THE LIFE AND TIMES OF GUST AKERLUND
AND THE AKERLUND PHOTO
1872 - Born August 6, Håssjö Parish, Våsternörrland, Sweden.
1892 - Entered Swedish military service.
1893 - Released from the Swedish military to immigrate to the United States.
1894 - Settled in Merrill, Wisconsin; worked in local sawmill.
1895 - Studied photography as an apprentice at the Jones Photography Studio in Merrill, Wisconsin.
1900 - Granted American citizenship.
1902 - Purchased Fred Hanson Photography Studio in Cokato.
1905 - Bought a corner lot at Fourth Street and Broadway Ave.; moved Hanson building there and added the skylight.
1913 - Sold studio to George Swedburg and entered automobile business briefly.
1914 - Visited father and two brothers in Sweden; returned to Minnesota upon the outbreak of World War I; rented the J. J. Sundquist Studio in Dassel.
1918 - Bought former studio in Cokato from George Swedburg.
1918 - Original skylight damaged by hail, present skylight constructed Original backdrop covered and a new one painted by an itinerant artisan.
1927 - Married Esther Hanson of Dassel in Iron Mountain, Michigan; one son, Theodore (Ted), three grandchildren.
1935 - Added the adjoining apartment where the family lived.
1950s - Esther ran a small gift shop out of front half of the studio.
1953 - Akerlund practiced trade part-time almost until his death.
1954 - Gust died January 21, Cokato, age 81; Esther stayed in the apartment until 1983.
1976 - Studio entered on the National Register of Historic Places.
1984 - Studio donated by family of Gust Akerlund for restoration.
1985 - Esther Akerlund died, August 24, Cokato Manor.
1986 - Grand opening of the restored studio.
1992 - Studio damaged by tornado (June 16), southeast corner moved along foundation about three inches.
1996 - Studio profiled in Minneapolis Star Tribune, March 17.
1997 - Spring fashion shoot for Mpls/St. Paul Magazine taken in studio, photos appear in March issue.
1997 - July 1 storm damages skylight. Five panes of glass are replaced.
1998 - Over forty Cokato-area residents are photographed in the studio for a feature in the February 8 edition of the Minneapolis Star Tribune.