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Harmony Grain Elevator and Railroad Depot

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Harmony Area Historical Society
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Harmony Grain Elevators, ca 1885

Late 1800s grain elevators along Harmony’s rail tracks. The photo view looks west. The rail tracks are not visible in the photo. The tracks are located on the other side of the elevators.

Like many towns across Minnesota, Harmony owes its existence to a railroad. The first train arrived in 1879, connecting the farming village to larger cities. The rail line became a major contributor to Harmony’s early population growth and economic vitality.

Preston and Harmony Township residents were not happy when they missed out on the first rail line to cross Fillmore County. Prosperity was directly connected to the railroad. Finished in 1870, the Southern Minnesota Railroad’s line traveled from La Crescent along the Root River Valley. It made stops in Rushford, Whalen, Peterson, Lanesboro, Isinours and Spring Valley. The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, commonly known as the Milwaukee Road, eventually purchased the line and it reached South Dakota in 1880.

Preston, the county seat, was determined to gain a railroad. Its citizens engaged others in the area to give support if an opportunity presented itself again. Nine years after the Southern Minnesota Railroad Company completed its track, Preston got its second chance.

Construction of the Caledonia, Mississippi and Western rail traveling west from Reno in Houston County to Preston began in the spring of 1879. Caledonia, Spring Grove, Mabel, Prosper, Canton, and Harmony were stops along the line with Preston as its western terminus. Trains used a railway turntable to turn the locomotives around to return to Reno.

The Caledonia, Mississippi and Western chose land a mile north of Greenfield Prairie, also known as Greenfield, to lay track, and local business owners moved their buildings to be closer to the lifeblood rail. This track placement gave birth to Harmony Village. When a thirty-two-man rail work crew descended on the village to start working on the line in the fall of 1879, they were greeted with an enthusiastic welcome. The first trains arrived by the end of the year. Harmony was now economically connected with the rest of the state, region, and country.

A train station depot was built on a farm on the village’s western side to accommodate arriving and departing train passengers. It wasn’t long before it was decided the building was too far away from the growing downtown. It was moved by horse and wagon and placed along the tracks at the northern edge of Harmony’s now-flourishing downtown. W. E. Taylor became the depot’s first station agent.

Grain companies and elevator builders arrived with the railroad, seeking access to wheat and other crops from Southeast Minnesota’s productive farmland . Farmers in Minnesota’s most southeastern corner finally had the ability to deliver grains and other crops directly to Mississippi River markets and beyond. Elevators were needed to process and store grain and move it into large freight cars for transporting.

Two elevators, the McCormick and the McMichel, were completed in the fall of 1879. In 1884, sparks from a train ignited the McCormick’s hay supply, which was used to feed the horses working the elevator equipment. Water was pumped from two nearby farm wells and a bucket brigade was formed to douse the fire. When it was realized that the elevator was a total loss, efforts quickly refocused on saving the nearby lumberyard.

An overnight rain quenched the elevator fire, but its grain smoldered for days after. Another McCormick was built on the southeast side of the tracks. The McMichel survived and still stands in 2018. The Harmony Area Historical Society, the City of Harmony, local businesses, and historic preservation advocates hope to preserve and restore it as a reminder of Harmony’s rich agricultural history.

In 1895, Joel Wolsted built a new elevator near the tracks. Wolsted would eventually come to own all Harmony elevators. By 1901, the three feet narrow gauge tracks were replaced with standard tracks, allowing for faster travel and more freight traffic. In 1909, the Wolsted Grain Company was formed. In 1915, it became the Harmony Feed and Fuel Company. It was renamed the Harmony Agri Services in 1975 A new grain receiving and storage facility was constructed in 2017. In 1977, despite protests from farmers and businesses owners, Harmony lost its railroad.

In 1997, the old rail bed was reborn as the Harmony-Preston Valley State Trail, connecting bikers and walkers to the Root River State Trail.

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© Minnesota Historical Society
  • Bibliography

“Caledonia in Luck.” Preston Republican, May 22, 1879.

“Connecting Railroad.” Preston Republican, June 26, 1879.

Curtiss-Wedge, Franklin. History of Fillmore County. Vols. I & II. Chicago: H. C. Cooper Jr., 1912.

Fillmore County Historical Society. Fillmore County History 1984. Dallas, TX: The Taylor Publishing Company, 1984.

“Harmony Celebrates Benefits of the Harmony-Preston Valley Trail.” Fillmore County Journal (trail anniversary special section), September 5, 2011.
https://issuu.com/fillmorecountyjournal/docs/fcj.9.5.11.trail_anniversary_special

Jacobson, Anna Aaberg. “Memories of Early Years of Harmony.” Typescript, 1956. Harmony Area Historical Society Archives.

Johnson, Millicent Yates. Let’s Have Harmony: A Centennial History. Harmony Centennial Committee. Rochester, MN: Davies Printing, 1996.

Luecke, John C. Dreams, Disasters and Demise: The Milwaukee Road in Minnesota. Eagan, MN: Grenadier Publications, 1998.

Milwaukee Elevator. National Register of Historic Places nomination file, reference #60600454.
https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/06000454

Neill, Edward D. A History of Fillmore County. Minneapolis: Minnesota Historical Company, 1882.

[No title.] Preston Republican, September 18, 1879.

“Railroad Election.” Preston Republican. July 31, 1879.

Sethre, Jason. “How the Root River Trail Changed Southeast Minnesota.” Fillmore County Journal. Trail Anniversary Special Section. September 5, 2011 (page 1)
https://issuu.com/fillmorecountyjournal/docs/fcj.9.5.11.trail_anniversary_special

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Harmony Grain Elevators, ca 1885
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1879 Harmony Train Depot, ca. 2018
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McMichel Grain Elevator and Harmony Train Depot
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McMichel Grain Elevator Interior, Harmony, MN
McMichel Grain Elevator Interior, Harmony, MN
Interior of Harmony's 1879 McMichel Grain Elevator
Interior of Harmony's 1879 McMichel Grain Elevator
Interior of 1879 McMichel Grain Elevator, ca. 2018
Interior of 1879 McMichel Grain Elevator, ca. 2018
Harmony 1879 McMichel Grain Elevator
Harmony 1879 McMichel Grain Elevator
Harmony Agri Services grain processing and storage facility
Harmony Agri Services grain processing and storage facility

Turning Point

In 1977, after nearly a century of business, the last locomotive travels east through Harmony from Preston on its way to Reno and the Mississippi River. The rail tracks are removed shortly after, extinguishing all possibility of passenger and freight rail service returning to the area.

Chronology

1879

The first train arrives in Harmony on the Caledonia, Mississippi and Western rail line, connecting Reno along the Mississippi River in Houston County with Preston.

1879

Harmony’s McMichel and McCormick Grain Elevators are completed on the southwest side of the town’s rail tracks.

1880

The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad, commonly called the Milwaukee Road, purchases the rail line.

1880

The railroad depot is moved from a farm on Harmony’s west side closer to the grain elevators and to downtown.

1884

The McCormick Grain Elevator is destroyed by fire when sparks from a passing freight train ignite hay stored for the elevator’s horses.

1895

Joel Wolsted builds a grain elevator on the northeast side of the rail line.

1901

A standard gauge track line replaces the three feet wide narrow gauge tracks, allowing trains to move at faster speeds and accommodate additional freight cars.

1909

The Wolsted Grain Company is formed.

1915

The Wolsted Grain Company begins to operate as The Harmony Feed and Fuel Company.

1975

The Wolsted Grain Company becomes the Harmony Agri Services and constructs a grain storage and drying facility on the northeast side of the rail line.

1977

The last train leaves Harmony and the tracks are pulled up.

1989

Harmony-Preston Valley State Trail Commission is formed to create a recreational paved trail from Harmony to Preston on the old rail bed.

1997

The Harmony-Preston Valley Trail is completed on the old rail line, connecting bikers and walkers to the Root River State Trail via the Isinours Junction, five miles northeast of Preston.

2017

Harmony Agri Services constructs a new grain reception and storage facility.

2018

The Harmony Area Historical Society, partnering with the city, local businesses and historical preservation advocates, work to develop a plan to preserve and restore the 1879 McMichel Grain Elevator.