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Historic Preservation Updates
In 1996, the cities of Cottage Grove and Newport formed a partnership to develop classroom materials
for teaching with local historic places. These materials may be checked out from the public library in Cottage
Grove, or at the Cottage Grove City Hall. One of these documents is called "Notes on the Early Settlement of
Cottage Grove" by Robert Watson, and edited by Robert C. Vogel. Robert Watson was an early pioneer in the Cottage
Grove area who kept a diary of his life in this area from 1850 though 1878. Watson’s work presents a vivid and
historically accurate picture of life on the Minnesota frontier. One interesting portion of his diary contains a
song about the prairie growing in this area.
Prairie Song
A life in the prairied west,
Where the noble rivers flow,
Where earth wears an emerald vest,
And flowers, by the acre grow.
How fair in the blossoming spring,
To behold the tender blue
Which the early violet spreads,
As far as the eye can view.
I love from some breezy hill
To gaze o’er the charming scene,
Broad prairies of grass, and flowers,
And young-leaved groves between.
Then the gorgeous autumn comes
With its mellow and hazy skies;
And the prairie’s freshness is changed
Into purple and golden dyes.
Then the farmer looks with pride
At the crops his hands have tilled,
Where the drooping ears proclaim
The promise of spring fulfilled.
To learn more about this interesting time in the history of Cottage Grove, stop by City Hall or
the library and borrow a copy of "Notes on the Early Settlement of Cottage Grove" by Robert Watson.
Cottage Grove Historic Preservation Update is published by the Historic Preservation
Division, Department of Community Development, City of Cottage Grove. For more information about the city historic
preservation program, contact:
John Burbank
City Historic Preservation Officer (CHPO)
c/o Cottage Grove City Hall
7516 – 80th Street South
Cottage Grove, MN 55016
Telephone: (651) 458-2825
jburbank@cottage-grove.org
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City Gov't