Winton’s annual summer picnic gathering will celebrate a special milestone: the city’s 125th anniversary.
The special touch for this year’s event? Pulled pork sandwiches, fully catered.
“Most of our get-togethers, we just do a potluck,” said mayor Marlene Zorman. “Well, if this is going to be a big thing, maybe we ought to make sure we have something good, like good sandwiches.”
Zorman expects a turnout of around 50 people for the event, based on prior picnic participation numbers, but she said more may come to mark this year’s milestone.
Winton’s population currently sits at about 160 residents, just about 8% of the 2,000 people who called the town home at its peak in the early twentieth century.
“It’s pretty historic. Winton isn’t anything like it was 125 years ago,” Zorman said.
The town found its start as a Knox Lumber Company sawmill community in the 1890s and early 1900s, and members of the Bois Forte Band of Ojibwe called the area home for at least 100 years prior to the lumber industry’s arrival.
About 100 lumberjacks and sawmill workers inhabited the area in 1892, and by 1900 the population grew to 600 residents.
A dedicated grid of streets emerged in 1899 and the settlement became known as Winton on maps, though the community’s official name was the Village of Fall Lake when it organized its city council in 1901.
The reconstruction of Winton’s sawmill after Knox Lumber Company sold the property to the St. Croix Lumber Company brought an even greater influx of workers to town, leading the population to its peak.
Eventually, Swallow and Hopkins Company bought the mill and established one of the first railroad-based lumber portaging operations in the state. The company created the Four Mile Portage, still used by Boundary Waters canoeists today.
After World War One, lumber demand crashed and stands of local old growth pines had disappeared. As Winton’s economy struggled, many lumber employees shifted their families to Ely to begin work in the mines.
Winton’s school closed in 1941 as the population declined. Since the year 2000, the town’s population has wavered in the upper 100’s, from 186 down to 160.
Over time, the city has embraced a new character, and some residents prefer the quieter atmosphere.
“It’s just nice because it’s quiet and everybody knows everybody, but nobody bugs each other,” Zorman said. “Nobody’s really into anybody’s business. But if you need something, everybody knows you.”
Zorman said her hope for Winton’s future is to see a greater number of the town’s young people become involved in city government.
Community get-togethers like the upcoming 125th anniversary celebration often materialize from the efforts of Winton’s city administration, consisting of Zorman, the clerk-treasurer, the deputy clerk and Winton’s three council members.
Zorman said the council meets to determine a day for the annual picnic. They additionally arrive the morning of the event to set everything up.
This year, the city’s anniversary emerged as a last-minute theme for the gathering.
“Right on our sign, it says established in 1901. I don’t think anybody really thought of it until our last meeting,” Zorman said. “Our clerk said, you know, it’s the 125th anniversary. Well, we’re halfway through the year, but we can still celebrate something.”
Winton may add a banner to the sign to mark 125 years since its founding. Coffee and punch will be offered for free at the community picnic, in addition to the catered sandwiches.
And of course, even with the special menu, guests are still encouraged to bring a potluck dish to share.
