Cities and Towns | Page 27

Schweitzer Flax Plant

Delivering flax bales at Schweitzer Flax Plant, Windom, ca. 1950.

Stacked Flax Bales, 1950

Flax bales stacked in a field in Windom, ca. 1950.

Nelson’s Ice Cream float in Flax Day parade

Float created by Nelson’s Ice Cream Company passing the State Theater in the Flax Day parade in Windom, late 1940s.

Horse Club riders in Flax Day parade

Orin Christensen and other members of a horse club ride in a Flax Day parade in Windom, late 1940s. Published in the Cottonwood County Citizen, July 5, 2017.

Aerial view of Schweitzer Flax Plant

Aerial view of Schweitzer Flax Plant, Windom, 1947.

Flax Day picnic

Flax Day picnic with Cedric Adams (front row, center), George Grams, and Gert Tibodeau (rear row, left to right), Windom, 1947. Photograph by Don Berg.

Flax Day parade

Flax Queen and other royalty riding in a car in the Flax Day parade, Windom, 1947.

During the 1940s, Cottonwood County produced so many acres of flax that Windom, the county seat, came to be known as the “Flax Capital of the World.” Between 1948 and 1956, the city celebrated this distinction by hosting an annual event called Flax Day.