WHITE BEAR LAKE AREA 
The Depot office will be closed the week of March 14th due to Spring Break!
White Bear Lake Area Historical Society 2011 Calendars are available!
Featuring historic photos and trivia from the White Bear Area. Just $7.95! Only at the White Bear Depot located at 4th Street and Highway 61
YMCA Heritage Committee: The White Bear Area YMCA has launched an initiative to capture the stories of their organization and its stakeholders throughout the past 130 years in our area. Sara Hanson will be serving on the committee and lead the effort to collect and preserve those stories as well as establish a partnership between the organizations to share that information with people through possible displays at the Y and other outlets. If you have any photos, memorabilia or stories to share related to the White Bear Lake YMCA, please let us know. If you have photos but don’t wish to part with them, we can scan them and return them to you promptly.
Rambler Revolution: The City of WBL is currently in the process of renovating a rambler on McKnight Road to illustrate the versatility of this type of home as an economic development project. We have been asked to partner on this program through collecting images and stories of ramblers in our community. This architectural style represents 40% of the housing within the City of WBL and is an important component of the 1950s and 1960s era history that we have emphasized collecting in recent years. We are also looking for photos for this project. Both interior and exterior shots of Ramblers. If you have photos but don’t wish to part with them, we can scan them and return them to you promptly.
Request for info or “History’s Mysteries” as we are calling it on Facebook:
We received a request for information about Katherine Abbott Park in Mahtomedi. Our understanding is that Katherine Abbott inherited the land and she chose to donate it to the city of Mahtomedi for use as a park. It was often used by the Girl Scouts and sometimes referred to as Katherine Abbott Girl Scout Camp. When we asked our Facebook friends what they knew, we received the following post:
“The city of Mahtomedi has some info on the history of K Abbott park. I have many fond memories of this park, when it was owned by the Girl Scout Council of St. Croix Valley (which has changed names, due to consolidation of councils in the state of MN). From what I understand Katherine Abbott inherited the land and donated it to the GSCofSCV. Which the council used for many Day Camps in its heyday. The camp was sold to the City of Mahtomedi in the 80's or 90's. It is a gem of a park, many hiking trails are available, a great sledding hill, many Eagle Scout projects have been completed within the park. And the best part, the troop house (pictured above) can be rented out for various functions.”
We did contact the City of Mahtomedi who sent us a copy of their park brochure. It includes a section about the history of the park and how it came to be. We’ve copied it for you below. (The brochure also contains an interesting paragraph about streetcars. We will be posting it on our Facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/album.php?aid=368473&id=67673728377 Or we can also email it to you upon request.
“The area that has become the park was the inspiration of Katherine Abbott, the daughter of a prominent St. Paul physician. Ms. Abbott gave her time, talents and personal resources for the benefit of her community. Her dream was to establish a troop camp that would be easily accessible to area Girl Scouts.
Though she died before her dream was fulfilled, her many friends worked in her memory. In 1950, the first parcel for the troop camp was purchased. The streetcar from St. Paul took girls right to the front gate of the camp. In 1952 the park was dedicated and named after its progenitor, Ms. Katherine Abbott.
In 1989, the city of Mahtomedi purchased Katherine Abbott Park from the Girl Scouts of America. As a City park Mahtomedi seeks to preserve the original vision of Katherine Abbott while providing opportunities for residents to enjoy nature and outdoor activities.”
If you have any further information about Katherine Abbott or the Girl Scout connection, please email us at info@whitebearhistory.org. Thank you!
Wish list - we are in need of a 16mm film projector used for home movies. If you have one that you would like to donate, please call 651-407-5327 or email info@whitebearhistory.org. THANKS!!
