The early days of Sheldon make for interesting study. The town came into being with the construction of the Northern Pacific rail line in 1882. The purpose of the large land grants given to the railroad companies was to provide land for people to come settle. They needed to sell it for two reasons: to finance building of the lines and to insure an income from carrying freight. How much was it worth? To determine values, the railroads sent out land examiners, one of whom noted his impression of Sheldon as he rode through on June 3, 1883 from Fargo on the new railroad.
“The only station of any account is Sheldon where there are about 25 buildings large and small in including a good R.R. station and elevator. The road is still rough and has a very incomplete aspect.” Now with the railroad, citizens and businessmen could ship in lumber to build even more. But those 25 existing buildings obtained lumber a different way.
Turning to the red history book for Sheldon’s Centennial published in 1981 we find mention of how they managed to get the material
om Buffalo. A teamster, William McConnell, brought building materials from Buffalo. Frank Connelly’s WPA statement informs us that in 1881 a lumberyard was established in Buffalo from where he hauled the first load of lumber that started the building of Sheldon.
In its first year of publication, The Sheldon Progress reported that freight business on the railroad was rapidly on the increase. Twenty cars of freight passed through yesterday (March 30, 1885). Lumber comprised a good part of that freight.
It’s unknown how many of the first buildings still stand. The house on the south side of the old Methodist Church certainly belongs on the list. Mrs. Lillian Wall visited the Register of Deeds office in Lisbon and found that the earliest record of it occurred on April 21, 1883 when E. E. Sheldon sold it to a Wellington Gram. Given the dates, we know it existed before the railroad came.
This picture shows the house as it looks today.
No comments:
Post a Comment