This digital story recording was created in conjunction with the Smithsonian's Museum on Main Street program and its Stories from Main Street student documentary initiative, called "Stories: Yes." The project encourages students and their mentors to research and record stories about small-towns and rural neighborhoods, waterways, personal memories, cultural traditions, work histories, as well as thoughts about American democracy. These documentaries are then shared on Smithsonian websites and social media.
Recorded in conjunction with Lanesboro Arts. Produced by Stories: Yes curator Nora Sampson, with support by Erin Dorbin.
Nora Sampson (00:00): Lanesboro, a small town in South Eastern Minnesota is most known today for its arts and theater. Although in the past, Lanesboro was just another small town that relied on agriculture. Most tourists wouldn't know that from how it looks now, unless they visited the sales barn, of course. Residents see it differently as most have or know someone who has lived, worked on or visited a family farm. When someone asks a person here in Lanesboro does agriculture still matter today? Most residents would respond-
Rick Lamon (00:24): Oh absolutely. It was important in the past and it's important now and it's going to be important in the future. Farming is a very important industry period.
Lee Peterson (00:36): Oh definitely. Yeah. It's always been a farming community.
Doug Baker (00:39): Farming? Yes. Well, the farming helps build the economy around here. It gives jobs to the grain elevator and the sales barn and people come into town with their cattle and things like that and do shopping and stuff like that.
Mai Gjere (00:54): It's definitely interesting and important because it's one of the main things that started Lanesboro and stuff.
Nora Sampson (01:00): Agriculture is undeniably a part of many families' history. When the Homestead Act was enacted in 1862, many people and families moved to the area to start a new life. This is where the tradition of family farms started, and many of the people who first acquired land still have it in their families today. Some of the families that have been around for generations are the Reins, [Torgersons 00:01:18] and many others. One of these such families, the Horihans, have been farming here for three generations.
Kevin Horihan (01:25): My name is Kevin Horihan. I am from Lanesboro, Minnesota and I am 33 years old. Our farm is about 1200 acres. We have 600 acres of crop land and about 600 acres of wooded and pasture land. We have a river bottom that's flat, and then all the other fields are rolling hills, and most of our pasture is really rough and rugged land. My grandfather, great grandfather bought the farm in 1912. I think it was a little bit like Ireland with the hills and the rivers.
John Hohiran (02:00): I am John Horihan. I live in North of Lanesboro on a family farm. When I say family farm, that's usually a mom and dad and some kids, which we are. I'm the third generation at our farm. My son is the fourth. Everybody is involved in it. [inaudible 00:02:16] did as a young person on the farm, we had milk cows and chickens and pigs. So we would help milk cows, usually more so the evening, not the morning chores. It was too much because my dad would do that. We'd be ready for school. But after school, we'd get home, feed the cows, clean the barn out, milk the cows and be in the house by 7:00 o'clock. That was our goal.
Asset ID: 8677
For a complete transcript, visit www.museumonmainstreet.org
