County history displayed on Historical Society tree

A bit of photographic history of Dodge County is on display at the Government Services Center in Mantorville this holiday season courtesy of the Dodge County Historical Society.
Several Historical Society members have placed a tree in the lobby of the administrative building decorated with 72 ornaments that are photographs of locations throughout Dodge County.
The old photographs cover all areas of the county including Claremont, Dodge Center, Hayfield, Kasson, Mantorville, Wasioja and West Concord. There are also photographs of several rural areas including the Bringold School, Valasity, Union Springs School, Eden Cheese Factory and West St. Olaf church.
Some of the photos represent older churches and businesses that will be familiar to residents today including the Hubbell House and Opera House in Mantorville and Trinity Lutheran Church in Hayfield. The Kasson School of 1918 will be recognizable to many.
Other photos represent businesses of the past that have long been gone from the communities including J. Abramowitz Dry Goods, Eggenspurger Ice Cream and the Dodge County Brewery in Mantorville, the Claremont Creamery, the Abbot Store in Dodge Center and Chris Kraher’s Meat Market in Kasson.
The photo ornaments have all been numbered and a brochure matching the number to business, location, school or church is available at the display.
The Dodge County Historical Society has a variety of historical photos in the collection and would love to have more. Anyone with old photos of storefront or streets scenes from local  villages is invited to either donate them to the Historical Society or let the society scan the originals and return them.