CEMETERY STORIES
Wandering through Mt. Pleasant Cemetery, it’s hard not to wonder about those who are buried here. Every dearly departed has a story and so many of them are from a time and culture vastly different from our own. We chose five residents of Mt. Pleasant, researched them and wrote a narrative of their life. The events are factual and historical, but the narratives are our words, doing our best to bring their thoughts to life.
1. Nellie Baxter: Successful store owner
2. Lucius Howe: Vermont brick maker
3. Emmaline Noble Lee: Teacher
4. Katherina Greiner: Hotel owner FEATURED
5. William Spoerner: WWII pilot
Katherina Greiner
Hotel Owner
A Brief History of Chaska
by Lisa Oberski, Tracy D. Swanson and LaVonne Barac
With the preservation of its unique name, Chaska reflects its commitment to its oldest recorded history, the history of a community in the land of the Dakota: “Chaska” is a Dakota word referring to the “first-born son” in a Dakota family.
But Chaska’s cultural history dates back much further than the Dakota. Evidence of the first residents of Chaska can be found in what is now City Square Park. The three burial mounds located there date back 1000-1500 years to the Mid-Woodland period Natives. Originally three of six mounds that formed a circle, the remaining mounds are cordoned off during city celebrations held in the park as a means of showing respect for the Mound Builders, the first people of Chaska.
In 1776, European explorer Jonathan Carver began to map the area along the Minnesota River. At the time, the Dakota moved between their summer camp by the river and winters spent in the Big Woods in northern Chaska. Seventy-five years later, as new territory opened for settlement in Minnesota in 1851 with the signing of the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux by the Dakota, sites along the Minnesota River were staked out for future communities. While some never developed, others such as Chaska thrived.
It was in 1851 that an easterner named Thomas Andrew Holmes traveled up the Minnesota River where a 20-acre clearing in the Big Woods attracted his attention. He claimed it as the Chaska town site. It operated as a township until 1871 when it became a village. Twenty years later, in 1891, the village of Chaska became a city.
View our February 2023 Newsletter
Join Us!
Become a member of the Chaska Historical Society!
Chaska History Center Hours:
Tuesdays & Fridays 1pm - 4pm
The History Center follows Eastern Carver County Schools closure due to inclement weather.
City of Chaska Historic Building Tour Storymap
Interact with the online storymap building tour. Historic Chaska homes and their original occupants are presented in this interactive look into Chaska history. Historic buildings are also presented in the brochure "A Walking Tour of Historic Downtown Chaska" which can be found at the Chaska History Center.
~ our 2020 virtual exhibit ~
"Why Chaska?"
Stories from the present and the past . . . coming to Chaska from across the Twin Cities, the state, the country and the world!
Curating
Collecting the unique items and histories of Chaska residents and their lifestyle.
Archiving
Reviewing, indexing, recording items in the Chaska collection.
Exhibiting
Gathering cohesive facts, archived items and personal accounts to tell a story.
Engaging
Sharing our collections with the public to educate, understand and celebrate our history.
