Origins of the Northwest School of Agriculture (NWSA), 1905–1940

By the late 1890s, bonanza farming had stopped bringing good incomes to large landowners. Immigrants who arrived in northwestern Minnesota learned quickly that the Red River Valley soil was some of the richest in the state. An experiment station was started in 1895 that led to the founding of a boarding high school to train young people to work on farms as farmers and homemakers.

In 1895, Superintendent Torger A. Hoverstad established the Northwest Experiment Station in the Crookston area. Great Northern Railroad baron James J. Hill donated 476.61 acres for the station’s use. In ten years, Hoverstad hoped, there would be a school in place nearby to teach young people how to work the soil.

Hoverstad’s plan proceeded on schedule, and thirty-one students attended the school’s first year of classes in 1905. Senator A. D. Stephens encouraged the Minnesota legislature to appropriate $15,000 for Crookston’s first school building, which offered space for classes, a library, an office, a dining hall, and a dormitory. The building was completed and opened as the Northwest School of Agriculture (NWSA).

In October 1908, Hill visited the NWSA campus to help dedicate Stephens Hall in honor of Senator Stephens and speak to local farmers. A year later, the first class (eight students) graduated, and that fall, 129 students enrolled.

Farming parents were actively involved with the NWSA during the winter months. In 1910, the school held its first Annual Farmer’s Week and Women’s Meetings and Red River Valley Winter Shows. Students featured their farm crops and presented exhibits in the newly constructed Kiehle building.

With each passing year, more students enrolled in the school, and the Minnesota legislature funded the construction of more NWSA buildings. By 1915, the Red River Valley Winter Shows attracted visitors with crops and livestock expositions. Leading farmers started forming associations dedicated to different kinds of products: Red River Valley dairy; crops and soils; northern Minnesota poultry; and Red River Valley livestock.

In 1918, the Minnesota legislature appropriated $10,000 for a concrete road between the NWSA campus and Crookston. Deep ruts in the muddy roads used at the time made it nearly impossible to travel from campus to the city, which was only two miles away.

After the turmoil of World War I, the year 1920 was a good one for the NWSA. First, a short-term course for women brought 200 participants to the NWSA campus in June for a week of study and recreation. In a significant shift, many farmers stopped using horsepower for tillage and invested their money in internal-combustion-engine tractors. In the same year, a University of Minnesota regent toured the campus to investigate road conditions, which continued to be poor. Eventually, the Minnesota legislature granted more funding for road improvement. It was not until August 1925 that paving of the campus roadway began by the company with the lowest bid: $2.12 per square yard.

In 1923, Superintendent Selvig wrote a play titled “Pageant of Prosperity” related to Red River Valley history and agriculture. It was presented on the twentieth anniversary of the founding of the Red River Valley Dairyman’s Association. Two hundred people participated in the production at Crookston’s downtown Armory.

In 1926, NWSA enrollment for the fall term reached an all-time high: 228 students. That same year, however, Selvig was elected to the U.S. Congress. As a result, he resigned his position in 1927, and Austin A. Dowell became superintendent of NWSA in his stead.

The Great Depression affected farm families who had difficulty paying for NWSA room and board plus tuition. By 1936, the worst of the Depression may have been over for others in Minnesota, but it remained dire for those living in the Red River Valley. The first seven months of 1936 broke records for heat, cold, and drought. In January 1937, it was 51 degrees below zero; for 45 consecutive days, the temperature remained below zero.

Despite these economic hardships and extreme weather conditions, NWSA student enrollment broke records in 1936 with 384 students. By 1937, the Depression had ended for farmers after rainfall returned to normal. In 1939, the NWSA had the largest graduating class in its history: 115 students from its regular class and 62 from its advanced class.