Depicted here is the farmhouse of Alex and Georgina Esko, located on the hillside banks of the Midway River. The baby is probably Isaac Esko. This photograph was taken south of the present Highway 61, looking northward to the bridge over the Midway River. In the background is a hayshed.
From left to right in this photo of the Joseph Juntunen Sr. family and his farmyard, known as Meadowbrook Dairy, are twins Joseph and Hjalmer Juntunen, Ed Juntunen, Lydia Juntunen, Grandma Elsa Juntunen, Selma Juntunen, Ida Juntunen, Anna Juntunen, Kate Juntunen, and Grandpa Joseph Juntunen in the wagon. Joseph Juntunen Sr. was the founder of Meadowbrook Dairy.
This is a photograph of Mr. and Mrs. Alex Esko, their children Hilda Esko, George Esko, Isaac Esko, Fred Esko, and Henry Esko, and their farm home. The namesake of Esko, Alex Esko purchased the farm in 1890 from Timber baron Andreas M. Miller. Alex Esko was born in Finland in 1862 and came to the Village of Thomson in 1880 and to Thomson Township in 1890 when he purchased the farm. He was a railroad agent, county commissioner, member of Thomson Township School board, and Thomson Township Town Board.
This is a photograph of the farm home of Charles Gustafson, which he purchased in 1899 from John Kajander. Charles Gustafson sold the farm to Charles Kinnunen in 1925, and two years later he sold it to Victor Maki, who turned it into the Cloverhill Dairy.
This photograph of Matt Kkonu, his wife Laura, and their children in 1907 was taken in front of their farm house with the barn and other buildings in the background. The farm was located on the Erickson Road, bordering on the Midway River. The two oldest children in the family are in the picture, and are Sanni Konu, the oldest one in the family, and then Ida, the second oldest.
Pioneer Charles A. Marks, his family and horses, are depicted in front of their remodeled home. The Marks family settled in Thomson Township in 1878. Charles A. Marks was the second county commissioner of Carlton County to serve from the Town of Thomson, in 1901. His original Finnish surname was Markkus. He operated a productive dairy farm located on the Midway River. One of his dairy cows can be seen between the three unidentified ladies. Presumably Charles Marks is the person holding the horses. He was born in Finland in 1854 and died in Thomson Township in 1921.
Alfred Kuusiko's farm home in Thomson Township, before the 1918 Fire, in 1909. Daughter Esther Kusicko was 14 years old in 1909. The surname originally in Finnish would have been Kuusikko, but the Americanized spelling is Kusicko.
This shows the John Marks' family farm that was located in section 14 on the Marks Road and bordering the Midway River. Pioneer John Marks brought the first steel plow into the area. Notice the hay rake and hay mower, as well as the plow behind the family and their horse. The family settled on the Midway River farm in 1874. Possibly what looks like a flag pole in the background is a Finnish type of well. It was photographed by a Moose Lake Photographer, Adry Carlson.
This photograph depicts the Henry Sunnarborg farm, for which the land located on a hill above the Midway River in Thomson Township was purchased in 1889. Their team of horses and hay rake are in the foreground, with Mrs. Henry Sunnarborg and their adopted daughter, Julia (Mattinen) Sunnarborg, in between.
This postcard shows a team of horses hauling loose hay, two men on top pitching the hay, and a woman watching them. The card has written on it in the lower left, "In the Good Old Summer time." The back of the postcard shows that it is number 492 of a series entitled, "Vacation Series Postcards." It was sent to Mrs. A.L. Winterquist from Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Two young boys, Fred and Isaac Esko, stand in front of the home of Alex Esko and Eva Esko, their parents. Fred was two years older than Isaac, and is the taller boy, while Isaac is the one wearing a white shirt. The house depicted here is probably the third in a series of several expansions. The original log home was constructed in 1895 and was basically in the shape of a rectangle that was parallel to Highway 61, on the south side. If you look very closely at the lower left corner of the house, you can see a black line extending west from the corner. This represents the bridge that crossed the Midway River. To the right, the settlement of Esko would begin its development about a decade later.
Shown here is early resident and artist, Edgar F. Olson, and an unnamed man, pitching loose hay in the field. Edgar F. Olson, the son of Nels O. Olson, was born on the Nels O. Olson farm on July 25, 1896, and died as a life-long bachelor on August 18, 1974.
This photograph shows an early road leading to the Victor Sariin farm, located about a half mile east of the Erickson Road and north present day Highway 61. Note the barbed wire fence, rocks piled along the fence line, as well as the deep wagon ruts and planks crossing what was evidently a low and wet spot in the middle of the road.
This photograph shows Henry Sunnarborg and his wife, as well as their dog, standing in front of their farmhouse located on the western banks of the Midway River, north of Highway 61. The younger lady standing to the right of Mrs. Sunnarborg is their adopted daughter, Julia (Mattinen) Sunnarborg. Henry was born in 1859, moved to Duluth in 1880 and Thomson Township in 1885, then to Bessmer Michigan in 1887, moved back to Thomson Township in 1889, passing away here in 1929. His wife died in 1918. Julia lived with them from the age of 5 onward. The house and its barn still are still standing in 2012.
This shows the Thomson Road just south of present day Interstate 35, lined with fence posts and stones removed from the field. There is a small shed in the background, and piles of stones and branches. This was located near the John Fredrickson's farm - formerly known as John Alatalo. John Alatalo homesteaded this farm in 1873, one year after he came to America from Finland. He died in 1876, and his was the first death among the early settlers in the area. John Alatalo's brother, Peter, took over the operation of the farm after John's death. In 1935 the owner of the farm was Peter Fredrickson Jr., who was born on the farm on March 2, 1889.
Depicted here is haying on the Edgar F. Olson (previously Nels O. Olson) farm, as the team of horses is hauling the loose hay to the barn. Way in the back of the photo is a hay rake.