“Old Bill” Schilling would have loved this August Historic Happenings column. That is because I am going to tell you a lot about his contributions to

Since the 2016 election season is in full throttle, this seems like a good time to revisit a historic happening involving a presidential candidate

On June 16, 1899, more than 6,000 visitors streamed into Northfield on a dozen regular and special trains and marched in a mile-long parade.

No doubt fans of football at St. Olaf looked enviously across the Cannon River during the first two decades of the 20th century when

For 20 years the Lockwood Opera House on Division Street had been the primary place where early Northfielders gathered for entertainment. But by 1892

The opening game of the 1965-66 basketball season of the Northfield High School Raiders was to be played on the court of a new

Question: Who Are Northfield’s Quiz Show Aces? This year the Academy Award for Best Picture went to “Slumdog Millionaire,” the story of a teen

In July of 2011 an open house was held at the Archer House River Inn to show off a $1.1 million renovation of the

A clause inserted into every deed of land by Northfield’s founder John North was “No intoxicating drinks shall be sold or in any manner

I have two David Allen paintings in my two-bedroom condo. Both are winter scenes showing Northfield’s Bridge Square from different angles. In one, the

Well, yes, we do have the smell of Malt-O-Meal wafting through our town on a regular basis. But for a “whiff” which says we

With a menacing stare and a big ax, Smoke Shop proprietor Stanley “Tiny” Johnson stood beside two men locked into the “Jesse James Days

It is not surprising that Susan Garwood, executive director of the Rice County Historical Society, expresses a fondness for history. But it turns out

This was the giant headline in the Northfield News on Nov. 9, 1895, with the subhead, “Northfield College Presidents, Professors, Doctors and Citizens Express Their Opinions

Ah, May! In the early years of the last century, the sounds of music echoed from Manitou Heights down to Lyman Lakes as Northfielders

  Some people look at cut-down trees and think “Firewood.” Curtis Ingvoldstad of Nerstrand, a wood sculptor/chainsaw artist, looks at the trunks that are

“The overture is about to start. You cross your fingers and hold your heart. It’s curtain time and away we go. Another opening of

The March Madness of the high school and college basketball championships is now behind us, but it was April Madness at Sayles-Hill Gymnasium in

Early in the 20th century, Carleton College students eagerly awaited an ice cream party which celebrated the advent of spring after yet another long

Mike (“Doc”) Hildebrandt has a motto, taken from John Denver’s song Thank God, I’m a Country Boy. It is, “I fiddle when I can and

When I lived in New York and told anyone that my alma mater was St. Olaf, more often than not the response was, “Oh,

Visitors to Northfield’s third Vintage Band Festival this month may be acquainted with the name of F. Melius Christiansen, founder and director of the

“Noted Organist Accepts Offer: Carleton Secures James R. Gillette, Nationally Known Organist.” This was the front page headline in the Northfield News of Aug. 24, 1923.