History
JAMESTOWN: ‘THE CITY BEAUTIFUL” – Chapter VI – North Dakota of today – Zena Irma Trinka – 1919
Jamestown the county seat of Stutsman County has a population of approximately 7,500, and is situated on the main line of the Northern Pacific Railroad, about one hundred miles in the interior of the state. It was one of the very first cities founded in the state. From the first one idea seemed paramount, which makes a city worth living in, namely, to have it one of the most attractive and scenic spots in the state. It is in a huge valley, surrounded by hills, which even in their natural dress add charm to the city nestling in their arms. They admit of endless beautification. This passion possessed the founders, and when the city was laid out, Dr. Grey, the noted editor of the greatest religious weekly in America, from Chicago, stood on the eastern hill, now the site of one of the greatest colleges in the state, and in sheer admiration, exclaimed: “How beautiful! Here some day will be built one of the finest institutions of the Northwest.” His prediction has come true.
No wonder, therefore, that the city has naturally taken on the slogan, “The City Beautiful.” And true to that early ideal the evidences of large progress along this line are manifest. For example, the city is literally surrounded with parks. There is Nickeus Park, a charming circular green sward, embraced in the arms of the James River, after which the city is named, and dotted with trees; there is also Klaus Park, more extensive than Nickeus, a wonderfully artistic spot, skirted on one side by the river, and reaching out to the foot of the hills, covered with beautiful elms, cinder and gravel drives, and approached by a beautiful bridge; there is the now famous Lover’s Lane, flanking the city on the south, through which autos, as well as lovers, love to wind in and out of the tortuous drives and loop the loop, the whole park
thronged with elegant elms and elders, both native in this locality.
Then, there are other parks, as the City Park, the Methodist Camp grounds which nearly unite Nickeus and Klaus parks, and superb drives up to the College Drive and the State Hospital, all giving the city the aspect of peace and contentment and artistic taste, a profound love for the beautiful. Plato said that “the beautiful is the splendor of the true.” It is that splendor, the city is striving after. This is also seen in the beautiful residences, of which over six hundred have been built during the last five years, and the beautiful streets rapidly being lined with curbing and trees.
But beauty is not the only attraction of the city, probably not even the greatest. Prosperity is the foundation of any city beautiful. Jamestown claims the exceptionally large and well-managed State Hospital. It is the division point of the Northern Pacific with large car shops employing a great force of men. It has a beautiful Midland Continental Depot and is the headquarters of that system, calculated to run from
Winnipeg, Canada, to the gulf, as a great outlet for the grains of the north.
Eight years ago the Commercial club undertook to aid the Presbyterian Synod of North Dakota in the re-opening of the Jamestown College which had been closed for some sixteen years. The success of that remarkable institution is but an echo of the progress and development of the city and the state. During this brief period eight beautiful buildings, at a cost, with the campus, of some $325,000 have been erected, surrounded with drives, walks, Allen Athletic Field, making a campus ground one of the finest of its kind in the Northwest. An endowment of $350,000 has also been raised, in which the citizens of the city had no little part. The college is crowded with students preparing themselves for citizenship in the commonwealth. This great college is the pride of the State, exhibitive of the thrift, educational ideals and spirits of the people.
In the matter of educational facilities, Jamestown takes the lead with the best in the state. Besides the noted Jamestown College, it is the home of St. John’s Academy, an institution known all over the state. Then there are fine public schools, modern, fully equipped, employing a large and efficient corps of teachers. The public schools alone present an investment of $200,000. Ten churches of practically all denominations are located here, as also the splendid Trinity Hospital under the care and management of the sisters, representing an investment of $60,000. The Gladstone Hotel, erected at a cost of $150,000, run on the American plan, and several hotels run on the European plan, meet the needs of a large traveling public.
Two great trunk sewer systems have been installed, making the city a sanitary community. Over a million dollars have been spent on public improvements. The city has a brilliant white way, electric power plant, excellent water works, and other facilities. Three exceptionally strong banks take care of the business interests of the city, and help promote new industries. The aggregate deposits are $2,500,000.
Among the public buildings in Jamestown, is the splendid City Hall, built at a cost of $50,000, the City Armory, costing $30,000, and the imposing structure of the County Court House. The new Public Library recently completed which cost $40,000 is one of the finest buildings of its kind in the state from a standpoint of architectural beauty. The Masonic bodies possess a fine temple costing $60,000. Then there is
the Elks’ Hall, and the Eagles Hall, each representing an investment of $50,000. The U. S. Government has purchased a central site for a federal building, which is to cost approximately $250,000.
Located at Jamestown is one of the large flour mills of the Russell-Miller Milling Co., a very expensive modern plant, with a daily capacity of 1,000 barrels. One of the new industries that promises a great future for Jamestown is the Bridgeman-Russell Co. Creamery, which was recently erected at a cost of $60,000. Situated in the midst of a dairy farming community, it promises wonderful possibilities. The Jamestown branch is the property of the Bridgeman-Russell Co., of Duluth, which operates a number of creameries in different parts of the Northwest. They have a network of agents spread over the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, North and South Dakota, Montana and Michigan, and these buyers of cream direct the flow to the nearest centralizer, like the creamery in Jamestown.
On the first floor of the Jamestown plant is the factor}’ of the creamery. Here the cream is received direct from the farmers’ autos and wagons, and the two express offices of the Northern Pacific and Midland railroads, a block away. The cans are individually weighed, a sample taken and tested, and then the contents are started on their tortuous journey of purification and manipulation, later to emerge golden yellow butter, ready for the table. Throughout the entire process the cream and butter are not touched by the hands, and though each is handled many times it is all done in the most sanitary way by machinery. It is worth a trip to the factory to see the big churns, each with a capacity of a thousand pounds, and to watch the course of the cream from the time it arrives, until it is stored as butter in the refrigerator.
From the vat, into which the cream is poured from the cans of the producer, the cream is pumped to the big forwarmer vat where endless “worm” of coiled steam pipe continuously writhes and warms the cream to about 80 degrees. Then it is forced into the pasteurizer where it is whirled dizzily and until the temperature rises to 155 or 160 degrees.
Then under pressure the cream enters the holding back vat, where it remains half an hour and quietus is given to any bacteria hardy enough to exist up to this time.
Then the cream passes to the ceiling of the room to emerge upon a vertical toboggan slide: a series of pipes over which the cream flows in a film, and from that it drops to the basin below, which it reaches at a temperature of about
70 degrees. From there it is pumped into the big holder vats of 600 and 1,000 gallons each, where the cream ripens and becomes prepared for the final stage of the journey. With a little starter formed from fresh milk and encouragement from the butter-maker and a system of steam “worms” in each ripener—the cream is conveyed to the big churns of 900 to 1,000 lbs., capacity each. Here the particles of fat are gradually separated and accumulate in golden globules swimming in a sea of buttermilk. The buttermilk is drawn off and pumped to a tank on the second floor, where it is stored until carried away by the farmers at 2 cents per gallon and used for stock feed.
The skilled man in charge of the butter churn, now adds just the right amount of salt to the globules, the churn goes round and round, first one way and then the other, and finally the butter is worked down to the right consistency, contain
ing just the right amount of moisture and flavored to a degree. It is then packed in ash tubs or firkins, each holding 63 lbs., and stored away in the big refrigerators.
The plant opened for business June 1, 1918, and by June 19th, five carloads of Primus butter had been shipped from there, with another car ready to be shipped. Each car contained more than 20,000 pounds. The plant is flourishing beyond all sanguine expectations.
A live Commercial club is a city’s greatest asset, and Jamestown is among the cities of North Dakota that are unusually well favored in this respect. One of the results of the activities of the Jamestown Chamber of Commerce is the quarterly publication of “The Power House,” a neat and attractive booklet dealing with matters of civic importance to Jamestown, as well as lauding Patriotic movements. The result is a bigger, and broader Jamestown; and as the club has affiliated with other clubs of various cities, and has a mailing list of over 500, the “City Power House,” promises to be of no little significance for the future of the city of Jamestown.
