Water and Wood

Dent is situated in the heart of the lakes region, providing for fishing recreation in the summer and the winter.

Heavy timber covered much of the area. The lumber industry provided additional income and employment with the cutting and sale of trees in forms of cordwood, railroad ties, stovewood, fenceposts and building materials. Conifers (evergreens) were found primarily in the Perham, New York Mills and Vergas areas, in the northeastern part of the county, where the soil is light and sandy. A greater section of the county was forested with white, red, and black oak, elm, basswood, maple and birch.

The first merchants of Dent purchased white oak railroad ties at 25 cents each, and paid $2.50 a cord for hardwood, which was maple and ironwood. One of the local woodcutters received 25 cents a cord for loading wood on a sled or wagon, hauling it to Dent and loading it on a railway car. Much of this wood was used as railroad ties for building new lines and replacing ties on existing lines. The Soo Line ran three trains each way daily, except Sunday. One freight train per day had passenger cars at the rear.

Barrel Heading Mill

A barrel heading mill located on the south side of Dent was one of the early business enterprises. Paying wages of $1.50 a day, the mill ran two twelve-hour shifts, turning out barrel heads made from local basswood trees, which grew here in abundance. The wooden barrels were used for transporting grocery staples, dishes, clothing and personal property. The mill burned down three times. It was rebuilt twice, but was finally abandoned, forcing seventeen families to leave Dent and seek new employment elsewhere.

Dent Pickle Factory

In the 1920s, M.A. Gedney Co. set up a pickle station near the railroad tracks in Dent. The factory consisted of five wooden vats, space for supplies, sorting pickles, making dill pickles and a salt bin. It was an open structure with a large roof. Four to six women were employed to grade the pickles as they flowed over a moving belt. Number 1 pickles brought two cents a pound. Three or four men were employed to unload pickles, haul them to the vats or pickle station, and to make the salt brine and the dill pickles. The pay was 35 cents per hour for a ten-hour day. On a busy day, as many as 30 barrels were “rolled out.” During the winter, pickles in vats of salt brine were made into sweet, mustard and bread and butter pickles. On a windy fall day in the late 1930s, workmen were resealing the wooden vats with highly flammable paraffin, which accidentally caught fire and destroyed the entire plant.

Creamery

The Dent Creamery Company was a stabilizing factor for the economy of the village and the farmers of the surrounding area. Founded on June 12, 1909, the creamery corporation’s capital stock totaled $4,000, divided into 160 shares of $25 each. Its boilers were fired with poplar and basswood that was readily available from local sources. The cost of milk delivered to a customer’s house was 10 cents a quart, or three quarts for 25 cents.

The creamery building was destroyed by a grass fire in the early 1920s, and in 1925 a new creamery company was organized. The expanded operation had approximately 250 participating dairy farmers, three bulk trucks, three tank trucks and three trailers, and could run 100,000 pounds during peak periods.

For more than sixty years the word “creamery” was synonymous with bustling activity, gainful employment, and friendly exchanges. The Dent Co-op Creamery closed its doors in 1972.