Both Ted St. Mane and Don Ward are Minnesota Authors. In 1942, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Sinclair Lewis wrote that the Lanesboro area was "?worthy of Vermont in its sturdy quietude. Through all this district, secret little valleys branch off from the major valleys of the Root River, and there is room enough and view enough for 11,000 poets." Promoted in the late 1860s to east coast investors as an idyllic retreat, Lanesboro was established as a resort community and soon realized an impressive boom due to its unparalleled waterpower. Progressing not as a tourist area, but rather along other avenues of commerce, the community once hailed as the 'biggest little town in southeastern Minnesota' fell off the fast track of growth before its charm could be diminished by too much progress. Today Lanesboro's beautiful 1870s downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places, and the entire city is a haven for the arts-a showcase for the natural beauty that Sinclair Lewis touted more than sixty years ago. Authors Don Ward and Ted St. Mane both grew up in Lanesboro, graduating from the town's small high school 44 years apart. Acknowledged as 'Lanesboro's historian,' Don Ward has spent many years gathering the huge collection of Lanesboro photographs and historic notes from which the contents of this book have been culled. Ted St. Mane is a videographer, writing and producing industrial and educational films for circulation throughout the United States. - Publisher.