The present Crow Wing county courthouse grounds were for many years the location of a hay-market.

In 1892, area farmers requested the city to establish such a market.

A big fire a few years earlier had cleared the land of buildings, including the once-popular Commercial hotel.

The hay-market became a typical town gathering place.

In 1896, the city council talked about relocating the hay market but it remained on the Laurel street location far into the next century when the county acquired the land and converted it into a lawn for the court-house.

Reproduced from the Centennial Edition of the Brainerd Daily Dispatch (1871-1971).