New Brighton Area Historical Society

New Brighton Area Historical Society We discover, preserve, and share the history of the area in and about New Brighton, MN including railways, the Minneapolis Stockyards, & TC Ordnance Plant.

To review the history of Mounds View Schools #621, the earliest school in Mounds View Township area was the Red School ...
03/11/2026

To review the history of Mounds View Schools #621, the earliest school in Mounds View Township area was the Red School (District #4), which served the entire Mounds View Township. The White School (District #15) merged with New Brighton School (District #18). Shown here on this 1898 plat map are Lake Johanna School (District #20), Wilbur Lake (District #28), Turtle Lake (District #35), Snail Lake (District 25), Spring Lake Park - Red Oak (District 36B), not shown on plat map.

Those schools housed students in grades 1-8 in the early years. This 1898 plat map now spells Mounds View Township correctly, from Mound View to Mounds View, and listed those seven common school districts. District #24 was Lake Owasso which became part of Roseville School District #623.

These documents, from the Shoreview Historical Society, shows the consolidation of the Ramsey County Schools into four separate districts - Mounds View, Roseville, North St. Paul & White Bear Lake. Those school districts and their boards were serving their respective districts and schools at the time of the consolidation and reorganization of the new District No. 38 (later District No. 621), Mounds View Public Schools in 1954. Some of this information was gleaned from Gene Skiba’s book, “A Centennial History of New Brighton, MN.”

Common School District No. 35 was Turtle Lake Elementary which opened in 1895. Its officers were: Philip Linda, chairman...
03/10/2026

Common School District No. 35 was Turtle Lake Elementary which opened in 1895. Its officers were: Philip Linda, chairman; Gorman Vail, clerk; Garfield Nagel, treasurer. Serving the Turtle Lake area, this very early small wooden school was built in 1895, and was located at the southeast corner of Hodgson Road (Highway 49) and Turtle Lake Road (County Road I) on the opposite north side of Turtle Lake from where the new larger Turtle Lake School was built at Lexington Avenue and Turtle Lake Road. Here are photos of that first school, a 1928 class, and the modern Turtle Lake School. Thanks to the Shoreview Historical Society for the first two photos.

Independent School District No. 36 was the Irondale-Red Oak schools combined district, with the old Irondale School buil...
03/09/2026

Independent School District No. 36 was the Irondale-Red Oak schools combined district, with the old Irondale School built in 1890 on the west side of Long Lake Road about a half block south of County Road H in New Brighton, and the Red Oak School at Red Oak Drive and Sherwood Road in what became Mounds View Village. Red Oak Elementary School served the northwestern part of the community for 24 years. It was built in 1958 and razed in 1982. Its original officers: Donovan D. Wendt, chairman; Verner Carlson, clerk; Alta Stine, treasurer; and E. H. Lillibige, G. B. Timm and E. G. Vinrrot, directors.

No original photo of Red Oak available. Original photo of Irondale Teachers Lela Nelson & Mable Kollodge donated by Gene Skiba, NBAHS #4.30. Photos of Red Oak school and its demolition loaned by Estelle Winiecki, NBAHS #121.01, 121.03, 121.04.

Common School District No. 28 was the Wilbur Lake School which was built in 1891 on the south side of the railroad track...
03/08/2026

Common School District No. 28 was the Wilbur Lake School which was built in 1891 on the south side of the railroad tracks east of Victoria overlooking Wilbur Lake. Here is a photo of Wilbur Lake in 1922. Its officers were: George Edgerton, chairman; Ben Leighton, clerk; Lawrence Smith, treasurer.

Second photo is the newer Wilbur Lake School which was built across Victoria in 1928. In its later years after being an elementary school, then a kindergarten center, it then became an art resource center building for the Mounds View District. It was the forerunner of the much larger Island Lake School which followed. It has since been razed.

More information about Lake Johanna School. Evidently there was an earlier school than the two that I have posted about....
03/07/2026

More information about Lake Johanna School. Evidently there was an earlier school than the two that I have posted about. This post from Jim Cich clarifies this. Click on photos below.

Thanks to Shoreview Historical Society for providing these photos of the Hill School. Photos are circa 1905.
03/07/2026

Thanks to Shoreview Historical Society for providing these photos of the Hill School. Photos are circa 1905.

Common School District No. 25 was the Snail Lake School District, established in the early years of Mounds View Township...
03/06/2026

Common School District No. 25 was the Snail Lake School District, established in the early years of Mounds View Township. Its officers were: Andrew Miller, chairman; Bert Larson, clerk; Henry Quick, treasurer. Snail Lake School began as the Hill Farm School in present-day North Oaks and served children between the ages of 8 and 16. Its school at Hodgson Road and Highway 96 was noted on old maps dating back to 1886 and 1890. No photo available of Hill Farm School. Jacci Stahl Krebsbach?

Snail Lake Elementary was located on Hwy. 96 in Shoreview and closed as an elementary school in the spring of 2005. Snail Lake celebrated seventy-five years as an elementary school at that time. The name Snail Lake School came about in 1930. Here are some photos of the construction of Snail Lake School.

Snail Lake became a Kindergarten Center in 2014. Students who live within the Island Lake or Turtle Lake attendance areas attend kindergarten at Snail Lake Education Center in Shoreview.

Newcomers to Lake Johanna when this 1930 photo was taken, Emmet and Melve Williams were to make prominent contributions ...
03/05/2026

Newcomers to Lake Johanna when this 1930 photo was taken, Emmet and Melve Williams were to make prominent contributions to the community. Teacher and principal at Lake Johanna School, Emmet later became superintendent of Ramsey County Schools and was succeeded by Melve as acting superintendent when he was called into service during World War II. Emmet became the first superintendent of Roseville School District #623.

Pictured here are Lake Jo students holding a picture in front of the school. We cannot clarify what the photo if of, but possibly the plan for the new Lake Johanna School. Here are students on the last day of school before the new school opened in 1939. The new Lake Johanna School in 1939 included four classrooms and a basement. Its construction marked the end of a long struggle to provide better school facilities at Lake Johanna School District #20.

After the school closed in 1978, Presbyterian Homes turned it into housing. It has since been razed.

Common School District No. 20 was the Lake Johanna School District, established in 1890. Officers: Stanley Olmen, chairm...
03/04/2026

Common School District No. 20 was the Lake Johanna School District, established in 1890. Officers: Stanley Olmen, chairman; Kenneth Nelson, clerk; Carl Langer, treasurer. The Society has many photos of students at Little Jo, affectionately called when Johanna Junior High was built in 1961.

This original photo from the New Brighton Area Historical Society archives, is of students at the first Lake Johanna Elementary. Lake Johanna School began in 1890 and was used for 49 years. That first Lake Johanna School, shown here, revised and remodeled, served the Lake Johanna area for many years before the building of a new school was accomplished in 1939.

The first teacher was Nellie N. Farrell, who “had high school training,” a noted prerequisite, and her monthly pay was $40 including board. We have no photos of Nellie.

Here are Teachers Margaret Harrington and Mae Harrington who taught at Lake Johanna School in the pre-World War I to 1920s years. The first teacher was to receive $70 per month and the second teacher $60 per month in 1917.

Attached are the students’ names for Grades 3-8 that were Included in the New Brighton School cornerstone which was open...
03/02/2026

Attached are the students’ names for Grades 3-8 that were Included in the New Brighton School cornerstone which was opened in 2009. Grades 1 and 2 were not included in the box in the cornerstone. Many familiar area names. Two newspaper clippings from the Ramsey County News were included. That paper served the Midway, New Brighton, and Rural Ramsey County in the late 1930s. Click on each to read.

The cornerstone for New Brighton School was laid April 21, 1939. The New Brighton Area Historical Society was given perm...
03/01/2026

The cornerstone for New Brighton School was laid April 21, 1939. The New Brighton Area Historical Society was given permission in 2009 from the Korean Methodist Church to remove the items, which included a signed roll of the students and newspapers clippings. McGough Construction Company provided donated labor and material to remove and replace the cornerstone. Jerry Laumeyer chaired the project. Next post will feature the signed rolls and newspaper clippings.

The New Brighton Area Historical Society has many photos of New Brighton School students. Many have been featured in my ...
02/28/2026

The New Brighton Area Historical Society has many photos of New Brighton School students. Many have been featured in my book, “A Pictorial History of New Brighton, MN, from the 1880s-1950s,” pages 50-59. (Our book can be purchased at Beisswenger’s Hardware, City Hall, and the Community Center.) Here are just a few New Brighton School photos from our archives.

An addition was added in the 1950s following school district consolidation.

This school remained open until 1978 when it was closed by the Mounds View District #621. The building then became the Korean Methodist Church. The building has since been razed.

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New Brighton History Museum, 700 Park Drive
New Brighton, MN
55112

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