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Local History Books

THE FACES OF CHANGE

What is it like to be a refugee/immigrant in small town Minnesota? Pelican Rapids, popluation 2374, has undergone significant social, cultural and racial change. Through interviews and photographs, Joan Jarvis Ellison and Mel Zierke explore the human side of these changes and how they have affected this community.
Joan Jarvis Ellison
$16.95 - 167 pages SC
FERGUS FALLS AND THE FABULOUS FIFTIES
Revisit the 1950s with a stroll through this book. If you are a Fergus Falls High School graduate you are sure to be taken down memory lane. The book is so full of description of everyday life it will almost reconstruct your childhood.
Author: Lance E. Johnson
$19.95 - 232 pages SC
BEYOND THE STORM - BOOK II BEYOND THOSE HILLS SERIES
Minnesota, Armistic Day 1940, the storm of the century. Matthew Anderson faces a crisis within his family. At the same time a storm threatens life. BEYOND THE STORM continues the story of the Andersons and answers the question: "What happened to the Anderson Family?" and "How can Matthew and his family face their new difficulties?"
Author: Vernal Lind
$19.95 - pages SC
BEYOND THOSE HILLS
Minnesota, 1937. Matthew Anderson wakened from a nightmare which soon became reality. P.J., his older brother, announces, “The farm is mine!” and Matthew’s world crumbles. Next to Ellen and his children, he loves the land more than anything else. He wonders why God has sent these dry years and has now permitted P.J. to take the farm. How will he handle losing the farm he loves and seeing his parents shaken by P.J.’s actions? Can he forgive his brother? Will he find new purpose and meaning in his life?
Author: Vernal Lind
$16.95 - 347 pages SC
THE GREAT FERGUS FALLS, MINNESOTA CYCLONE OF JUNE 22, 1919 by Lance E. Johnson. Johnson's narrative is the definitive work on what was recognized as the fourth most destructive cyclone in the United States up to that date. In a matter of minutes it destroyed two-thirds of Fergus Falls, leaving 54 people dead and wounding and displacing dozens more. This book contains over 100 photographs, many of which depict the cyclone's destruction.
Author: Lance E. Johnson
$12.95 - 148 pages SC
BUILDING FROM THE PAST takes you on a pictorial tour of the architectural highlights found in Fergus Falls. Updated by the Fergus Falls Heritage Preservation Commission in 1998.

Author: James Gray & Marjorie Barton
$7.95 - 112 pages SC
EVER THE LAND traces the life of Pehr Pehrson, through his youth, marriage, parenthood, and tenant farming in his native Sweden; then his immigration to America in 1869, his homesteading in Otter Tail County’s Clitherall Township, his development of his farmstead, and finally deeding the land to his only son, Nels, before his death in 1914.
Author: Ruben L. Parson
$16.95 - 318 pages SC
PELICAN LAKES: THE HISTORY OF A MINNESOTA COMMUNITY. "This is a story of how a beautiful natural wilderness attracted settlers to the shores of four interconnected lakes, and how they and their descendants have lived during the last 150 years. Much of the book is based on first-hand oral history. The first section relates general information that will interest readers regardless of their connection to the Lakes. The second part gives a detailed account of the developement of each beach or smaller lake.
Authors: Kingham Ottoson
$25.00 - 287 pages SC
GOING TO THE LAKE: A MEMOIR OF THE BONITA BEACH EXPERIENCE AT OTTER TAIL LAKE. A collection of stories about the experience of Going to the Lake since 1911. When Going to the Lake provided something new and exciting for both parents and children and included the use of an outhouse, cooking over an open fire and enjoying the great outdoors.
Author: Thomas A. Lincoln
$10.00 - 59 pages SC
MEMORIES OF OTTER TAIL LAKE, Second Edition. Includes fascinating stories about the people and everyday life on the north side of Otter Tail Lake. The book is divided into four parts: The Early Years, The Middle Years, Memories and an Epilogue which includes an intriguing Trivia Quiz. Sure to appeal to anyone who remembers summers spent "Going to the Lake".
Author: Lance E. Johnson
$10.00 - 127 pages SC
OLD CLITHERALL'S STORY BOOK: A HISTORY OF THE FIRST SETTLEMENT IN OTTER TAIL COUNTY, MINNESOTA, 1865-1919. Contains stories written by members and descendents of the first permanent settlement of Otter Tail County. Followers of Alpheus Cutler, they traveled in covered wagons pulled by oxen from Manti, Iowa to the north shore of Clitherall Lake.
Compiled by: Hallie Gould
$3.59 - 61 pages SC
PLACES. Compiled by Otter Tail County Historical Society. A collection of stories by Otter Tail County residents as they remember Places in Otter Tail County which inspired, thrilled and changed them. As you read this book you will recall memories --- memories that are real and close to home. If you develop a case of nostalgia, the book hit its target!
Compiled by: OTCHS
$14.95 - 206 pages SC
THE PROMISE OF A BEAUTIFUL HARVEST. A collection of newspaper accounts of life in Otter Tail County from 1865-1895.
Compiled by: OTCHS
$2.50 - 20 pages SC
RIVER OF TIME: FERGUS FALLS 125TH ANNIVERSARY ANTHOLOGY. A collection of essays, short stories and poetry from writers who have wandered far away from Fergus Falls and from those that have past through and felt the tug to call it at least a temporary home or place for reflection. Includes works by: Sinclair Lewis, Mary MacLane, Herbert Krause, James Drey, Diane Glancy, Jim Fawbush, Harold Huber, Idona Ryding, Jane Sanderson, Timray and several more.
Edited by: Jolie Sasseville
$11.95 - SC ON SALE NOW ONLY $5.95!!!!
RURAL SCHOOLS OF OTTER TAIL COUNTY. Compiled by Otter Tail County Historical Society, it is a pictorial history of the Rural Schools of Otter Tail County both past and present. Organized by township and school district number. At its peak, Otter Tail County had more rural school districts than any county in Minnesota. The book also includes stories submitted by past teachers and students, newspaper accounts and official school records.
Compiled by: OTCHS LIMITED ADDITION
$34.95 - 128 pages HC ON SALE NOW ONLY $24.95!!!!