Jennifer Littlefield, research librarian at Huron Public Library, saw an opportunity to highlight Hurons history when she noticed a book series, Images of America, through Arcadia Publishing.
Jennifer thought that would be a fun idea, and she reached out to me to see if I would want to co-author this book with her, said Louise Van Poll, executive director of Hurons museums. Thats how it got started, that would have been February 2023.
Library director Angela Bailey and Van Poll took the idea to the city commission and museum board of directors for approval, then signed a contract with the publisher.
From there it was a race to meet various deadlines set by the publisher as the book, Huron took shape. Publication will be Aug. 26. All proceeds from book sales will be split between the museum and library.
Order forms are available at the Chamber of Commerce, and the books will be available to purchase at the Stone Church and Dakotaland Museum. Van Poll plans to speak about the book at the Arts & Education Building during the S.D. State Fair.
Thousands of historic photographs and documents reflecting Hurons history through the years fill more than a dozen filing cabinets in the Dakotaland Museum archives, which are now all stored at the Centennial Stone Church.
Van Polls assistant, Anna Gednalske, joined the team to help dig through the photographs and documents that would tell Hurons story.
She has been helping me organize our archives at the Stone Church, Van Poll said. Were combining what we had at the Stone Church with what had been at Dakotaland Museum.
We couldnt have gotten this accomplished without Anna pulling all these photos for us. The whole book has roughly 250 photographs.
Chapters spotlight the railroad, which paved the way for early settlers to come to this area, building the city from the ground up, schools, the college, churches, the State Fair and the growth of social and civic groups. We had horse-drawn street cars, Van Poll said. They were lighted and heated. They met every train, and they ran every 15 minutes to the Opera House. It cost 5 cents.
Along with pictures there are tidbits of history that I think are fascinating, Van Poll said. Railroads used to have special excursions just for the fair. Chicago & Northwestern sold 3,000 tickets in one day in 1905 for people to take the train to the State Fair.
When they opened the Western Union office in Huron in 1883, the first month they sent over 1,600 messages, she added. It was hugely important.
The Huron fire department were world champions, they set a record for pulling a hose reel, she said. The first school opened within three months of settlers arriving, with a total of 15 students. By the following year it had grown to two schools.
Huron was growing by leaps and bounds, Van Poll added. We had a huge influx of people they were coming in, well, by the trainload.
Ive been working on this for a year, and yet because it was solitary youre reading, researching, not a lot of people knew about it, she said. Its all consuming. All last fall it was so intense.
Van Poll said she went to different churches and businesses in Huron to see if anyone had photographs they could share for use in the book, and they also searched the Huron College archives for pictures and information.
Im very happy that I got this opportunity to do this, Van Poll said. I learned so much that helps me as the executive director of the museums to add more interest. My whole goal is to get people excited about our history.
Ive always loved learning the history of any place I lived, she added. Then I got this job with the museum and thought, this is right up my street. I love to write and put things together and I love to tell stories. With this job, its my three passions all rolled into one.
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