For over a century, lumberyards played an integral role in the development of Cokato’s community. It’s hard to say who started the first lumberyard in Cokato. In the early 1880s, there were a smattering of very short-lived lumber yards, and many farms in the area had their own sawmills. In time, Cokato’s lumberyards were consistently housed at four        primary locations: Broadway Avenue and 1st Street SW; Millard Ave; Jenks Avenue and Third Street SW; and Century Avenue and 1st Street SW.

​My involvement in the Cokato Royalty program began in 1991.  As a graduating senior, I was eligible to run for Miss Cokato and when I received the interest letter in the mail, I quickly checked the YES box and mailed it back to the Royalty Committee.  As a lifelong Cokato girl, I knew this was in my future and I looked forward to it more each year. Little did I know how that simple action of returning an interest letter would lead me to still be involved with the Cokato Royalty program all these years later.

Gordon W. Nelson. "...for Cokato, Anderson and Calgren. Play Ball!" In the Midst Of, Cokato Historical Society (Spring 1998) v. 18 no. 2. 

It could be any Sunday afternoon from May through August during the golden era of Cokato "town team" baseball from 1933 through 1939. The locale for today's game is Legion Park, arguable the finest baseball facility in this part of the state, certainly among the very few with a grass infield and sunken dugouts. So what if left field slopes slightly away from the infield toward the tennis court. Credit and a sense of deep appreciation should go to Luther "Fisk" Peterson for the countless hours he spends each summer maintaining this community asset.