Cokato Finnish American Historical Society
"We remember so that others won't forget"
Finnish Pioneer Park
The purpose of the Cokato Finnish American Historical Society is to preserve the history of the Finnish pioneers and others who settled in
this area of Wright County. The society is a self supporting non profit organization. The society holds many educational and social events during the year.
Country Schools
Rural School program was presented at Temperance Corner Hall during the Fall Festival 2021. The program recognized the 50th anniversary of the rural schools closing. The society has continued researching the history of 26 rural school in our area. Some of the schools served children for over 100 years before they closed in 1971. The billboard below will continue to be on display in Lee School.
The local newspaper, Enterprise and Dispatch, will be featuring a series of articles about country schools every other week. The story of French Lake School was published on April 15th. The next article will be about Harriet Carlen a county school teacher from 1934-1938 during her time at Lee School. Continue to watch for articles about country school life.
Beaver Dam School was torn down in 1975. It was located at the corner of Hwy 12 and CoRd 100. Take a close look at the picture and see the new High School is in the background.
Events
Memorial Celebration
May 28th
10:00am-2:00pm
Mid-Summers
June 25th 6:30pm
CFAHS NEWSLETTER
The newsletter is the society's way of passing along historical information to our members. It covers the current events plus information about the lives of the Finnish settlers. There is also feature stories which include the President's letter and Davey's Corner. It is always a good read with a cup of coffee.
Become a member and you can enjoy this eight page news letter threes times per year.
A program about Saunas with a Cokato connection. Is available to watch on Minnesota Bound website.
Historical Society Videos
In partnership with the Cokato Museum the Cokato Finnish American Historical Society is making informational videos to be posted on YouTube. Our goal is to have a video for each on the historical buildings at the Finnish Pioneer Park.