| Summary: | all time. The last big fire was when the Wangrud & Ourenhagen, the original E. T. Christianson and opera house buildings went up in flames early on November 14, 1936. That the department was able to save the Erickson jewelry store, separated from the "Christianson" building by less than a foot is an unsolved conundrum. These fires, those of July 4, 1929, and November 14, 1936, put the litchville lodges out of business, of which there had been several during the years. The Masonic Lodge rooms, sublet by the Sons of Norway and Woodmen, were located above the Youngberg grocery store at the time of the "Big Fire". All lodge paraphernalia was destroyed, but, undaunted, the members bought new equipment and furniture and established comfortable quarters in the rooms over the front part of the Wangrud & Ourenhagen building. Came the November fire of 1936, and again the Masons lost everything. That was the end, as good locations for Masonic and other lodges was no longer available, and since then lodge doings locally have been at a standstill. 'Liquid Fuel' Stations Opened Early - day Litchville had no bulk oil and gasoline stations for the simple reason that those were still the "horse and buggy" days. With the coming of automobiles, in 1905 and thereabouts and the advent of the tractor and truck on a large scale some years later, the picture changed drastically and there was need of liquid fuel in increasing flow. As a natural result, the Standard Oil Company put in a bulk station in 1917 and hired Jim Hansen as its first local agent, a job held by A. H. Rockswold for 30 years. Reynold Peterson, present bulk agent assumed the position upon the retirement of Mr. Rockswold. A few years later, T. I. Strinden, Fred Songberg and J. W. Haarsager associated themselves together and set up the Litchville Oil Company, later under the sole ownership and management of Mr. Songberg. Another addition to local bulk 'oil field'wasthe Farmers Union, established only a few years ago under the agency of Floyd Olson. At the present time Farmers Union Oil Company is located in the former Litchville Oil Company building. Thus, the liquid fuel needs of the community are well serviced, for in addition to those already named in foregoing paragraphs, L. Sonsthagen and son, Philip handled the Cities Service products in pumps at their filling station and machine shop. Mack Bax, a retired farmer, purchased and operated the Cities Service Station until his death. Vic Jongeward also had a service station with a small garage for car repairs and service. It was located where the Tasty Treat Drive In is now serving the community. Mrs. Jongeward was the litchville Beauty operator at the time and had the business in their home. Mr. and Mrs. Louie Gienger now live there. Lynn Flach bought it from Mr. Jongeward and operated it until moving to Hannaford. Electricity For Farms Area farms receiveu electrical power in the early part of the year when Rural Electric Administration power lines from Hastings west toward Greenland were energized. A blizzard ushered in the year 1950 and the latest spring since white men settled the area was recorded. Stoves used record amounts of coal and oil during the long winter and a train stalled between litchville and Marion when its supply of diesel fuel jelled from the cold. Between five and six inches of rain and snow fell in the first two weeks in May and when spring finally came, the train could not travel past litchville because of the soft grade. In the local politics, J. A. Semmens was re-elected mayor in the village elections. Henry Opdahl won reelection as a trustee. Other officers elected were Theron Strinden, I^ewis Rockswold and Art Haseleu, trustees; Dennis Anderson, treasurer; J. W. Jongeward, clerk; Harry Peterson, assessor and A. H. Rockswold, Justice of the Peace. Local and area residents also aspired to higher offices. Philip Sauer was elected a state senator and Art Sortland a state representative. Both were Republican Organizing Committee candidates. Alf Benson was a Nonpartisan league candidate for state senator; Milton Young ran for the U. S. Senate and Fred Aandahl was a U. S. House of Representatives candidate. A look at local business showed that Dr. Emil Ogren provided veterinary services for the community, Merwin McGregor was postmaster and Melvin and Riley Strand operated a blacksmith shop. A new filling station with hydraulic lift was built by Fred Songberg and Myrtle Oppe- gaard operated one of the town's cafes. In April, representatives of Bell Telephone Company spoke at a town meeting about taking over operations of the Litchville Telephone Company. But it was decided to maintain local control after it was determined thai monthly phone rates would rise under the new plan. Home Economics Added The Litchville school received repair work and improvements when voters approved by 31 - 7 a building fund levy. Melvin Nelson was school superintendant. In November the Parent Teacher Association sponsored the purchase of new uniforms for the school band. The 1951-52 school term saw the addition of a home economics department and classes to the curriculum. The Commercial Club examined the possibility of building a new gymnasium and using the old gym for a shop. Village officers were I.ynn Flach, Lyle Opdahl, Art Haseleu and Lewis Rockswold. Theron Strinden served the town as mayor, Ixmis Sonsthagen was town marshal! and Walter Justesen was Justice of the Peace. Other events in the political realm included circulation of petitions to have Highway 46 rebuilt. Several businesses changed hands and two fires occurred at local firms in 1951. Tri Corner Station, formerly the Kathryn, N.D., creamery, moved and rebuilt by Arvid Arves in 1933, was destroyed by fire June 22. A later fire at the Woodworth Elevator August 21 was caused by belt friction but the fire was extinguished before much damage was done. Bernard Anderson, who had begun the Litchville Case dealership, left town and Henry Opdahl began operating the business, constructing a new cement block building. Einar Olson was employed at the new Opdahl Motors and replaced Gerhardt Bruse. Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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