St. Michael Historical Society

Collecting, Preserving, and Sharing

the history of St. Michael, MN.

Our Organization

The St. Michael Historical Society began with a meeting of general interest in April of 2005. By July the fifteen incorporating members approved Articles of Incorporation, created Bylaws and elected officers.

Meetings are generally held quarterly the second Monday of the month at the St. Michael City Hall; however, please check the "Events" for exact times and locations as they do vary occasionally. Anyone with interest is welcome to attend. The St. Michael Historical Society is a 501(c), nonprofit corporation and a member of the Minnesota Historical Society.

Preserve our History!

Ready to take the next step? You can become a contributor to our cause, or participate yourself.

Today, November 11, 2024, marks the 105th anniversary of the first Veterans Day, originally called Armistice Day, which commemorated the cessation of fighting in World War One on this day in 1918. The first Armistice Day holiday was exactly one year
We believe this photo is from the fall of 1990. If you recognize the people and you think the year is different, please leave a comment. The Knights' football team must have made it into the playoffs since by the look of the bare trees, it's late in
The man in the buffalo hide coat is Fr. Magnus Mayr. He was the first resident pastor of St. Michael's Parish from 1862 to 1865. Fr. Mayr left Germany for Minnesota in 1860 and spent two years with his brother Benedictines in St. Cloud before they di
For 64 years the Dick Beverage Company was one of the principal businesses in town. Formed after the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 by Lambert "L.A." Dick, the business passed to his sons Lloyd and Ralph. Some of their kids are still in the
Pictured here are kids from the St. Michael Catholic School around the year 1932. This school building sat east, or behind, the current Catholic School in what is now parking and play area. Top row from left: Bernice Russell, Anita Bloms, Armella Dal
This view of the east side of South Main Street was taken by Frank Zachman in 1955. Frank took this shot from the water tower which stood behind what is now Mainstreet Farmer. Much of what is in the foreground of this photo is now either the Walgreen
Here is a rare color photo of the St. Michael (Catholic) High School band from 1959 or 1960. The band was playing at a home football game, probably Homecoming. For those who recognize the old baseball grandstand in the background, you might be confus
It's Homecoming Week at STMA schools, so in honor of Homecoming we take you back to Homecoming 1984. Remember the Friday afternoon parade? Everyone was let out of school after lunch and people lined up along Central Avenue (Hwy. 241) to watch the par
This football schedule represents a transition period for two huge St. Michael entities. In the fall of 1969 the St. Michael-Albertville school district was just in its second year of offering a complete K-12 education program. The teams the school p
The dam at Berning's Mill was a favorite fishing spot for many, many years. By the time this photo was taken in the late 1970s, the mill was operating on electric power. A close look at this photo reveals one of the drawbacks of water power in that i
The photo below comes from the 1960 "Serviam", the yearbook for St. Michael Catholic High School. This is the 1959-1960 Varsity Basketball Team. There was no girls basketball team, by the way. Girls high school sports teams would arrive abo
This is the Nicholas Daleiden farm with the entire family shown except for Nick. According to family history, this photo was taken 120 years ago in August of 1904 when Nick was scouting land in Canada, something many people from St. Michael were doin