Other Afton Village Sites of Interest

Octagon House ▪ Corner of 32nd St. and St. Croix Trail S

On this currently vacant lot a unique house was built in 1855 by the Thomas family. Hewit L. Thomas was a founder of the Village of Afton and an early member of the Minnesota Legislature; his sons were Civil War veterans. The eight-sided house style was briefly popular until the turn of the 20th century. Later it became the family home of Frank Spreeman, Sr., a commercial fisherman, whose wife sold fish in a former shop across the road from the Octagon House.

See a color photograph and floor plan of the Octagon House on display in the museum. Photos and a detailed architectural history are housed at the Minnesota Historical Society and available at the museum and online.

See also Spreeman House.

Lerk’s Bar ▪ 3235 St. Croix Trail S

Until prohibition was repealed in 1933, this building was a confectionary store. In the 1940s, Harold “Lerk” Lind established his hamburger and tavern business and became well known for his ‘Lerkburger.” According to various accounts, ‘lerk’ means ‘onion’ in Swedish. See also Lind House.

Afton Barber Shop ▪ 3335 St. Croix Trail S

Herbert Sill and his son, Harold, ran the barber shop from 1917 to the 1970s. In the 1920s, haircuts were 15 cents and a bath at the shop cost 25 to 35 cents.

See the hutch owned by Clara and Herbert Sill on display in the museum.

Afton Garage ▪ 3343 St. Croix Trail S

Built in 1917 by the Fred Johnson family, this white concrete block building was a service station until the mid-1960s. It also served as a post office and currently the Calla Lily Day Spa.

Garage served as Post Office

Civil War Arsenal and Drill Ground ▪ area adjacent to Selma’s

The large blocks of quarried limestone visible today to the south of Selma’s had been used for a below ground structure that housed explosive black powder. The 8 x 10 ft. stone arsenal was fireproof so that in the event of an accidental explosion, the blast would be contained protecting the village from devastation. Here and across the street in what is now the Town Square, Civil War volunteers practiced their drills before leaving for active duty.

See the military display honoring Afton area veterans in the balcony of the museum.

Spreeman House ▪ 15895 35th St S

Built in sections and extensively remodeled, the original structure is the middle portion. Frank Spreeman and his brother, Bert, were commercial fisherman. The family owned a fishing and boat rental and livery business and, just north of the Octagon House, they operated a little fish shop where Mrs. Spreeman sold smoked carp and buffalo fish as well as fresh pike, pickerel, and catfish.

See also Octagon House.

Dernnelly House ▪ 3494 St. Croix Trail S

Built in 1859 by Civil War veteran, Joseph Dernnelly. He rented out rooms to students at the St. Croix Academy and had a greenhouse on the property.

See also St. Croix Academy.

Former site of the Richert Store ▪ 3390 St. Croix Trail S

The families of Richert, Peterson and Pothen all operated general stores at this location. Richert and his sons were grocers and butchers. The foundation of the original store is still visible in the Horta Culture display garden. An old ice house still stands at the rear of the property. See also Richert House.

See a story board and promotional items from Afton’s general stores on display in the museum.

Richert House ▪ 3326 St. Croix Trail S

Originally the site of the Patterson Hotel, the first hotel in Afton, the Richert House was built around 1894. A flagstone path in the side yard leads to the former Richert Store.

Mackey House ▪ 3290 St. Croix Trail S

Built by Andrew Mackey in 1841 and rebuilt with a second story after it burned to the ground in 1998, it was the oldest known Euro-American home in what became the Village of Afton. Mackey came to Minnesota in 1837 to work in logging; he homesteaded about 200 acres. In 1855 he sold a large portion of his land which, along with other properties, established the Village of Afton. At one time it was the Afton Toy Shop; today it is Baglio’s, a women’s clothing store.

See a copy of the original plat map of the village along with a display on Afton’s founders in the museum. Photos and a detailed architectural history are housed at the Minnesota Historical Society and available at the museum and online.

William and Ann Thomas House ▪ 3222 St. Croix Trail S

Built in 1857, originally there was also a blacksmith shop between this house and the Mackey House. William, son of Judge Hewitt L. Thomas (see Octagon House), fought in the Civil War.

See copies of 40 years of correspondence by Ann Thomas at the museum (originals on file at the Minnesota Historical Society).

Pechuman House ▪ 15893 Afton Blvd

Pechuman came to Valley Creek from Prussia in 1867 and first lived in a sod dugout. This house was home to Afton’s doctor, Dr. George Burfiend, during World War I.

St. Croix Academy ▪ 15895 31st St S

Built in 1868 and called the “St. Croix Valley Academy,” the school was Minnesota’s first academy. It had three departments: Literary, Classical, and Musical. The library had 400 volumes and the first floor “was equipped for the manly art of self-defense” (file “The Academy, Afton,” 2017.01.226, Afton Historical Museum). See photo of building key labeled “School House.”

In 1884, the building was sold to the Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio as a seminary. In the 1890s it was bought by the Village of Afton and used as Public School #24 until 1954. It was bought by an architect and extensively renovated in 1966 into offices and living areas, then sold again as a family home (see news clippings).

Lind House ▪ 3085 St. Croix Trail S

Built in the late 1890s, this was the family home of Harold (Lerk) Lind, who operated Lerk’s Bar. Parents Martin and Emma came to Afton in the late 1880s and raised a large family here. Martin Lind farmed and worked as a caretaker and grave digger for Evergreen Cemetery. See also Lerk’s Bar.

Former site of Interstate Lumber Company ▪ 3121 St. Croix Trail S

The last of several lumber yards in Afton, this building now houses the Afton Post Office and several businesses.

Bolles Mill Roadside Marker ▪ Saint Croix Trail North (County Highway 18 / 21) 0.3 miles north of Stagecoach Trail South (County Highway 21)

Cynthia Blomquist Gustavson recalls holding one end of the ribbon during the 1959 ceremony to dedicate the roadside marker, “the culmination of years of work with the State of Minnesota and Washington County Historical Societies” headed by Bolles descendant, Evelyn Bolles Grant. “It was hot that August afternoon as we stood next to county commissioners, mayors, historians and important people. Evelyn Grant, dressed in a boring gray suit, looked through the bottom of her bifocals and began to read aloud the words inscribed on the marker.” (Cynthia Blomquist Gustavson, A Mischief of Mice: Secrets, Lies, and Love in the Sand Hills of Minnesota, NY: Blooming Twig, 2023, pp. 151-52).

Wooden Pegs Used to Construct First Mill

The inscription reads: “About 1843, six years before Minnesota became a territory, Lemuel Bolles erected on this creek the first commercial flour mill in the Minnesota country. Bolles salvaged wood from the shore of Lake St. Croix and carried it on his back to the mill site a mile and a half upstream. Lacking nails, he used wooden pegs in the construction of a small mill. First built for grinding corn and wheat, the mill was later remodeled and was in operation as late as 1875 when Bolles died. The stream on which the mill was built became known as Bolles Creek [now Valley Creek].”

The mill housed a post office for the community of Valley Creek in Afton Township. The Erastus and Sophronia Bolles House, also located in Valley Creek, is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. (See federal documentation for the building and the area.) Afton Township and the Village of Afton incorporated in 1971 to create today’s City of Afton.

Pick up the “Historic Afton: Valley Creek Tour” at the museum or city hall.

General Interest: from Village and Township to City of Afton

Old Afton Township Hall, Stagecoach Trl S

1901 Afton Village

1970s City of Afton, no city employees