A major piece of Central Minnesota’s history was lost in the Freeport Roller Mill / Swany White Flour mill fire. It should make everyone think about how many other historical places exist in the area and what we’re doing to keep them around for future generations to experience.

Swany White Flour Mill Photo by Barry Weber (c)

We talk about a building built 114 years ago as “old” while in Europe that would be considered a “new” building. Our German ancestors built these buildings to last a long time … look at the many old barns in the area with their stone walls and foundations and even a few homes built of stone that still exist and are as functional now as the day they were built. Will our grandchildren and great grandchildren think the same thing about our current buildings 114 years from now?

Look at the brick structures that exist in our towns that we look at as “old” buildings and more often than not are torn down to make room for a new building … usually not nearly as architecturally significant as the building it’s replacing.

In Europe and other parts of the world a structure isn’t “old” unless it’s at least 1,000 years old! The loss of the Freeport Mill should make us all think more about how do we save the history of our country for future generations. If we don’t save some of these structures what will future generations have to show them the quality of our architecture, culture and imagination?

It looks like we will have fewer books and other physical representations of our society much less our buildings. Will the only reminders of our history be the laptops, desktops and cell phones in landfills?

Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon stories are very popular today and I think one of the reasons why is because they remind us of a time gone by when life seemed a little simpler, a little more relaxed. A time when we enjoyed the simple things in life… fresh homemade bread actually made at home … grandma’s Aunt Sally ginger and molasses cookies, cut out with a spam can, with that hard white icing and sitting on the front porch watching the day drift by as we enjoyed lemonade or a cold beer on a hot summer day.

I remember those days watching the trains going by as we sat on my grandparents’ front porch on their farm in Freeport. I remember when my grandfather Ben, my dad Leo and his brothers, Al, Art, Tom and John and our cousin Robert Borgerding would make hay and harvest grain and corn together. The family worked together to get all the work done.

And…. those wonderful meals we enjoyed! Like Christmas and Thanksgiving dinner twice a day. Chicken dinner at the noon meal and a pork roast or beef roast the supper table… both with all the trimmings too! And always fresh baked bread and a home baked pie (made with Swany White flour of course!)… I can almost taste it right now!

I remember Ben and Theresa’s Borgerding’s farm buildings just west of Freeport on “old” highway 52 … all painted a creamy fresh lemon yellow… it reminded me of fresh lemon pie made from real lemons. Umm … good! Just thinking about it makes my mouth water!

Aerial Photo Ben & Theresa Borgerding's Farm west of Freeport in 1957

The house had this big old front porch where everyone would sit after we ate and have a beer, if you were at least 15 or 16 or maybe lemonade if you weren’t, before we headed back to work in fields. Those buildings are all gone now… they were probably the only yellow farm buildings in Stearns County… maybe even in the state! There is a lemon colored house there yet… but it’s a bi-level home… nothing like the big old two story farm house of my grandparents.

I remember sitting on the porch watching the Great Northern trains going by on the tracks that are now the Lake Wobegon Trail. I remember the circus trains with animals and rides going by in summer and in the fall, the new cars being shipped by rail to the west coast from Detroit, Michigan or grain being shipped east from the Dakotas and Montana. How times have change!

I’d like to challenge everyone to think twice and maybe even three or four times before an “old” building is torn down or a brick veneer or stone wall is covered by steel sheeting or stucco to cover the brick or wood siding that would be just fine with some maintenance instead.

If we take care of these icons of our past maybe we will be reminded of the sacrifices our ancestors made to provide us with the opportunities and modern conveniences we have today and remind us not to waste our precious resources especially our air, land and water much less the wood, stone, plastics and minerals that we take for granted will always be there.

Let’s keep those old memories alive while we make new ones too!