Levi Olson immigrated to America in 1850, arriving in Cedar Township in 1852, and laid claim to land in Section 12, on the present site of Meroa. He also made a claim for O.C. Haraldson on Section 1-98-17. The following spring he married Isabella Haraldson, and both families moved to their respective claims in 1853. They each brought two ox teams and a wagon.
In 1854, the John N. Johnson family came to Cedar Township and entered a claim on Section 28-98-17. Nels Johnson, his father, died in August, 1855, and his was one of the first funerals in the township and his estate was the first one administered. The Rev. C. Clausen was the administrator. John J. Johnson finally moved to a point near the present site of Meroa on Section 12-98-17, where descendants still live.
Thidemand T. Docken and Gunhild Asleson came from Norway in 1858, were married and settled on land in Section 1-97-18, which was purchased from B. Bergsager. This is at the north edge of the present site of Meroa. Mr. Bergsager had built the log house which still stands on this farm as a relic of pioneer days. A second log house was built to provide temporary homes for the following families: Knud Klemesrud, S.J. Fosholdt, Ole 0. Moe, Knud Berget, Ole Aspenholdt, Simon Erikson, Torkel Olson, Ole Hagen and others.
The first school in Meroa was known as the Walnut Grove School, District No.7. It was started in 1857 and the first teacher was Miss Gould.
The Rock Creek Co-op Creamery Association was organized in March, 1886. M. Kildee was president; L. I. Olsen, vice president; Gustav Miller, secretary; and William Weinberger, Ole 0. Skutle, and B. Leighton, directors. As a public enterprise the creamery stands over and above anything ever undertaken by the farmers of Cedar, manufacturing more than a quarter of a million pounds of butter yearly.
The first creamery was located on the Tingelstad land. Alvin Roehr was probably the first butter maker; others were Sigvart Klemesrud, Loren McLaren, Harry Fritz, Vinton Cady, Frank Foy, Howard Crockor, Mrs. Ted Maakestad, Ed McCaffrey, Mike Mikkalson, Pete Christianson, Henry Nelson, Robert Jorgenson, Jim Kruegor and J. Schroeder.
Eventually the creamery became a cheese factory and was owned by Lloyd Staff and Herbert Klemesrud with Frank Holiday as cheese maker. It was later sold to Curtis Forbes and Sons, who were cheese makers, then to Tom Tate. Due to damage from a tornado in 1965, and a fire on Labor Day in 1965, the factory was closed and the building sold to Merrill Johnson.
In 1911 Meroa consisted of one store, one blacksmith shop, the Rock Creek Co-op Creamery, the Norwegian Lutheran Church, the Rock Creek Cemetery and the Walnut Grove School. It is located on the southwest bank of Rock Creek, Section 12, on land owned by N. J. Johnson and Knut Haugen.
The Meroa post office was established in 1870 by G. B. Mayfield, and named in honor of his daughter, Meroa. Eli Hutchinson was the first postmaster and the office was kept at his house on Section 17, later the home of John Struben. Other postmasters were G. B. Mayfield, Ole J. Maakestad, N. K. Syverud, Even Hegg, Levi Olsen, Schulze Brothers and finally Nic Peterson. Mail was hauled from Orchard three times a week by William Skinner, who received $25 per year for this service.
The Meroa post office fixtures consisted of letter boxes, stamp window and letter slot, all of which are presently in the museum in Osage.
Another post office was established in 1885, named "Drammen", and was located at the home of Ole C. Haugerud, now the LaVerne Olsen home, in Section 12, near the present Meroa. When Ole Haugerud moved to Dakota in 1879, the office was discontinued. Ole C. Haugerud was one of the early settlers; in 1867, he donated land for the establishment of the Rock Creek Cemetery and also the land for the Norwegian Lutheran Church.
Anton Iverson had a blacksmith shop across from the Meroa store at one time; later, on the north side of the road, Oliver Haugen had a blacksmith shop and home which he sold to Harold Linstead, a brother of Mrs. Julius Olson; Mr. Linstead sold his shop to Nick Peterson.
The blacksmith shop later became a garage and repair shop and was operated for a short time by Odin Sorose. Later, in about 1925 and '26, the shop was operated by Knud Klemesrud and Alfred Olson. Elvin Docken also worked in the shop.
In 1955, Merrill Johnson built a garage for a repair shop for milk trucks, which is known as the Rock Creek Garage and which continues to operate. In 1956, Merrill set up a sawmill which is still in operation.
G. N. Williams had a woodworking shop southeast of the store; he was the father of Mrs. L. A. Olsen and Stanley Williams, both residents of Meroa. About 1896, G. M. Williams built a home just south of the store as it stands now and later moved it three-fourths of a mile south; later it was moved to the present home of Kenneth Ahrens.
The Schultz Brothers had the first grocery store on the Tingelstad land, now the Alvin Krueger farm; probably also a post office. Nick Peterson and his brother Theodore Fagre next had the store and had a wagon and drove around gathering eggs at the homes. Julian Shoger later became Nick's partner.
Around 1945, the store was bought from Mrs. Olava Peterson and was operated by Mrs. May Klemesrud. She later sold it to Kenneth Klemesrud and he sold it to Loren Smith, who was the last person to operate it; it was discontinued in 1953 but the Smith family continued to live there until 1967, when the building was sold to the Newell Johnson's who now live there.
There was another store in operation for a short time across the road from Nick's store and was operated by a family named Confor. They also had a partner helping them.
Merrill Johnson has a private collection of engines, tractors and other items, and he opened the Meroa Museum in 1971.
Reproduced with the approval of the Mitchell County Historical Society; from THE STORY OF MITCHELL COUNTY 1851-1973, and MITCHELL COUNTY MEMORIES 1946-1996.
LOCATION: Foothill Avenue at 325th Street, in West Cedar Township.
respect landowners property, ask before you enter.
Transcribed in July 2002 by: Neal Du Shane
Contact information:
MEROA MASTER 071602 MCHS.doc