LITTLE MINNESOTA - 1 - on Waymarking.com

Waymarks Created From This Uncategorized Waymark:
 OLDEST - Catholic Church in Wadena County, Minnesota. - posted by veritas vita
 (former) Mother of Sorrow Church - Aldrich, Wadena, Minnesota, USA. - posted by veritas vita
 Aldrich, Minnesota - City of Aldrich, Minnesota, USA. - posted by veritas vita

Since 1973, all incorporated towns were declared officially to be ‘cities’ by an act of the Minnesota Legislature. Ever wonder about those ‘little cities’? This series of 100 waymarks will take you to all corners of the great state of Minnesota to visit the 100 smallest of the incorporated cities in the state. All have a great story to tell.
This is the 1st of 100 of the cities described in the book LITTLE MINNESOTA. The City of Aldrich is home to the first railroad, the first post office and the first Catholic Church in Wadena County. The city was incorporated in 1871 currently is home to 48 persons.
Situated on both sides of TH #10 and along the Partridge River, Aldrich is named for Cyrus Aldrich, a popular & respected politician who represented Minnesota in the U.S. Congress from 1859 – 1863 and later a member of the Minnesota legislature.
In 1947, the John Fredli family opened the Aldrich Cheese Factory. Until the factory closed in 1973, employees churned out 5,000 pounds of cheese daily. One Christmas, General Jack Vessey, Ronald Reagan’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a frequent visitor to the cheese shop, ordered 32 pounds of cheese as gifts to the military chiefs of 15 NATO nations. According to a letter received by the Fredli’s, the cheese was a hit with all, including in the countries of Denmark & the Netherlands, two very prominent cheese producing nations.
The oldest church in Wadena County, the Mother of Sorrows Catholic Church, was founded as a mission in 1870. Eighteen charter members erected a building the building in 1885. A walk through the Catholic Cemetery north of the city reveals tombstones that date back to the early 1860’s.
This series of waymarks is tuned to getting people to visit these wonderful small communities before they disappear completely. To validate your ‘find’, please post a photo of you with your GPS at the coordinates and please relate a little tidbit about what you learned about the town and its people that is not in this narrative or the book. You can learn more about ‘LITTLE MINNESOTA’ by logging on to (visit link)

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