History of Hollandale, Freeborn County, MN

Freeborn County, MN

Cities and their Histories

Transcribed and Submitted by Michael Nelson

Hollandale Recent Example of Pioneering

Albert Lea Tribune
Sunday, July 4, 1976
Pg 16

Hollandale and its surrounding area are one of the more recent examples of pioneering in Freeborn County.

The Hollandale colony was started in 1919 by the Albert Lea Farms Company, which began the development of about 15,000 acres of swamp. During the next 10 years, most of the area was drained and developed at a cost of more than $2.5 million.

The father of the Hollandale project was George H. Payne, president of the development firm. Noting the tall and thick marsh vegetation, he dreamed of draining the swampland and turning it into a “vegetable wonderland” settled by people from Holland.

Huge ditch digging machinery was employed to drain the land and plows and rollers turned the land inside out to expose a flat tableland of peat beds and muck silt deposits. It was reported that nearly six inches of water covered the ground where the present site of Hollandale is located.

Miles of connecting tile lines were laid and gravel roads were built for the new farmers. And a 65-acre town site was set-aside in the center of the Hollandale tract for a community trading and cultural center.

The settlers began arriving in the late 1920’s from Holland. Bumper crops of celery. Onions, potatoes and other vegetables grew immediately. Visitors came in droves to see the area and to purchase the famed “Hollandale Brand”. As the news spread, more settlers arrived.

But the bubble burst during 1926-27-28 – excessive rainfall and early frosts ruined crops for farmers, many of whom were already deeply in debt. In addition, the crops that were raised brought extremely low prices.

The result was that many farmers defaulted on their payments to Albert Lea Farm Company and the firm subsequently defaulted on it’s bond and debt payments and went into receivership.

The plight of farmers during the winter of 1928-29 was said to be pitiful. Potatoes and salt were the staples of their diets. Children couldn’t go to school because they lacked suitable clothing. Farmers were shut off from credit and their livestock starved to death.

Seventy-three leaders of Hollandale petitioned District. Judge Norman H. Peterson for aid and subsequently following a public appeal by county officials and the Red Cross, cash and other assistance was given.

Meanwhile, the Albert Lea Farm Company was besieged with suits as landowners charged the firm with fraud and misrepresentation. 'The farmers claimed that the land was improperly drained and that the company was to blame.

The company maintained the weather was an act of God and not under their control.

Eventually, reorganization occurred and the Maple Island Farms Company acquired about 7,000 acres of the project that had been mortgaged to the Minnesota Loan, and Trust Company.

Contracts were renegotiated with farmers for more favorable rates, some farms were repossessed and resold, and more drainage ditches were eventually dug.
The farmers who stayed for the summer of 1929 found that the rain and frost didn’t come as it did during the previous few years. The crops were good, and so were the prices, and the farmers of the Hollandale colony were back on their feet.

The farmers were able to pay back debts incurred during the bad years and, in some cases, paid their entire land contracts completely.

During the early heydays, a 1924 newspaper described the community as having 374 people when only two years previously it had 15 residents. The village had a post office, telephone service, electric lights and a water and sewer system.

Hollandale had no fire department in 1924, but the newspaper said, "It has the pep to form one at a moments notice. An alarm came in from one of farms recently, and within 10 minutes 26 men were there and a bucket brigade stunt put out the blaze before any great damage was done."

The article also noted neat looking arches at the entrances to the farms, a gift of the Albert Lea farms Company.

The names of the farms were printed on the arches. Sometimes the names were in Dutch, such as the at the Case Reitvelt farm, where the arch read “Arbeid Adelb Farm”. Meaning to work and to prosper. There were also farm arches with American names, such as Sunnyside and Valley Home.