American Crystal Sugar factory, Chaska

The city of Chaska is home to a factory that has survived decades of change in the Minnesota sugar industry. Since 1934 it has been part of the American Crystal Sugar Company, one of the leading sugar producers in the United States.

In 1898, Minnesota’s first sugar-beet factory opened in St. Louis Park. In 1905, that factory burned to the ground. This loss, however, benefited Chaska. In September of that year it was announced that Chaska had been chosen as the location of the new Carver County Sugar Company. Newspapers reported that if the company invested $750,000 in its sugar-beet factory, over half of that amount would be paid out to farmers for harvesting beets. The employee payroll, they estimated, would be over $25,000.

Construction on the factory and the railroad tracks associated with it began in November of 1905. The factory opened on October 18, 1906. The main building, made out of Chaska brick, was four stories tall. The adjacent warehouse was three stories. There were also smokestacks, a boiler house, and beet sheds capable of holding fifteen thousand tons of beets. All buildings were of brick construction, steel framed, and fireproof. The factory employed 150 workers who worked twelve-hour shifts. After the beets were processed, the pulp was sold as feed for livestock.

In 1911, the company’s name was changed to the Minnesota Sugar Company. In 1912, a local firm was contracted to harvest three thousand acres of sugar beets, bringing the total area harvested to eight thousand acres. A boarding house for seasonal workers was also built. The house included eight separate apartments with Pullman sleepers, a large dining area, a washroom, and a lounge area.

In the spring of 1913, the University of Minnesota General Agricultural College began working on experiments at the factory. Their goal was to find the best climate, the most fertile soil, and the most adaptable sugar beet varieties.

By 1915, the factory employed 250 men. It produced over 125,000 bags of crystallized sugar that year as well as sixty thousand pounds of dry beet pulp and two thousand tons of molasses. Lime for fertilizing was also produced. Despite the short processing season in 1915 (only eighty-five days compared to the typical 120), the factory paid out over $60,000 in labor and field help.

In 1924, a company called American Beet bought the Minnesota Sugar Company and its plants, including the Chaska factory. During the Depression, however, American Beet’s fortunes changed. In 1931, the average price of sugar dropped from seven cents per pound to one half-cent per pound. The Sugar Act of 1934 was enacted in response to these problems. It imposed protective tariffs and quotas. Sugar began being rationed during World War II. Additionally, employees began unionizing.

Despite the troubles, the Chaska factory continued to run. American Beet became the American Crystal Sugar Company in 1934. In 1939, more railroad tracks were laid and updated equipment was added. That same year, a large neon sign was installed advertising the company’s new name.

A shortage of labor arose during the 1940s. In earlier years, the company had employed local youth, German families from the Twin Cities, and Mexican migrants as laborers. By the 1940s, most of its field workers were Mexican migrants.

In 1941, many of these workers protested the country’s sugar policy—an effort to increase sugar cane imports from Cuba while reducing domestic sugar beet acreage. In 1944, disaster struck the warehouse. When approximately 1,500 one-hundred-pound bags of sugar were stacked against a thirteen-inch wall, the weight and pressure proved too much. The wall collapsed, destroying the sugar.

In 1957, American Crystal sold seventeen acres of land to the M. A. Gedney Company. On Easter Sunday of 1958, sleet and wind knocked down a power line during a storm, causing the motors in the warehouse fans to overheat and burn. The fireproof construction of the building helped contain the fire to a 60-by-225-foot area. The next year, the factory suffered another fire when two pulp stacks went up in flames.

In 1971, the Chaska factory ceased production. The main reason was a failure to meet pollution control standards. In February of 1974, the smokestacks were torn down, beginning the dismantling of the factory. In the 2010s, American Crystal uses the site as a storage and distribution center.