Railroad Company Gave Free Lot To First Saloon Proprietor.

October 25 marks the thirty-eighth year of the incorporation of the village of Gibbon. Chas. W. Anderson, a pioneer of that vicinity, has recalled that the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railroad offered a free lot to the first man who would start a saloon in the village. Wenzel Friedl was the lucky man and he was given the lot. The Friedl store now stands on the same lot.

Grew Rapidly

The advent of the railroad and the founding of the village were great events for that community. Prospects brightened and a marked activity in real estate was noted. In a few years a good deal of village and farm property changed hands. Charles Peterson acted as the first postmaster and H. A. Sauer was the manager of the first store. J.W. Gleisner opened the first wagon shop and he also conducted a barber shop. This was an unusual combination, but Mr. Anderson states that “a little thing like that didn’t matter much in those early days.”

Two Elevators

In 1886 the Pacific elevator was built by Poehler & Welsch. The company built two elevators, a square one and a round one. The former elevator is now owned by the O. N. Johnson Company, while the round one has been torn down. A. A. Gurney was the first grain buyer in that village. The building now occupied by L. H. Deppart as a residence, was the first school house where Patrick Cassidy, the first school teacher, held forth.

First Election In 1887

The village of Gibbon officially came into being as the result of an election held October 25, 1887. The village really existed before that, in fact as soon as the railroad came thru in 1883 but it was not incorporated until in 1887 when the election was held. Early records now in possession of the present clerk have much valuable information in them relative to the incorporation of Gibbon.

New Ulm Reveiw,

October 14, 1925

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