Three Settlements Became One; The Story of Paynesville

Paynesville, Minnesota is a town with a population of 2,432 in southwestern Stearns County.  The town was named after Edwin E. Payne and was platted in 1857.  The town consisted of 3 individual settlements known as North Town, Old Town and Jim Town.  To tell the story of Paynesville I was joined by Vicki Jenniges and Reed Ringstad from the Paynesville Historical Society, Rachel Hoppe (Firehouse Coffee Company and Salon), Barry Gottwald (Schrupp's Meat and Seafood), and Kristen Leither (City of Paynesville).

North Town is visible from Highway 23 north of town which is where the Great Northern Railway came through, Old Town was located near the Highway 55 bridge, and Jim Town was located where the current downtown is and was later known as New Paynesville.  The Soo Line Railway came through town and went through New Town which led to that settlement becoming the largest settlement of the 3.  Jenniges indicates the 3 settlements had a bit of a rivalry with one another.  She says Jim Haynes donated 22 acres of land where downtown is now which is why it was first called Jim Town.  It was later named new Paynesville.  Ringstad says many of the people from North Town and Old Town moved to the New Paynesville settlement.  He says all 3 settlements acted as individual towns with general stores, banks, elevators and bars.

The heritage of those settling had a variety of backgrounds.  Jenniges says there were German Catholics, German Protestants, and south of Lake Koronis there was Norwegian Lutherans.  Ringstad says at one time they had 7 churches in town.

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Ringstad and Jenniges recall growing up in the Paynesville area and the downtown being a gathering place especially on Friday nights.  Ringstad says stores would be open later and people would gather socially.  Jenniges says Tuck's Cafe in downtown was the gathering place for young people.  Paynesville for many years also had a 2-screen movie theater.  The theater has been closed for many years but Kristen Leither explains the city would like to get that reopened.

Today's Paynesville has a rich history of success in sports which includes wrestling, baseball, hockey and football.  Barry Gottwald says the community really supports the town's sports teams.  Paynesville has a state of the art baseball field, new fieldhouse, Koronis Hills Country Club, and Koronis Civic Arena for hockey.

The city's celebration is called "Town and Country Days" and is the 2nd week in June.  The location of the event moved from downtown to the high school grounds.  The event includes a pageant for Miss Paynesville, a carnival, a kids day and for the last couple years, a music festival.  Rachel Hoppe says large crowds come out for this event which includes people from surrounding communities like, Regal, Roscoe, Hawick, Eden Valley and Lake Henry.

Hoppe, Leither and Gottwald agree that Paynesville residents really support each other from a local business standpoint.  Hoppe and Gottwald have kids in the Paynesville school system and speak highly of the education their kids are receiving.

If you'd like to listen to my 3-part conversation with Reed, Vicki, Rachel, Kristen and Barry, it is available below.