Column: Here’s a special salute for the good folks over in Walters

Published 12:00 am Friday, June 13, 2003

This weekend is a special time for the people in the Walters area as they prepare to celebrate the centennial of this community.

Walters, like Conger, became a town as the result of a new railroad route. In 1900 the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern (B.C.R.&N.;) Railroad started construction of trackage from Germania, Iowa (a name which was changed to Lakota as a result of anti-German stupidity during World War I) to Albert Lea.

The name of Walters was evidently selected for the new town by the officials of the B.C.R.&N.; Railroad. A plat for the new locality was filed at the Faribault County Courthouse in Blue Earth during August 1900 and the community was incorporated as a village in 1903. And that last date explains the basis for the centennial celebration this weekend.

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In 1903, the same year Walters officially became an incorporated village, the B.C.R.&N.; rail line

between Germania and Albert Lea became a part of the Chicago Rock Island and Pacific Railroad.

The new railroad owner soon discovered it already had another town on its rail lines with the name of Walters. This other Walters was in Oklahoma. It was strongly suggested that the Minnesota town with the same name should have a new designation to avoid possible confusion.

A Faribault County history book listed some of the other names local folks suggested as replacements for Walters. They were: &uot;Greenville, Yostown, Kliebensteinburgh, Steffenson City, Meiggs Station, Drakeboro, Danner, Meyerapolis, Doerrwick, St. Hoverson, Ludtkefast and Ruppfort.&uot;

The Rock Island rail officials didn’t prevail with their silly suggestion and the name of Walters is still on the state maps.

This wasn’t the first time a railroad firm tried to change the name of an area town. The pioneer village of Shell Rock, south of Albert Lea, was &uot;persuaded&uot; by the B.C.R.&N.; Railroad to change its name to Glenville sometime in the late 1800s. In this situation there was another town to the southeast named Shell Rock, Iowa. (This town is about two miles west of Waverly.) There was an obvious chance that there could be a mix-up between two towns named Shell Rock fairly close together on the same rail line. That wasn’t too likely between Walters, Minn., and Walters, Okla. (located south of Lawton near the Texas line).

The 1977 Faribault County history book had this information about life in Walters about a century or so ago:

&uot;The first place of business in Walters was a general store, where supplies could be bought. By the end of November 1900, the town also had a bank, restaurant, lumberyard, an elevator, a saloon and a combined livery and feed barn. By the end of 1906, two general stores, more saloons, schoolhouse, post office, hardware store, hotel, creamery, a second elevator, another lumberyard, drayline, blacksmith shop, harness shop, pool hall and a drug store in connection with one of the general stores had been added.

&uot;The post office opened January 19, 1901 with Fred Hartman as the first postmaster.&uot;

I’ve included this quotation to indicate some of the changes which have taken place in Walters during the past century. The demise of the railroad, grade school, post office, creamery and various businesses have been factors in the decline of the population of Walters from 152 in 1970 to the present 90 or so folks.

However, there’s one interesting historical remnant from the past which is still a part of the community heritage. It’s the small brick jail building in the city’s park. It was built in 1906, reportedly last used in the 1950s, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Anyway, here’s a centennial salute for the folks over in Walters and the best of everything for this community during the next century.

Tribune feature writer Ed Shannon’s column appears Fridays in the Tribune.