The bright little village of Clarissa is one of the most promising points in Todd county. It is on the Cass Lake branch of the Great Northern railway, about fifteen miles northwest of Long Prairie and 140 miles from St. Paul. The location is on a small stream called Eagle creek in the noted valley of that name. The lands along the creek are rolling prairie and brush lands, while on either side are the level or gently rolling timbered lands, which has been for the most part converted into fine farms. The townsite was selected by G. G. Howe, of Faribault, Minn., then the agent of an English syndicate owning 30,000 acres of land in this locality. The first building erected was Mr. Howe’s office in 1879. The township of Eagle Valley was settled several earlier, but the heavy timber on the land made its development slow. Then the Great Northern, in 1887-88, cut 23,000,000 feet of hardwood lumber from the lands and sawed it at Clarissa and Eagle Bend, and when later a considerable number of Norwegians and other sturdy Scandinavian foresters came, they made short work of subduing the wilderness and converting it into farms. Two-thirds of the people in the township are Scandinavians.
Clarissa how has a population of only about 300, yet it has flour, saw and stave mills, a creamery, a bank, three churches, a newspaper and numerous stores and shops. The Todd County Independent is now in its fourth volume, and is a flourishing little journal, having an excellent and well deserved patronage. The present editor and publisher, Mr. George A. Etzell, has been in charge for about a year and a half, and is making the paper what it should be. Mr. Etzell is a native Minnesotan, coming to Clarissa from Chaska, Carver county. His father was one of the earliest pioneer settlers, and came to St. Paul in 1848. The village has a business association which is of great advantage to the place. F. G. Nutting is president of this association; L. J. Olson, vice president; George A. Etzell, secretary, and J. L. Ramstad, treasurer. The village has also a well organized and effective volunteer fire department, of which Frank Fimon is the chief; Chas. Landerholm, assistant chief; Louis Laugeson, secretary, and J. A. Norby, treasurer. The company has a good hand engine and an abundant water supply from drive wells. Mr. Fimon, the chief, is also mayor of Clarissa. He is a native Minnesotan, born at Glenwood, McLeod county, and coming here in 1895. He is an active citizen, and is arranging to build a fine business block.
F. B. Nutting, general merchant, is a prominent business man of Todd county, as well as of Clarissa. His establishment is a large one, occupying a brick building, 44 by 86 feet in area, two stories in height, with an ample basement. He deals in general merchandise, including hardware and furniture, and is also a large dealer in wood, and is connected with the bank, the box and egg case factory, etc. He came to Todd county with his father in 1881, and put up a saw and flouring mill. His general store was established by himself and father in 1881, but in 1888 Mr. Nutting became sole proprietor. L. J. Olson, dealer in general merchandise, cordwood and country produce, came to Clarissa from Sauk Center in 1888, and has practically grown with the town. He has served the village in various official positions, and is one of the leading citizens. The store of Henry Schroeder & Co., dealers in staple and fancy groceries, dry goods and shoes, was recently opened in a new brick block, and is doing a satisfactory business to its owners. Mr. Schroeder, the senior partner, was born at Hutchinson, and came to Clarissa sixteen years ago, or practically at the opening of the town. He is an active citizen.
The lumber, general hardware, building material and stove store of Thos. Heid, of Browerville, is managed and most successfully conducted by J. A. Norby, one of the good boys of the town. Mr. Norby came to Todd county directly from Roberts county, South Dakota, about twelve years ago, but was born in Swift county, Minnesota. J. L. Ramstad, dealer in flour and feed and shipper of hard and soft cordwood, came to Todd county fifteen years ago and for six years was engaged in farming, establishing his present business nine years ago. At present Mr. Ramstad is the village treasurer. The Hotel Clarissa, L. Langeson, proprietor, is a fine twenty-five room and well kept house. Its present quarters, which have been occupied two years, is a frame, but the original hotel was a log building. The Clarissa State bank was opened May 12, 1903, with a capital of $12,000. It does a general banking business and pays interest on time deposits. Charles Bradford is the president; F. B. Nutting, vice president, and L. D. Thayer, formerly of Monticello, is cashier.
Dr. C. E. Reeves, a well known physician, has a good drug store. The doctor is a native of Mitchellville, Iowa, and a graduate of Drake university at Des Moines, where he had a large hospital experience before coming here. He is succeeding finely. H. P. Hanson, general blacksmith, horseshoer, etc., came from Denmark to the United States in 1891. After traveling extensively he settled at Clarissa and he has found no better situation anywhere. For five years he was in Fargo, but last November returned to Clarissa, because, as he says, he could not keep away. Mr. Hanson is prominently connected with the Modern Woodmen order. M. A. Ringey, who keeps a neat and orderly saloon, came to Todd county with his father from Faribault twelve years ago. He was engaged in farming until last April, when he opened his present place. (The Saint Paul Globe, Monday Morning, October 5, 1903, Volume XXVI, Number 278, Page 3)
Page 298. Clarissa, an incorporated village of Todd county, is situated in Eagle Valley township, a little north of the geographical center of the county, on the Great Northern railway. The original site was platted in 1877 by Lewis Bischoffsheim and wife, of London, England. The place was named in honor of the wife of Mr. Bischoffsheim. When the settlement was first attempted here there was a wonderful growth of poplar, and the thicket was hard to subdue and make suitable for village-site uses. The railroad did not make its advent here until 1883, and all supplies before that date had to be hauled from Sauk Center. One of the first to locate here was George W. Pearmine, and George G. Howe came in second. In 1881 Frank Nutting conducted the only store of the village. In 1883 a mill was erected by Frank
Page 299. Nutting, Sr., on a land grant of three hundred and twenty acres. In 1885 a county seat talk was had for the removal from Long Prairie, but this scheme "flashed in the pan." In 1890 a creamery was established at a cost of five thousand dollars and a co-operative company formed to operate it. This, however, proved a failure, and in 1894 the property was sold for three thousand dollars to private parties. In 1894 a new plant was opened, and has proved a great financial success to all interested. The farmers nearby are receiving over one hundred thousand dollars annually for the cream and milk sold at this place. In 1897 the place was incorporated as a village. In 1906 internal improvements commenced to be made in dead earnest—sidewalks, street lights, a sewerage system, a volunteer fire company and other items were at once added for the good of the citizens. The postoffice statement made as long ago as 1911 showed money order business amounting to over one thousand seven hundred and twenty-two dollars for the year ending October, 1910. The lodges include the Woodmen, Royal Neighbors and Yeoman. The church life is represented by the Catholic, Norwegian Lutheran, Swedish Lutheran and the Norwegian Synod. The population of this village in 1910 was about four hundred. It is one of Todd county’s excellent places and is on the constant upgrade in its business affairs and general improvement. (History of Morrison and Todd Counties Minnesota, Volume I, Their People, Industries and Institutions, Clara K. Fuller, B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana, 1915)