A look back at what happened in Shakopee history. You may also find this column in the Shakopee Valley News.
125 Years Ago: From the May 21, 1896 Scott County Argus
John Mertz commenced business in his new quarters in the Kohls & Berens block yesterday. The place has been thoroughly renovated and presents a neat appearance.
100 Years Ago: From the May 19, 1921 Shakopee Tribune
Our new chief of police is now walking his beat in a fine regulation cop’s uniform. He looks about seven feet tall and ought to command a healthy respect to the law by his appearance alone.
75 Years Ago: From the May 16, 1946 Shakopee Argus-Tribune
Transformer Break Plunges Streets Into Darkness Here
Breakdown of the transformer serving the street lighting circuit here plunged the streets of the outlying residential sections of the city into darkness Monday night.
A total of 128 street lights are effected by the break R. C. Condon, city electrician, said. Effort to secure a replacement has been unsuccessful and it is believed the recent lighting systems will not be in operation for several weeks. To avoid a recurrence and to improve the system a crew has already begun rebuilding the circuit.
Street and alley lights in the business section of the city are not affected, Condon said.
50 Years Ago: From the May 19, 1971 Shakopee Valley News
Ponds and Spring Get Major Facelift
Shakopee’s Mill Pond area got a major renovation last weekend through the efforts of a small group of volunteers led by Shakopee Police Chief R. G. ‘Pat’ Thielen.
At the most recent City Council meeting Thielen asked for and received permission for the task of cleaning the two holding ponds and spring area which feed the Mill Pond.
In recent years, he explained, they have become clogged with vegetation and the walls of the terraced ponds were broken by fishermen who wanted to drain the water so fish would be easier to hook.
Huge tree stumps, roots and all, were jerked from the ponds, banks were cleared of brush, and great piles of trash were eradicated from the area…
When the water level rose after the pond walls were repaired, the ponds cleared, and the water coursing into the main Mill Pond was cold and crystal again…
25 Years Ago: From the May 16, 1996 Shakopee Valley News
Motorcycle firm interested in city
The Shakopee City Council, after meeting Tuesday will officials from Excelsior-Henderson Motorcycle Manufacturing, directed staff to examine the firm’s request for $6.5 million in general obligation tax increment bond funding by the city…
Excelsior-Henderson is seeking a site for construction of a 150,000-square-foot manufacturing plant. The plant would employ about 125 people its first year of production and about 400 during its second year, according to Dan Benton, the company’s co-founder.
The firm is not yet producing motorcycles, but plans to reveal its prototype at Sturgis, S.D., in August. It is fashioned after the SuperX model produced by the original Excelsior-Henderson company in the 1920s. Under the requested financing, Shakopee would sell general obligation bonds, which would be paid back with captured tax increment funds (TIF). In the even TIF funds become unavailable, payments for the bonds would come from the city’s general fund.
