History of Grant Township, Minnesota
Grant began to be settled by farmers from the East Coast
of the U.S. in the 1850s. Before these eastern Americans arrived, Ojibwe occupied
most of the land. The township was organized Oct. 20, 1858, in the home of
Thomas Ramsden as Greenfield Township, with Albion Masterman, James Rutherford
and Joseph Crane as supervisors and Jesse Soule as clerk. It originally covered
today's cities of Grant, Mahtomedi, Willernie, Birchwood, and Dellwood and
two-thirds of East White Bear Lake. In 1864, after learning of another township
in Hennepin County also called Greenfield, the name was changed to Grant,
to honor Ulysses S. Grant.
Over the years Grant Township was broken up into smaller units. The western
one-third became Lincoln Township in 1918 and eventually Lincoln was split
up into Mahtomedi, Willernie, Birchwood, and Pine Springs. The last community
to break off was Dellwood in 1993. Grant Township was reorganized as the city
of Grant in 1996 and now boasts a population of slightly over 4,000.
Albion Masterman and William Rutherford were first to open farms in the eastern
part of Grant. They were Stillwater men who took advantage of the first land
sales in 1849 to buy farmland and the first property deeds were signed off
in 1851. Soon after came James Rutherford, Thomas Ramsdell and George Bennett.
Masterman built the first house, and brought out his wife, the former Eliza
Middleton, to form the nucleus of a settlement. A flour mill was built by
James Rutherford and Booth in 1857 on Brown's Creek. Jesse Soule was another
early settler who rose in county politics from town clerk to county commissioner
to representative in the state legislature.
According to the St. Croix Valley Press (Jan. 2004), Grant was the place to
be in the mid-1800s because of "lush farm country that included cheap
land." At that time, Highway 96 [Dellwood Avenue], was an Indian trail
that was used as a horse cart trail for travelers venturing between Stillwater
and White Bear Lake. It became the first public road in the township, generally
called the Rum River Road as it was the direct route from Stillwater to Anoka
and the Mississippi pineries. Another road was surveyed across the township
in 1847, connecting Stillwater with St. Paul on a line south of White Bear
Lake.
The Stillwater and St. Paul Railroad, completed in the fall of 1870 (and purchased
by Northern Pacific in 1878) crossed Grant from White Bear to Stillwater.
A townsite plat named Wilson was laid out at the same time near White Bear
Lake, but never developed. By 1900 the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste.
Marie (Soo Line) crossed the township. Duluth Junction in Grant was where
the NP crossed the Soo Line. The old Soo Line is now the Gateway Trail, popular
with horseback riders, bicyclists, inline skaters, runners and, in winter,
cross-county skiers. In 1892 the Minneapolis and St. Paul Suburban Railroad
Company ran a streetcar line out to Mahtomedi from St. Paul and by 1899 the
Twin City Rail Transit Company had began regular streetcar service from Mahtomedi
to Stillwater. Stops were at Parent, Masterman, Lies, Elliot and Grant crossings.
The Minneapolis and St. Croix Railroad pushed through Washington County in
1883, placing Grant on the direct line from Minneapolis to Chicago and giving
rise to the township's only village. Withrow developed along the line and
in the early 1900s boasted a creamery, blacksmith and general store, bank,
elevator and feed mill, stockyards, lumberyard, potato warehouses and pool
hall. Except for Withrow, Grant was almost exclusively a farming community
during its first century. Only a few commercial farms now remain in Grant,
but many small hobby farms, mostly for raising, training, and boarding horses
replace them.
The first school in Grant opened in 1856 and was followed by others as settlers
arrived. These schools met in one-room buildings each operated by a separate
school district and school board. The current City Hall on Kimbro Avenue is
one of these school buildings, once the Welander School. These school districts
eventually consolidated into the Mahtomedi and Stillwater school districts.
The Mahtomedi High and Middle Schools are located in Grant.
Rural character still best describes Grant, which has all private well and
septic systems and has experienced only small amounts of commercial development.
The first platted subdivision was Hickory Park, followed by Wake Robin Acres,
platted as one-acre lots in the early 1960s. Concern about potential pollution
from septic systems caused the Town Board to change the minimum lot size standard
from one to two and one-half acres in 1968. In 1976 the Grant Town Board adopted
an average lot size of ten acres and a minimum lot size of five acres. In
1996 Grant reorganized as a city to preserve its rural character and protect
critical habitat from high density development.
There are small commercial zones in Grant along the Highway 36 and 96 corridors
where several small businesses operate. Among Grant's commercial businesses
are several agricultural related businesses, a farm store, two commercial
apple orchards, a large nursery, and family farms that sell to the public.
An airport also operated in Grant for many years. Northport Airport on Highway
96 about midway between Stillwater and White Bear Lake was a general aviation
grass-runway field that trained more than 3,000 glider pilots during World
War II. It was torn down in the 1990s and is now the site of a housing development.
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Grant Township Dog Licenses 1863-1865
List of dogs licensed for the year 1863:
No. 1: Owned by William Rutherford April 15, 1863 a whitish yellow Terrier dog named Prince.
No. 2: Owned by William Rutherford April 15, 1863 a black Shepherd dog with white face and white on end of tail named Clipper.
No. 3: Owned by Jesse H. Soule April 15, 1863 a tan colored setter dog name Range.
No. 4: Owned by Thomas Ramsden April 30, 1863 a small black Terrier dog named Pero.
No. 5: Owned by Albion Masterman April 30, 1863 a tan colored god named Toby.
No. 6: Owned by Samuel R. Webster May 2 nd 1863 a tan colored female dog named Watch.
No. 7: Owned by Daniel Thornton My 9, 1863 one dog named Jeff
No. 8: Owned by James Rutherford Nov. 7, 1863 Black Shepherd dog with white face named Capt.
List of dogs licensed for the year 1864:
No. 1: Owned by William Rutherford May 4, 1864 a whitish yellow terrier dog named Prince.
No. 2: Owned by William Rutherford May 4, 1864 a Black Shepherd dog with white face and white on end of tail named clipper.
No. 3: Owned by Jesse H. Soule May 4, 1864 a tan colored setter dog named Range.
No. 4: Owned by James Rutherford May 4, 1864 a black shepherd dog with white face named Capt.
No. 5: Owned by Amos Brocious May 4, 1864 a large black and white dog named Pomp.
No. 6: Owned by Albion Masterman May 4, 1864 a tan colored dog named Toby.
No. 7: Owned by Henry Meadows May 4, 1864 a small poodle dog – yellow – named Buppy.
List of dogs licensed for the year 1865:
No. 1: Owned by Albion Masterman April 29, 1865 a mottled and tan colored setter dog named Dick.
No. 2: Owned by Albion Masterman April 29, 1865 a tan colored dog named Toby.
No. 3: Owned by Jesse H. Soule April 29, 1865 a tan colored setter dog named Range.
No. 4: Owned by William Rutherford June 15, 1865 a white & yellow terrier dog named Prince.
No. 5: Owned by William Rutherford June 15, 1865 a black and white shepherd dog named Clipper.
Death Records. The Grant Township death records cover the years of 1872-1899. Download Grant Township death records (Microsoft Excel file).