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

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

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

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

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

You won’t find too many interviews with John S. Campbell, who founded a company to produce the cereal known as Malt-O-Meal in Owatonna in

“Robbery & Murder!” screamed the headline of the Rice County Journal of Sept. 7, 1876. “Desperate Attempt to Rob the Bank! J.L. Heywood Shot Dead at

Law books or piano? There was not room for both when John and Ann North planned their move from New York to St. Anthony

I have occasionally been asked, “When will there be a book of your columns?” Now I have an answer: A book with the catchy

When I moved to Northfield from New York in 2004 and took an interest in researching and writing about the history of the town

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

What memories do you have of the Tilt-A-Whirl? I think almost everyone has a memory of the first spinning, dipping, dizzying, dazzling ride on

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

In 1856, only a year after the founding of Northfield, a Lyceum Association was established “to create a taste for literature and a thirst

Need a suggestion for a stocking stuffer? Well, here it is: a compilation of kids’ letters to Santa from the Northfield News from 1902 to 1945. Dear

Researching historic happenings can be time-consuming. It can also be as easy as “googling” a  topic on a computer. Occasionally, it is a matter of

When I heard that Paul Niemisto was retiring this year, I have to admit I could not believe it. Would this month’s 10th anniversary

No, I am not writing about the Northfield Cannon Valley Lions Club. Nor am I writing about the St. Olaf Lion, logo of the

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

  Margaret Evans served Carleton College from 1874 to 1908. A friend described her as being a “tall, slender, dark-eyed woman whose keen eyes

On Sunday, Feb. 26, 2012 Northfielders had a chance to experience what it would have been like to be in an “electric theater” audience

The year 2016 marks the 125th anniversary of St. Olaf College’s first music organization, a group once led by F. Melius Christiansen. No, it

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