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In the Midst

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A Policeman and his Dogs

3/31/2020

 

Article by Cokato Museum Staff

Picture
Cokato Museum Collection, circa 1943
Back Row: Ed Pickruhn, Marvel Fox, Otto Preus, Joann Nelson, Layonna Nelson, Pauline Hedberg, I.W. Humola.
Front Row: Marion Loe, Alice Ryti, Gloria Nelson, Lorraine, Joan Onkka, Paul Hedberg, Clifford Hedberg
​Very Front Row: Rex II
Edward Pickruhn was originally from Minneapolis, MN and then moved to Cokato after he married Mrs. Ellen Johnson of Cokato in 1927.  He lived in Cokato until his death in 1947. During his time here he was involved in many different things, including, being a member of the Masonic Lodge and the Eastern Star.  In Cokato's First Century by Carlton Lee it states that Pickruhn served as the Master of the Cokato Lodge from 1919-1921. Pickruhn was also a custodian at the water works system and was probably most notably known for being a policeman for the Cokato Village.
According to the 1947 Cokato Enterprise article, Ed Pickruhn was a policeman for the Cokato Village from 1931 to 1947.  Lee states that in 1931 Pickruhn was appointed night watchman and caretaker of the water pumping station, at $60 a month. When the worst of the Depression was over, in 1935 they increased his pay to $100 a month.  During his time as a policeman, Pickruhn had had two police dogs.  Both dogs were named Rex and were loyal companions to the officer and they were well known around the community. ​
Picture
Ed Pickruhn and Rex I on Millard Ave, circa 1936

LOST COKATO: The “Little” Grocery Stores

3/23/2020

 
Article by Mike Worcester from the Cokato Historical Society's newsletter In the Midst Of, October, 2006, Vol. 26 No. 4. 
Picture
Norm Blaha's grocery store at the corner of Third Street and Millard Avenue, c 1960 (Enterprise Dispatch collection)
​Each winter, the 3rd grade classes from Cokato Elementary visit the museum as part of their unit on local history. Part of their tour here is the viewing of a slide show that shows how this area began and developed, from the mid-1850s through about 1920. One of the slide images shows a typical grocery, or “general” store.

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LOST COKATO: COKATO BAKERY & LUNCH ROOM

3/19/2020

 

Article by Mike Worcester from the Cokato Historical Society's newsletter In the Midst Of, Late Fall, 1998, Vol. 18 No. 4

Picture
Gust Akerlund photograph of the Cokato Bakery & Lunchroom around 1910. Copyright Cokato Museum.
​The smell of fresh baked goods wafted down the dirt-lined streets of Cokato for blocks around. No question about it, there is almost no more wondrous smell than that of bread just out of the oven. For almost nine decades, that smell emanated from the Cokato Bakery & Lunch Room, at the corner of Broadway Avenue and Second Street. Now, that once grand building stands on the verge of demolition. When it goes, one of the oldest downtown structures will be no more.

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Picture
  • History
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