PLAQUES GET BACK IN PLACE

Misplaced for decades, plaques meant to celebrate Brainerd's 1971 centennial are returning to their rightful places.

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And it all started with the interest and tenacity of the Brainerd History Group. With the help of others in the city and building owners, the long-lost plaques are making their way back. At the Northern Pacific Center, the plaque was returned 37 years after it was initially installed on the front brick of the clock tower building.

And it all started with the interest and tenacity of the Brainerd History Group. With the help of others in the city and building owners, the long-lost plaques are making their way back. At the Northern Pacific Center, the plaque was returned 37 years after it was initially installed on the front brick of the clock tower building.

Metal plaques celebrating Brainerd's centennial year were created for historic sites around the city, but some were lost to time and faded memories. This plaque was created for Northern Pacific's headquarters in east Brainerd. After disappearing from the site for years, the plaque is now back in place on the clock tower building. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls

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For Brainerd's centennial year, 17 historic markers were created. Some were attached to stone and cement pedestals still seen throughout the city. Others were attached to area buildings. But some never made it to their destinations. As the years passed and memories faded, the markers disappeared from view.

But amateur historian Carl Faust was interested in what happened to those markers. It seemed like unfinished business.

"It's almost like the city started and there was all this enthusiasm," Faust said. "I see it kind of like history didn't go away, it just got further away."

So Faust's Brainerd History Group started digging. And when Faust was talking about the markers at the Crow Wing County Historical Society Museum, he jostled a few memories. At the museum, people remembered seeing similar metal pieces. An attic search found five markers that had fallen behind a desk. When Faust went up to see the find, "I jumped so hard I hit my head on the ceiling," he said.

Thursday, Faust and a group of people interested in Brainerd history, were on hand for the reinstallation of the historic marker at the Northern Pacific Center, former home of the railroad's headquarters.

"Carl knows so much history, it's unbelievable," said Brainerd resident LaVonne Danzl, who is interested in the Brainerd History Group. "We're really trying to get some interest in this history group to get some people to appreciate what's gone ahead of us."

David Hutton, an owner of the Northern Pacific Center, said Faust approached him about the marker, and when they walked outside to check where it once was secured to the wall, they found that the bolts were still in place. Rick Fargo, property manager, said they wondered what the bolts once secured. At some point, the plaque was removed and found its way to the dusty confines of the museum's attic. Hutton speculates that someone took it down in fear it might be stolen once the railroad building was left vacant.

Carl Faust (left) from the Brainerd History Group met with Rick Fargo, Al Gmeinder and David Hutton, owner of the Northern Pacific Center, Thursday at the Northern Pacific Center's clock tower in east Brainerd. The group re-created the installation of a historic marker originally created for Brainerd's 1971 centennial. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls

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Frank "Bud" Kittleson, owner of the Brainerd Foundry, donated the metal markers. Some of the markers were cast in stone and cement pedestals, which are still seen throughout the city. The 1971 Brainerd Dispatch reported that the pedestals were being made through Don Samuelson and the concrete and masonry members of Brainerd Trades and Labor.

In addition, the Brainerd History Group, which is looking to expand its membership to more interested residents, is continuing the Downtown History Walk it started this spring to commemorate the state's sesquicentennial. The history walk is available with brochures for self-guided tours by reservation.

For more information on the plaques, other area history or the history group, go online to http://lakesarea.brainerddispatch.com/groups/brainerdhistorywalk - the Web site has the full list of sites chosen for markers and their status to date. Some markers remain missing, such as the one for the original Brainerd courthouse. But Faust has faith that more of the lost items will be rediscovered in time.

RENEE RICHARDSON may be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.