"History and Description of Lyon County, Minnesota", 1884
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Town of Monroe.
Monroe is the southeast town of the county and is in town 109, range 40.
The surface of the town is level prairie with nothing to obstruct the vision. There is scarcely any waste land, and the soil is of the best quality. In the assessor's report for
1883 the town is given 3,410 acres under cultivation, of which 1,105 were wheat, 946 oats, 780 corn, 310 barley, 43 potatoes, 218 flax.
In
1871 the first settlements were made by
David Stafford,
E. W. Healy, and
George White. In
1872
J. L. Craig,
Ole Rialson,
E. L. Starr,
Edward Glynn and perhaps a few others came into the town. The town did not improve very rapidly for two or three years though the W. & St. P. R. R. was built through the town in
1872 and located a station near the east line, called Shetek Station, Lake Shetek lying a few miles south in
Murray Co. and the shipping of that settlement being then made here. The postoffice of Shetek Station was first in the township of
Summit in
Redwood Co. The station for a time appeared on the maps as
Summit. The station was moved to section 23 in
1874, and that and the postoffice changed in name to
Tracy in
February 1877.
The first school in the town was taught by
Stella Cleveland in the summer of
1875 in the Presbyterian church at
Tracy. This church had been built that spring by a society organized by Rev.
Ransom Waite who became pastor. The first religious organization in the town was a Congregational Sabbath school in
1874. Before the building of the Presbyterian church those of that persuasion had held services at the house of
E. L. Starr, as far back as
1873 under direction of Rev.
Waite.
By an enactment of the town early in its history all the section lines are laid out for roads.
There are now two school buildings in the town outside of
Tracy.
The first birth in town was a son of
George White,
June 17, 1872. He died
Sept. 10, 1872, the first death.
The town was organized in
Jan. 1875, the first election being at the store of
H. N. Joy.
There are three lakes in the town, two of them being so near together, on section 19 and 30 that the name of
Twin Lakes covers both. On section 34 is Lake
Sigel, which by pipes supplies the railroad water tank in
Tracy. There is no natural timber in the town.