Bemidji Daily Pioneer Newspaper, December 9, 1915, Page 29

THE BEMIDJI DAILY PION EE SECTION FOUR i BEMIDJI. MINNESOTA, THURSDAY, DEO R 9, 1915, ; : PAGES 25 TO 33 HISTO.‘??FAL ' l&) Welcome N. M. D, A. Bemidji extends her most cordial welcome to the delegates of the sixth annual convention of the Northern Minnesota Development Asso- ciation. *The city’s gates swing wide. Bemidji appreciates the opportu- nity to entertain some of the foremost citizens of Northern Minnesota, men who are sufficiently interested in the developmnt of this great coun- try to attend this meeting. The Northern Minnesota. Development ASSOClatlon was organized in this city and Bemidji now bids you welcome to see what development was made since that time. Bemidji today is the biggest little city in the northwest. It was once a frontier lumber town. As the center of the great pine . forest of Northern Minnesota, it had its reason for being in the lumber ] industry. It still has enough lumber adjacent to it to keep the saw mills busy for a quarter of a century to come. But as the lumber is being stripped from the hillside, a more permanent industry is taking its place —farming. Surrounding this city are 40,000 acres of undeveloped land. For centuries the land has been enriched by forest wood until a black loam has accumulated above the clay formation soil and no more pro- ductive soil for diversified crops can be found. ‘ The growth of Bemidji has been wonderful and is described by one writer as combining the characteristics of the oak with those of the mushroom, for with all its rapid development it has the stability which means a definitely prosperous future. Bemidji is only about twenty years old and although it is now a city of over 7,000 people it never had a boom but gradually grew. Bemidji S ; .. has each season seen substantial lmprovements over the preceding season. Y RN L # B e iy e it e e LS parks, . excellent pohc‘ ; '\depamtments, a. pubhc llbrary ‘with & ol ; i i large circulation and an’extensive public school system. During the past year over $150,000 in new improvements was made. Bemidji is a “Paradise” for those who love the out-of-doors. Be- sides Lake Bemidji, a man can put a pack on his back, start off in his canoe and he has thousands of miles of territory to choose from and a hundred lakes or streams to drop a line in. At the north end of Lake Bemidji is a game refuge where game of all kinds has the protection of the state from the hunter. It requires no special spirit of optimism to forecast a great future for Bemidji. It is the natural commercial center for about one-third of | the state, and that portion of the state is now on the eve of a marvelous It — development. Small towns dre springing up throughout the area, all b of which look to Bemidji as a wholesale and jobbing center, a position given it by its railroad facilities. Bemidji offers to the young man, opportunities peculiar to a new country with potential wealth and openings for leadership in every branch of activity. To the man of family, it offers not only a home _ where he can secure for his children the advantages of good schools and healthy, wholesome surroundings, but work in a country not already crowded with business and laboring men. For the manufacturer it: has ready and adequate power for industrial purposes, in close proximity to a timber supply, a large and growing market and easy transportation of his products in all directions. To the investor it affords an opportu- nity to pick up for only a small sum, property which offers exceptional advantages in the way of sure returns. To the seeker of pleasure it af- fords a lake resort, which for the beauty of surroundings for variety and ; quality of fish and game, for its boating and bathing and equable sum- mer temperature, is unsurpassed. To the seeker of health it gives fresh, dry, air, uncontaminated by dust and malaria, heavy with the ozone of the forest. It furnishes pure drinking water and a climate which supplies the natural antitoxins to disease. So Bemidji bids her honored guests of today a most cordial welcome, hopmg that they will enjoy their stay in Bemidji and hoping that the impressions they carry away will be pleasant. We hope that they will come again to this “Magic City of the North.”