I’ve always been someone who likes to organize details, to piece together sometimes random pieces of information into a cohesive whole. That’s probably why I enjoy the research I do for these …

North of Danbury near the southwest corner of the intersection of Old Hwy. 35 and Nelson Road stands a monument. It’s easy to miss if you’re driving by on Old 35. But, once you know it’s there, …

When people talk about “the good old days” they sometimes forget that no time period in history was good for everyone. The Roaring ‘20s are known as a time of economic prosperity after World …

One of the more unique businesses in the history of Burnett County is a cigar factory.  The early settlers in America, like the Native Americans and fur traders before them, smoked pipes. …

Sometimes research is intriguing. Sometimes it’s tedious. And, sometimes, it’s just fun.  As I skimmed the April 3, 1930, Journal of Burnett County, I saw this item, “A social evening …

The North America fur trade of the 1600s to 1800s was an international operation where European goods were traded for North American furs. The fur traders were Europeans or North American-born men of …

As our country’s 250th anniversary draws near, we might wonder what Burnett County was like in earlier 50th anniversary years. 1776 – The state of Virgina claimed as its territory a …

When you drive past farmer’s fields in Burnett County you’ll see plenty of corn, soybeans, and hay. What you’re not likely to see is sorghum. Most people in Wisconsin and Minnesota are …

Parks that border rivers and lakes see a lot of use during the summer months, but there are other parks within the county that also offer a nice respite for locals and tourists. Melvin W. Daniels …

In the 1920s, with the war in Europe over, the American Red Cross focused on four major priorities: aiding the victims of the war, helping wounded American servicemen and their families, responding …

When people hear the words “Red Cross,” most think of one of two things: help in disasters or blood drives. But those weren’t the original focus of the Red Cross. The Red Cross traces its …

Longtime residents of Burnett County probably remember the Grantsburg Community Hospital located on South Pine Street. This large brick building was built in 1930 and served as a hospital until 1961 …

When settlers first move into an area, they have to be quite self-sufficient. There is no one to rely on for their food, clothing, shelter or protection except themselves. They also have to deal with …

I was eight years old when Santa Claus brought our family a box of 64 Crayola crayons.  64! Never had I seen that many colors of crayons! We probably each also received a coloring book with that …

The first settlers arrived in the area that would become Coomer in the late 1870s. About a hundred years later, in March 1964, an article in the Milwaukee Journal declared, “Coomer is dead.” …

Finland and Scandinavia share a land border and the Baltic Sea, yet fewer Finlanders immigrated to Wisconsin and Burnett County than people from the Scandinavian countries of Norway and Sweden. …

Burnett County averages about 50 inches of snowfall annually. With more and more households owning four-wheel drive vehicles, getting around in the snow is less of a problem than it used to be, even …

Part I of this article traced the beginnings of ski jumping in Burnett County on a 20-foot ski slide built on Albert Johnson’s property northeast of Grantsburg around 1930 to the construction of …

On Feb. 7 the ski jumping competitions of the Winter Olympics begin. Ski jumping has been included in the modern Winter Olympics since 1924. Ski jumping originated in the Telemark Province of …

Over the years, many people with an entrepreneurial spirit started businesses in Burnett County. Some of these businesses lasted a few years, some a few decades or more. One had the possibility of …