This photograph shows Albertson's Logging Camp Crew and horses at work in the woods. It is one of a series of 41 photographs titled "Logging on the Midway."
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.
Depicted in this photograph is A.M. Miller's sawmill and yard in Thomson, Minnesota. The Midway River can be seen in the background. Andreas M. Miller operated his sawmill here from 1872 to 1891.
This photograph shows a logging crew, consisting of Henry Perttula, Jonas Perttula, William Perttula, Emil Kangas, Waino J. Heikkinen, and an unidentified man. Sitting are Abel Palkie and Adolph Peterson.
Esther (Sarkela) Huuima wrote that this photo was from a sawmill in Thomson. She identifies her father and her brother, Hugo Sarkela, in the photo, as indicated by the two ink check marks. The check mark in the back center of the photo marks the father, and the checkmark in the front center indicates Hugo Sarkela. Note the four fire fighting water barrels on top of the roof, as well as the teams of horses and wagons. The man in the back with a black suit is probably the boss of the operation.
Depicted here is the homestead of Johan (Piekkola) Jacobson homestead, as well as his family, located on the Forstie Road. Left to right are Johan (Piekkola) Jacobson, Amanda Jacobson, holding Henry (Ham) in her lap; Axel Jacobson, Arvid Jacobson, Hann
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 photograph shows a very young John Hegfors and his wife, Kaisa Palkki, and their first child. In 1885, John designed a new water wheel and made repairs to the Palkki gristmill, which was built in 1878 by 18 of the first settlers in Thomson Township.
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.
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.
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.
This scene shows the pioneer home of Mr. and Mrs. John Niemi, located on the Stenman Road, as well as their large dog sitting in the chair next to Mrs. Niemi. Their surname had been Vanhaniemi and was shortened and simplified to Niemi.
This is a photograph of the farm home of John Winter with two unidentified men and a grinding wheel on a water trough that was used to sharpen tools such as axes and sickles and other farm tools, in front of them. John Winter's surname originally was Wintturi in his native Finland.
This photograph shows Mr. and Mrs. John Juntti, with their daughter Lempi, in front of their home. Lempi appears to be showing off her apparently new shoes.
Emil Sota is the driver of the steam powered tractor, Albert Olson is his engineer, and also present in the photo are Henry Juntunen from Cloquet, Jalmer Juntunen, Ed Juntunen of Meadowbrook Dairy, Joseph Juntunen, and Selma (Juntunen) Dickinson who probably worked in the office there.
This is a photograph of Thomson Road in its early days, near the village of Thomson, with Henry Ruikka's fields and hay shed in the background. Note the fence posts, rocks piled along the fence line, and the horse's tracks in the middle of the wagon's tracks in the road. This was the first road linking the then Village of Thomson to what would become known as "Esko's Corner," and was a challenge for both man and horse in the early days.
This oil painting by John Ruikka (April 16, 1880, to May, 1965) depicts the original Palkki gristmill, which was built on the Midway River and located on property of pioneer Erick Palkki. It was used from 1878 to approximately 1916, was built by pioneers to grind grain into flour, and was water powered. Please note that the original spelling, in Finnish, is "Palkki." The spelling as "Palkie" is an Americanized spelling of the name.
The center figure in the photograph is Henry Ruikka standing in his general store that was located in the Village of Thomson, Minnesota. Located 3.5 miles from the town center of present day Esko, it was much easier to travel by horse-drawn wagon to buy supplies here than to make the arduous, day-long round trip to Duluth. This was one of the first stores in the area, and early Thomson Township and Esko residents traveled to the Village of Thomson by horse and wagon to buy their home and farm supplies. The Village post office was also located in this store. It was reportedly the first Finnish business establishment in Carlton County, having been established in 1891.
This is the house of the first store keeper in Thomson Township in the very early days, Henry Ruikka, his wife, and their eight children, with two bicycles in front.
This photograph depicts the Henry Sunnarborg farm, for which the land located on a hill above the Midway River in Thomson Township was purchased in 1889. Their team of horses and hay rake are in the foreground, with Mrs. Henry Sunnarborg and their adopted daughter, Julia (Mattinen) Sunnarborg, in between.
This is a photograph showing the first storekeeper of the first general store in the area, Henry Ruikka, and his family on their farm located on the edge of the Village of Thomson.
The John Kangas log house shown here was built by Hanse Annala about 1898. There are a rake and several scythes hanging on the wall, with a washtub used for doing laundry on the far left of the photo. Originally the house had a birch bark roof. It was donated to the Finnish American Memorial Foundation of Esko - now the Esko Historical Society - and land was obtained for its current placement as a building of the museum in 1965. The back of the postcard has handwriting saying, "built by Hansi Annala John Kangas home about 1898 Birch Bark Roof."