The Central Park Controversy

The Central Park Controversy

The Central Park Controversy Leslie Moore In 1948, in response to the town’s growing population, the Northfield Board of Education voted to close College Street and convert Central Park—originally designed by the town’s founder, John W. North—into a playground for the...
The Ames Mill

The Ames Mill

The Ames Mill Hayes Scriven Town founder John North sold his flour and saw mills to Charles Wheaton, and in 1865, Wheaton sold the flour mill at the edge of Bridge Square to Captain Jesse Ames, a newcomer to Northfield. Ames was a ship captain from Maine and Cape Cod...
The “Libe”

The “Libe”

The “Libe” Ben Weiss In 1982, a truck arrived behind the Gould Library carrying the parts to a brand-new German-made tower crane. It was to be used for the construction of an addition to the 1956 Carleton library that would double its size. The problem was...

Bjoraker Building

Bjoraker Building Hayes Scriven The limestone Bjoraker Building was built before 1870. It most likely replaced another first-generation wooden commercial building built before the Civil War. Unfortunately, not much is known about the building’s early history. A.J....
Strong House

Strong House

Strong House Madison McBride One January in the 1880s, two students knocked on the door of James Strong’s house at 118 College Street and asked, “Might they borrow a horse and sleigh from Carleton College’s president to travel to a neighboring town where they had...