City showcases itself during anniversary

By Tom Hintgen (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Late last week, just prior to the start of the combined Pelican Rapids turkey festival and 125th anniversary celebration, city employees and others cleaned parks, streets and other areas of the community. At the suspension bridge, repairs were made to lights that turn on automatically when darkness ensues.

Pelican Rapids, like other towns in Otter Tail County and across the state, also is commemorating Minnesota’s Sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) celebration.

“This is a very special summer,” Pelican Rapids Mayor Wayne Runningen said. “Later, in the fall, we’ll rededicate our township monument on the north side of town.”

The Otter Tail County Historical Society is helping Pelican Rapids in restoring the township monument near the junction of Highways 59 and 9. The monument is dedicated to the eight area townships that include Scambler, Dunn, Norwegian Grove, Pelican, Lida, Trondhjem, Erhards Grove and Maplewood.

Pelican Rapids was incorporated as a city in 1883.

The first settlers arrived in the Pelican Rapids area 15 years earlier, in 1868, to locate and establish trading posts for the British Northwest Company. Trading took place with Chippewa Indians living in the area.

Word soon spread about the beautiful countryside — with its lakes, rivers and farmland — and the area was quickly homesteaded.

The railroad arrived in Pelican Rapids in 1882, a branch line from Fergus Falls, which was to continue northward. This never took place, however. The rail line remained a dead end until its removal 100 years later, in 1982.

As noted on the city Web site, Pelican Rapids relied on agriculture in its early years, with numerous small farms dotting the countryside.

Over the years the area economy also became dependent on turkey processing, tourism, manufacturing, electronics, wood products and precision machining, to name a few.

The opening of Maplewood State Park in 1963, six miles east of Pelican Rapids, provided additional growth in tourism. Visitors to town have enjoyed seeing the world’s largest pelican — Pelican Pete — a statue along the river just east of downtown. Truman Strand took the lead in making the Pelican Pete statue a reality in 1957.

The suspension bridge, another tourist attraction, links E.L. Peterson Memorial Park and Sherin Memorial Park. Strand worked with Luther Grotte of Fergus Falls who designed and oversaw construction of the suspension bridge in 1975.

Peterson Park, on the west side of the suspension bridge, has playground equipment, a picnic shelter, dock and a beautiful view of the fountain in mill pond, above the dam next to Pelican Pete.

Sherin Park, on the east side of the suspension bridge, also has a picnic center and is close to the city swimming pool.

Many people walk along the river trails and cross the suspension bridge during all seasons of the year.

For many, 2008 will always be a special year — celebrating the Pelican Rapids 125th anniversary as well as the state’s Sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) celebration.