Grand Rapids Herald-Review Newspaper, March 31, 1900, Page 11

aio 4 ny TASCA COUNTY, MESO An Outline of the Facts Shown in Detail in These Pages Regarding the Abundant Resources of a New Country. VALUABLE OPPORTUNITIES OPEN. The Tide of Immigration Turning to the Vast and Naturally Rich Undeveloped Region of Northern Minnesota. TASCA county, Minnesota, is nearly | five times as large as the state of Rhode Island, and about three- fourths as large as Massachusetts, a state that contains 2,500,000 people. Grand. Rapids is the county seat of Itasca county, and contains 2,000 in- habitants. There are also several other villages in the county, small but growing and prosperous. The area of Itasca county is 6,000 square miles, and the permanent pop- ulation is only a little more than one person for each square mile, and half of the people live in the villages. The county extends from its southern line, fifteen miles south of Grand Rapids, to the northern boundary of the state, a distance of 108 miles on a straight HOTEL POKEGAMA, GRAND RAPIDS, MINN. HON. D. M. GUNN, PROPRIETOR. Sofoocfocfodfocfocfocfocfo aca Po focfocfo fof foo HOTEL POKEGAMA. line, but a much greater distance by the usual routes of travel. _ Innatural resources Itasca county 1S one of the richest in the United States. Its svil is rich and highly productive, its timber is very valuable and the logging gives employment each season to 4,600 Jumbermen who come every winter from all parts of the country to work in the woods, its deposits of iron oré are rich and partly developed, its water power at Grand Rapids, now being developed, is one of the finest in the Northwest, its tim- ber includes all kinds that grow ina northern climate, its bodies of wild hay land are the largest and best in the world, its hunting grounds are the best and its fishing the finest to be found anywhere in the central part of the continent, its scenery is of rap- turous beauty, and 1,300,000 acres of its area is government land open to homestead entry. The writer is aware of the seeming incredibility of the statement that such bounteous resources still remain open to all comers, but it is neverthe- less true, and the readers of this book will doubtless find the proofs satisfac- tory. The many fine engravings here- in, made from photographs taken on the ground, will be an important aid in making the facts easily and clearly understood. The Picture Above Represents One of the Finest Hotels in the State of Minnesota Outside of the Principal Cities. HIS elegant hotel was built by | Hon. D, M. Gunn, the present proprietor, in 1894. It is 100 by 120 feet in size and three stories high. ‘shere is also a good basement. Be- sides the spacious office, large dining room, handsome parlors, etc., there are fifty-two sleeping rooms. Itisa first class hotel, eleganily furnished, steam-heated and nicely illuminated with incandescent lights. Everything about the hotel is suggestive of com- fort. In connection there is a fine livery, where fast driving teams and good rigs can be had at any time. Mr. Gunn has been prominent in public affairs ever since he came to Grand Rapids. He was chairman of the county board during the years 1893 and 1894, and he was twice elected on the Republican ticket to the Minne- sota. House of Representatives, serv- ing during the sessions of 1895 and 1897. He is president of the Grand Rapids Water Power & Boom Compa- ny, an organization that has started an exceedingly important enterprise for the promotion of the interests of Grand Rapids and Itasca county, as set forth elsewhere in these pages. | |