Parkers Prairie Area History

This baseball is from the first ball game played at the City Park ball field. The writing says: Memorial Day  May 30 1933 Parkers won 5-0 Last Ball if the First Game on the New Parkers Ball Ground

A couple of years ago while I was at a wedding reception for a former student, I was chatting with Gale Iverson about the History Club and some of the things we have been up to the last couple of years. He mentioned to me that Donna Herdman had pictures of a number of local farms. I jotted myself a note. I was pleasantly surprised when I came to school one morning and had a message from her. She had beaten me to the punch. The History Club had begun its annual application process and we were looking at activities for the summer. The focus for the year is the changing rural landscape. When Donna mentioned the pictures she had, the fit could not have been more perfect. These photos were taken by Donna and her husband during the 90's. The sheer number of photos is remarkable and they provide the visual evidence of the importance of agriculture in this community (not that a drive through the countryside would not be ample enough evidence). The History Club spent a day scanning

Click on the image to the left for part two of the Herdman Barn Pictures.

Click on the image to the left for part three of the Herdman Barn Pictures. 

Click on the image to the left for part three of the Herdman Barn Pictures.

A few years ago a student claimed that there were Civil War vets buried near his home in a small cemetery. I quickly forgot about it, thinking he was mistaken. However, after this young man brought it up on another occasion, my interest piqued. A good friend of mine, Fred Liljegren, went to the site one day after school and, sure enough, it was exactly what my student had mentioned. Six Civil War vets were buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, formerly known as Scriven.  This began the Parker Prairie History Club's interest in the abandoned cemetery. The group talked to the township to get approval to clean up and maintain the cemetery. For the past few years, the group has done just that. On top of the maintenance, the group has investigated the history of this interesting spot. Using dowsing rods (an admittedly unscientific method) it appears that there are far more people buried at this site than the number of markers that are there. While some of this is due to the fact that not eve