Depicted in this photo is Abraham Mallinen and his family, in of their farmstead, along with their horses. He was the first licensed minister of the Town of Thomson and served as pastor of the Apostolic Lutheran Church of Esko when it was first organized. He settled in Thomson Township with his family in 1883 on his farm, which was located west of the present day Thomson Road and north of the Palkie Road.
From front to back , the students in the agricultural class of 1933, led by teacher Harold Lawrenze, are identified as Fred Tan, Charlie Niemi, Hjalmer Stohlberg, Arnold Kuusiko, Elmer Hongisto, Eli Forstie, Toivo Jarvi, George Niemi, William Niemi, Oscar Sunnarberg, George Sunnarberg, Toivo Oja, Hjalmer Olson, George Maunu, Andrew Forstie, William Johnson, Hjalmer Niemi, Charlie Anderson, Leonard Saukko, Teacher Harold Lawrenze, Toivo Saukko, and Rudolph Oja. The photo was taken by Mr. Olson in 1933.
This photograph shows Superintendent of Thomson Township Schools, Albert L. Winterquist, as well as his house and car, along the present day Highway 61.
Two young boys, Fred and Isaac Esko, stand in front of the home of Alex Esko and Eva Esko, their parents. Fred was two years older than Isaac, and is the taller boy, while Isaac is the one wearing a white shirt. The house depicted here is probably the third in a series of several expansions. The original log home was constructed in 1895 and was basically in the shape of a rectangle that was parallel to Highway 61, on the south side. If you look very closely at the lower left corner of the house, you can see a black line extending west from the corner. This represents the bridge that crossed the Midway River. To the right, the settlement of Esko would begin its development about a decade later.
Depicted here is the farmhouse of Alex and Georgina Esko, located on the hillside banks of the Midway River. The baby is probably Isaac Esko. This photograph was taken south of the present Highway 61, looking northward to the bridge over the Midway River. In the background is a hayshed.
This is a photograph of Mr. and Mrs. Alex Esko, their children Hilda Esko, George Esko, Isaac Esko, Fred Esko, and Henry Esko, and their farm home. The namesake of Esko, Alex Esko purchased the farm in 1890 from Timber baron Andreas M. Miller. Alex Esko was born in Finland in 1862 and came to the Village of Thomson in 1880 and to Thomson Township in 1890 when he purchased the farm. He was a railroad agent, county commissioner, member of Thomson Township School board, and Thomson Township Town Board.
At far right is teacher Aluise Knuti and her class at the Washington School in 1952. This was her first year of teaching, and she was only 21 years old. Some years later, the classroom pictured was named the Aluise Knuti Lounge in her honor, as well as being dedicated to Aluise as being one of the organizers of the active Esko Senior Citizen's group.
This photograph shows A.L. Winterquist, the first superintendent of the newly consolidated Thomson Township (Esko) School District, wearing his World War I (WWI) uniform. He's sitting on the seat of a vehicle on the Alex Esko farm.
This photograph shows A.L. (Albert L.) Winterquist on a farm in front of a building and two cows, with farm machinery in the far right foreground. Probably this was Mr. Winterquist's farm, since John Junkkonen sold a 40 acre tract in section 27 to A.L. Winterquist. Mr. Winterquist built a two-story modern dwelling on this tract, adjacent to Highway 61.
A typical logging camp scene from 1889 is depicted, with several men identified in writing on the photograph itself as John VaHaNiemi, Sackri Tan, and Eli Albertson, who was labeled as "The Boss" in the photo. One of the largest logging operations in the area, it was known as the Albertson Camp and was located on the west side of Church Avenue near its junction with the North Cloquet Road.
This photograph of the A.M. Miller sawmill and crew in front of the mill building shows water barrels on the roof. The barrels were used to attempt to put out fires. Some crew members are sitting on a lumber pile located there. Andreas M. Miller's sawmill was located approximately one mile north of the Village of Thomson on the Midway River.
This photograph depicts the A.M. (Andreas M.) Miller sawmill and a large crew on the mill grounds, with railroad tracks in the foreground. A.M. Miller's mill was located approximately one mile north of the Village of Thomson on the Midway River.
The little insert is the first Thomson Township Apostolic Lutheran Congregation's old Church, and the larger photo is the new Thomson Township Apostolic Lutheran Congregation's church building, in 1936. It was dedicated to its holy purpose on Sunday, November 22, 1936, as the Finnish caption says.
The proud employees of the Arrowhead Co-Op Creamery Association pose in front of a fleet of six or seven Arrowhead trucks. The man in the truck is John Antilla; on the hood of the truck is Walter Stenman. From left to right, in the upper row, are Frank Rooney, Ben Mallinen, Hjalmer Mattinen, Anton Oak, Elmer Oak, Orrie Stenroos, Clarence Stenman, and Arvid Peterson. The men in the lower part of the photo are Erick Mattson, Bill Mattson, Benharte Pentilla, ? Juntelinen, Hugo Sarkela, and Carl Hultberg.
The photograph shows the Arrowhead Co-Op Creamery Building with 14 Arrowhead Creamery trucks, plus the staff, in downtown Esko. To the far left is a portion of the Lincoln School. The photograph was taken on the north side of present day Highway 61, looking south. As of 2011 the site is occupied by the Esko Post Office building and its parking lot, as well as a part of the museum site. The figures in white appear to be male employees of the Creamery, except for the one on the farthest to the right with the shorter white skirt, who appears to be a woman, perhaps a secretary or a office worker.
The proud staff of the Arrowhead Creamery are posed in front of their fairly new delivery truck. From left to right at Charles Marks (or Charles Markus, as his name is written on the back of the photo), the chairman; Charlie Stenman, Albert Olson, Evertt Mylymaa, Niila Seikula, Andrew Wolanen, Nels Johnson, Charlie Antilla, Oscar Johnson, A.L. Winterquist, and T. Larson, Manager.
The photograph shows the Thomson Township (Esko's Lincoln School) boys' basketball team and their coach, from the 1930-1931 season. Those standing are Millard Olson; Emerth Nynas; Fritz Maunu; William Olson; ?; A. D. Smith. Sitting are ?; William Stenman; ? Sarkela; W. Kortesmaki; and ? Esko.
Pioneer Charles A. Marks, his family and horses, are depicted in front of their remodeled home. The Marks family settled in Thomson Township in 1878. Charles A. Marks was the second county commissioner of Carlton County to serve from the Town of Thomson, in 1901. His original Finnish surname was Markkus. He operated a productive dairy farm located on the Midway River. One of his dairy cows can be seen between the three unidentified ladies. Presumably Charles Marks is the person holding the horses. He was born in Finland in 1854 and died in Thomson Township in 1921.
This is a photograph of the farm home of Charles Gustafson, which he purchased in 1899 from John Kajander. Charles Gustafson sold the farm to Charles Kinnunen in 1925, and two years later he sold it to Victor Maki, who turned it into the Cloverhill Dairy.
Early settler Charles Marks is sitting in his horse-pulled buggy, with his family in front of their house. The Charles Marks farm was located on the south end of the Marks road (the west side thereof) and extended north from the Harney Road. The family's pet cat is sitting on Mrs. Marks' lap. It was photographed by a Moose Lake Photographer, Adry Carlson.
Pictured are students and a teacher at the Esko Corner one-room school during Christmas time in 1907. Sitting on the floor are Adolph P., George Tan, Arvid O., Fred Esko. In the second row are Ellen Hiukka, Helen Johnson, the teacher Hilda Swenson, Hilda Esko, Selma Juntunen, Isaac Esko, Sophie Johnson, Henry Juntunen, Sophie Peterson, Erick Tan, Charles Polo, Emil Peterson. Students identified in the third row are Lydia Peterson, John Peterson, Ed Juntunen, Alice Hiukka, Sophie Tan, Joseph Juntunen, and Hjalmer Juntunen. The tallest girl in the back center is Julia Sunnarborg. The rest are unidentified.
This photograph shows an early road leading to the Victor Sariin farm, located about a half mile east of the Erickson Road and north present day Highway 61. Note the barbed wire fence, rocks piled along the fence line, as well as the deep wagon ruts and planks crossing what was evidently a low and wet spot in the middle of the road.
Shown here is early resident and artist, Edgar F. Olson, and an unnamed man, pitching loose hay in the field. Edgar F. Olson, the son of Nels O. Olson, was born on the Nels O. Olson farm on July 25, 1896, and died as a life-long bachelor on August 18, 1974.
Depicted here are Kaisa Maria Sarkela and Erick Sarkela standing in front of their farm house, with a barn and outbuildings in the background. The boy's name is Jalmari Sarkela, and Jenni Sarkela is the girl in the photograph.
Depicted here are the members of the 1947 Esko boys basketball team. In the front row, from left to right, are manager Gerald Reponen, Stanley Gustafson, Curtis Guss, John Manisto, Dick Lovestrand, Armand Johnson, and Coach Les Knuti. In the back row are Merton Pykkonen, Leo Seikkula, Ray Barney, Roy Joki, Ernest McKibbon, and Bob Bergstedt.