at Oak Park Mall was managed then owned by Phil Buck. Phil’s brother Paul owned and operated the 4th Ave NE location. In 1985, Paul took over ownership of the mall store again. During those years, the ice cream was made at the 4th Ave NE location for both restaurants.
Another reader let me know that Elmer Klagge opened the store in 1939. He had Austin’s first frosted malt machine in the mid-1940s. No one had heard of a frosted malt, which was soft serve chocolate ice cream served in a cone. At 5 cents, it was an affordable treat and as a result, some believe that Elmer Klagge knew every kid in Austin. 

Summer Memories: Klagge's Ice Cream

During our recent rash of hot weather, I was visiting with some folks out at the Mower County Historical Society. They told me that it used to be a summer tradition to cool off at Klagges Ice Cream Store. The original Klagges was a few blocks east of the Hormel Historic Home (then the YWCA) at 701 4th Ave NE,  just east of the bridge.
Established in 1939, an advertisement from 1963 says “When Mom’s Tired of Cooking Call Klagge’s for Hot Take-Out Dinners, Chicken Supreme Dinner $1, Jumbo Shrimp Dinner $1.25, Walleyed Pike Dinner $1.10.”
The 4th Ave building was destroyed by fire and reopened in 1971. In 1972, an Austin Daily Herald article stated: “Located at 701 4th Ave NE, Klagges new ice cream store re-opened in September, 1971, after a fire destroyed the building at the same location. Owned by Mr. and Mrs. William Wilkinson, Klagges sells homemade ice cream, meals to eat in the car and to take out.”
In 1988, Dave and Tam Christopherson purchased the Klagges business and offered a complete breakfast, lunch and dinner menu.
I also found an advertisement for Klagges in Oak Park Mall that ran in the Austin Daily Herald in 1982. That ad lists owner Phil Buck, a variety of menu choices and 20 flavors of ice cream. I’m sure someone will tell me if there were two competing Klagges ice cream shops in the 1980s—it’s sure looks that way to me.

First National Bank Gives Away 4,000 Cigars at Opening Celebration

After reading about the 1931 open house at the First National Bank in Austin, I couldn't resist sharing some of these charming details, from the Mower County News on February 26, 1931:
“When the new First National Bank opened its doors to the public last Saturday afternoon in dedication and celebration of the completion of its lovely new structure, more than 12,000 visitors passed thru the Colonial portals to view this splendid achievement.
Several prominent bankers visited our city to attend the reception as did a number of managing officers of the First Bank Stock Corporation with which the merging Austin banks are affiliated. Many people came from the various villages of the country and several delegations from Albert Lea, Owatonna and Rochester.
During the reception hours which were from two to five o'clock in the afternoon and from seven to nine o'clock in the evening, mementos were passed to each visitor who passed thru the building. It is estimated that 5,000 roses were distributed to the ladies  while 4,000 cigars were given to the men.
The Boy Scouts gave their efficient assistance in guiding the throngs about the new bank structure thus avoiding any confusion as the people filed thru orderly in rows. A company of charming ladies, employees of the banks, gowned in quaint Colonial costumes in harmony with the Colonial type of architecture and furnishings greeted us with a smile and presented us with souvenirs.”


While the article did not feature photos, this is what I imagine the 'quaint Colonial costumes' looked like.

Bank Open House Draws 12,000 in 1931

The First National Bank was chartered in 1868 in Austin and 63 years later, the institution merged with the Austin National Bank and moved across Main Street into a new building. Having been established on the northeast corner of Main Street and 2nd Ave NW (then Bridge Street), the bank occupied a new building on the northwest corner of the same intersection in 1931.
From the Mower County News on February 19, 1931:
“Celebrating the completion of the new First National Bank building and the consolidation of the city’s two leading financial institutions, the Austin National Bank and the First National Bank, an open house party unique in the city’s history will be held Saturday afternoon and evening...
In harmony with the setting, a bevy of girls in colonial costumes will assist in the public reception and will distribute souvenirs of the occasion to all.
Actual consolidation of the bank, the details of which are being announced today, will not be effective until Tuesday morning when the new building will be occupied by the merged organization...
As construction has progressed residents of Austin have become familiar with the beautiful exterior combining white stone with the vari-colored brick of the early American method of construction. The interior follows the colonial style in as complete detail and every piece of furniture is an authentic copy of an early American piece.”
A report in the same newspaper the following week indicated that 12,000 people attended the open house. The 1931 colonial building was remodeled in 1956 and is now known as the U.S. Bank building, housing U.S. Bank, the United Way of Mower County, Mower County Vehicle Registration and other offices.

What Does $100,000 Look Like?

Austin’s First National Bank was founded in 1868 and in 1896 the business remodeled to the present design, recently restored, and seen at 300 North Main Street—the corner of Main and 2nd Ave NE, north of the old courthouse square. The bank eventually merged with Austin National Bank and the newly formed organization built a new building which opened in 1931. The story of that new bank, I’ll save for next week.
First, a few tidbits on the old days of banking in Austin:
“In 1886, an acute problem was faced by N. F. Banfield, the young bank cashier. Mr. Shaw [editor’s note: O. W. Shaw was then bank president] had gone east on a visit. On Saturday night, June 10th, it was learned that the Mower County Bank could not open its doors the following Monday. Banfield took the train to St. Paul, called upon the president of the First National Bank, explained the situation and was assured that $100,000 in currency would be on hand by Monday morning. When worried customers came into the bank on Monday morning, they saw the money piled high behind the bank’s grillwork. Instead of a run on the bank there was an increase in deposits.
In a time of tight money conditions in 1907 the bank issued script. It was accepted by the merchants and workers for several months. Every piece of script was paid through the New York bank.”
From Mill on the Willow: A History of Mower County, Minnesota.

First National Bank: a Tale of Two Buildings

A reader asked about the history of the First National Bank, the bank once housed at 300 North Main Street—the corner of Main and 2nd Ave NE, north of the old courthouse square. Back when the bank was founded in 1868, the streets were Main and Bridge and at that time, north of the NEW courthouse square. Here is the early history from the 1896 ‘Souvenir of Austin’ pamphlet:
“The First National Bank is the oldest financial institution now doing business in Austin. It was organized in 1868 and its subsequent successful career has been a natural outgrowth of substantial development of the city and surrounding county. But few changes in its management have occurred since its organization, as O.W. Shaw has been president from the first and there have been but two cashiers. The present cashier, N. F. Banfield, succeeded H. W. Page in 1885. The First National Bank corner is one of the landmarks in the history of the city’s business interests, as it has been the site of all the bank’s transactions since its inception nearly thirty years ago. The original building was destroyed by fire one month after occupancy. The brick structure which was erected in its place did valuable service for many years and was one of the substantial blocks of the city. In order to meet the demands of an ever-increasing business the present year has witnessed the construction of a new and larger building of modern architecture. It has been built of brick with solid stone front and it is conceded on all sides to be the finest and most artistically designed business structure in Austin. With the new vault, together with new and modern furnishings, the bank is justly entitled to be ranked among the progressive and up-to-date financial institutions of the state.”

Photos show First National Bank buildings in 1869 (top) and 1896 (bottom). Both courtesy of Mower County Historical Society.
The building, at 300 N Main Street, has been restored to it's 1896 exterior by owner Patrick Bradley and is seeking a tenant. For information, contact me at laura@hormelhistorichome.org.

Dutch Town and the Bloody Third Ward

Last week I mentioned “Dutch Town,” a neighborhood on Austin’s east side in the late 1800s. Here is an essay by Dr. Francis Meany explaining Austin neighborhoods in the early 1900s from “Mill on the Willow: A History of Mower County, Minnesota:
“Doc Meany’s East Side Story
My father ran the Democratic party in the third ward and served three terms as alderman. That was before he took out his final citizenship papers in 1896. He ran Tom Meany’s Saloon on Railway Street (10th St NE). I was born in 1895 in a little house just behind the saloon.
The saloon was sold after my father died in 1905. One night a fire started and the East Side Fire Department was called in. They saved all the whiskey and cigars, but the saloon burned down...
There were definite boundaries within Austin. At least as far as the boys and girls were concerned. There was Dutchtown, east of the Milwaukee tracks. The west side was everything west of Main Street. Then there was the toughest section of all, the ‘bloody third ward.’ That covered the area bordered by the river on the west and the Milwaukee tracks on the east.
In those days the best looking girls lived in the third ward, but one of those uptown birds had better not cross the lines and come visit them...”

Beaver Lake vs. East Side Lake

In 1858, someone built a mud and log dam on Dobbins Creek, east of the then-fledgling village of Austin. It was built to power a flour mill; it also served to create a large lake about 15 blocks east of Main Street. Known as Beaver Lake, it became an area recreation center: offering swimming in the summer and ice skating in the winter. Beaver Lake was especially popular with the residents of 'Dutch Town,' the neighborhood sandwiched between the railroad tracks and the lake.
Then in 1892, the dam was washed out by a flood on Dobbins Creek. The lake was drained, leaving swamps and pasture land.
Fast forward 120 years to 2012. Austin's east side is home to another large lake: East Side Lake. The lake defines the eastern approach to our community and provides recreation to residents. The Vision 2020 project even seeks to expand the recreation on the lake, and other waterways.
But East Side Lake is not Beaver Lake. How was East Side Lake created? Who lead the effort and why? Come find out at Mower County Historical Society's Lunchbox History at the fairgrounds on Thursday, June 28 at noon. I will speak about the history of East Side Lake. The event is free, call the MCHS at 437-6082 for more information.

Photo of East Side Lake in the early 1960s, courtesy of Tim Ruzek at the Cedar River Watershed District.

Miss Jane Todd Makes Her Mark on Austin

As with many families in Austin’s history, the Todds had two generations of influence in our community. Municipal plant superintendent William Todd had four daughters and the oldest one served the city for 40 years.
Born in 1891, Miss Jane Todd began working for the city municipal plant as an assistant to her father William Todd on July 6, 1900. (His obituary from 1931 states that she had been his secretary since ‘childhood.’) She continued to serve for 9 years after his death, retiring in 1940. She was appointed secretary of the city’s first board of water and light commissioners in 1903. According to an article from the Mower County News on May 2, 1940: “She... saw the plant grow from a small institution of an investment of only $16,000 to the present large plant valued at about two million dollars and she took part in that expansion.”
Miss Todd was honored by city leaders including chief electrician Wallace Gregson, plant chief H. W. Boody, commissioner C. F. Cook, water department chief E. C. Butler and gas department chief Elmer Nelson. The article also notes that six office employees spoke honoring Miss Todd: Edith Laufle, Esther Marcusen, Florence Wilder, Margaret Boyd, Blanche Mahachek and Dorothy Johnson. Miss Todd received a gold wrist watch in appreciation of her service.
Jane Todd lived in her childhood home, 419 E Mill Street, until her death in 1949. She was staying in the Curtis Hotel in Minneapolis after attending a national trustee meeting of the Order of the Eastern Star in Chicago when she suddenly became ill and died.
Photo above: Jane Todd at work at the city municipal plant.
Photo below: The Todd sisters
Both photos courtesy of the Mower County Historical Society

Todd Park Picnic Tables Popular in 1959

This fall will mark the 85th anniversary of Todd Park. Over the years, it has evolved and changed with the times.

In 1927, a group of citizens approached the Water and Light Board, suggesting that the former Herzog farm, purchased by the city to use its springs as a water source, be named in honor of the municipal plant superintendent William Todd.

The community wished to honor Todd for his long service to Austin. Todd started as city engineer in 1881. He built the city's first municipal electric light plant in 1899 and pushed for investment in springs rather than wells for water. Todd was also known for improving and maintaining a park, officially named Central Park, located on the grounds of the municipal plant.

[An interesting side note, the first caretaker of Central Park was Anton Friedrich, the man who can be credited with ensuring that George Hormel founded his business in Austin. Friedrich owned a father-and-son butcher shop that burned down in the fire that swept Main Street in 1887. He suggested that Hormel, then a traveling salesman, settle in Austin and go into business with his son Albrecht Friedrich. Friedrich & Hormel, Butchers and Packers, opened in October 1887. The short-lived business was dissolved in 1891 when Friedrich took over the retail side and Hormel focused on meat packing, founding Geo. A. Hormel & Co, now Fortune 500's Hormel Foods.]

In the 1927 Austin Daily Herald article on the park, it is simply described as 100 acres. Another article by Dick Joyce from 1959 describes its features:
"It has 300 picnic tables and five pavilions, 33 stoves and 72 swings, 12 teeter totters and eight sets of horse swings, merry-go-rounds, 10 water fountains and four baseball diamonds--a reserve supply of firewood, a meandering creek and grassy knolls...Picnickers go to the park at night and sleep on a pavilion table to hold it for the next day. Or they come at daybreak to set the table and establish prior claim."

William Todd died in 1931 of heart failure. Friends say that the 1928 tornado, which destroyed the utility plant, depleted his spirits and lead to his decline. He was survived by two brothers, three daughters and three grandchildren. More on his eldest daughter next time.

Image is vintage postcard showing Todd Park, circa 1935.

Austin's Water Utility Developed by Superintendent Todd

One of the key names in the history of Austin is William Todd. He was instrumental in developing Austin’s utilities, an enterprise fraught with controversy. First, the story of Austin’s water system, from the October 13, 1931 Austin Daily Herald.
“Austin then (1881) had water works consisting of a pumping station and taking its water from deep wells in the park near the present plant, and occasionally pumping river water into the mains, when the wells failed to supply enough water. Mr. Todd was in the meantime improving himself in engineering and in 1891, the city council elected him to the position of chief engineer of the plant. He worked on several plans but he argued that Austin would never have a sufficient supply until it used the waters from the Sargent, now City Springs and the Herzog and Sachse Springs. Up to that time the job of superintendent of water works and that of city attorney was held by Attorney John M. Greenman.
Engineer Todd and the city attorney did not agree on many points and at a council meeting of March 15, 1898, Mr. Todd was elected superintendent, a position he held up to the time of his death (in 1931). He measured the flow of waters of the springs and reported his findings. Those were days of hot argument, part of the people favoring more wells and part favoring the purchase of springs that could have been purchased for a song compared with the price paid in later years for the springs and the Herzog farms to control the springs, all of which is part of the history of Austin, to be found in the doings of our city council.
Todd was on the side that wanted the springs. The other side laughed at the idea that Austin would ever be large enough to use the water of any one of the famous springs. Then it was that Todd made a statement that will live long as a policy for any and every city: ‘Every city should see that its water supply is taken care of twenty years ahead.’
But it was some years before the city would give up its idea of getting water from wells, but Todd never quit his agitation for the purchase of the springs.
Before we got the springs the city had taken on another piece of work, the municipal control of lighting and power by the electric current.”
Photo shows Austin's Electric Light and Pumping Station in 1908.

Early Life of William Todd, Austin City Engineer in the early 1900s

Austin’s Todd Park was named after William Todd, a native of Scotland and Austin’s first full-time City Engineer. His work in the city is closely linked with the utilities including water and electricity. His personal story is outlined in the October 13, 1931 Austin Daily Herald article published on the date of his death. (Mr. Todd died about two weeks after the plane crash involving Arthur Wright. I was researching the crash when I found this article.)
“William Todd, seventy-four years of age, half century resident of this city, connected with the water and light system for thirty-one years, and creator and superintendent of the most successful municipal plant in the Northwest, died at his home, 419 East Mill Street [Ed: now 1st St NE], this morning at 1:40. Funeral services will be at the First Presbyterian Church at 2:30 Thursday afternoon followed by Masonic services at Oakwood cemetery.
Superintendent Todd was born near Glasgow, Scotland, September 1, 1857, and grew to be a young man of twenty-two before deciding to come to America. With his brother, John, he came to Cresco, Iowa, where the brothers resided for a year and coming to the little, but growing, village of Austin in 1880. Being a stationary engineer, Mr. Todd found work with the C. M. and St. P. railroad company. The next year he sent to Scotland for Miss Elizabeth Morrison to whom he was engaged before he left Scotland. They were married by Rev. C. E. Wright at the old Mansfield House, now called the Grand.
They made their home in a house on Mill Street in the same block which Mr. Todd has lived ever since and where he died this morning.”
The headline of this article tells where the tale will go next: “William Todd, Father of Municipal Plant, Dies After Years of Service to Austin: Directed Destiny of Water, Light and Power System Here.”