People gathered in northern Wadena County on Saturday to learn a little history about a once-thriving town that now only shows some foundation depressions in the woods.
An archaeology tour of Shell City was led by archaeologist Tim Tumberg and historian John Crandall. The guides took curious participants on a walk through the woods to talk about the history of Shell City and look at the landscape for clues about where certain buildings were located.
Shell City was originally called Kindred, founded by William Kindred in 1879. In 1880, Kindred sold the town to Frances Yoder and Sewell Chandler who renamed it Shell City.
It was once a thriving village, built on the north bank of the Shell River in northern Wadena County. The town had as many as 75 citizens, hotels, a school, a hardware store and homes. People would have heard traffic from carts of wheat traveling through the town.
People who attended the tour came for a variety of reasons. Some were just interested in the history of the town; others had a personal connection. Daisy Jacob of Menahga soon will be 97 years old. She said she used to live in Shell City and remembered some of the town.
ADVERTISEMENT
The first depression Tumberg found was where the Carson House Hotel was located. He said the foundation might have been made out of rock or brick. Some artifacts such as broken pieces of ceramic pots were found in the woods. Tumberg said to leave the artifacts where they were found because context is important to knowing how an item relates to its surroundings.
Its not what we find; its what we find out, Tumberg said.
Another area had indentations that could have been cellars for houses, he said. If lilacs, day lilies, asparagus or rhubarb plants are found near an indentation, its a good sign that a house was at the location at one time, Tumberg said. That vegetation would have been planted outside homes.
Shell Citys main road was called State Street, Crandall said. Henry Morrison Mercantile Store was located along State Street. The mercantile store location would be the first place an archaeologist would dig because he or she would find medicine bottles with elixirs in them or other items, Tumberg said.
Often, an old privy is the best place to find items because thats where people threw away their old garbage, he said. If Tumberg were to look where an old privy was, he might find liquor bottles, toothbrushes or ceramics.
At one point during the tour, Tumberg and Crandall found concrete that would have been poured for a house.
Tumberg has more than 15 years of experience in archaeology and cultural resource management in the Great Lakes and Upper Midwest. He has a bachelor of arts degree in anthropology with a minor in American Indian studies from Moorhead State University, a master of science degree in industrial archaeology from Michigan Technological University and has completed the coursework requirements for a PhD in anthropology from the University of Arizona. He is a native of New York Mills and now lives in South St. Paul with his wife, Amanda Gronhovd, and daughters, Elsa, 4; and Nora, 2.
Crandall has written the definitive history of Shell City, Silhouettes of Time. He received his bachelor of science degree from the University of Minnesota-Duluth with majors in geography and history, and received a master of arts degree in history from Bemidji State University. He taught social studies at Sebeka High School for 11 years and special education in Minneapolis for eight years and Eagle Valley High School for five years. He retired in 2006. His other books include Boom and Bust: Reflections Chronicling the History of Ottertail City. Crandall lives in Wadena with his wife, Karen.
ADVERTISEMENT
The archaeology trip to Shell City was sponsored by the Wadena County Historical Society and the History Museum of East Otter Tail County.
