A Brief History of Corn in Minnesota

It's corn! From its ancient introduction in the Mississippi River Valley to our place as the third-largest producer in the country, Minnesota loves corn so much it’s coming out of our ears. Who are you calling corny?

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900

The earliest known archaeological evidence of maize—the seed we call corn—being cultivated as a crop can be attributed to the Mississippian people around the Winona area.

1820

The Cass expedition, including the young geologist Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, visits Little Crow’s village on the Mississippi. The party observes a green corn dance and is gifted several ears of corn.

1890

While most immigrants are discouraged from growing corn by our cold climate, the stubborn Norwegian farmers of Dassel persist. Using simple selection, they begin reliably producing by the turn of the century.

1905

Those Norwegian farmers in Dassel get a big assist from the University of Minnesota when the U releases its early-maturing research seeds, including the one that will become famous: Minnesota 13.

1920

Swedish comic Olle i Skratthult comes through Minnesota with his vaudeville troupe. Some credit Skratthult—real name Hjalmar Peterson—with popularizing the corny Ole and Lena joke.

1920

Prohibition becomes law, but German Catholic Stearns County resists. Moonshine operations sprout up from Holdingford to St. John’s Abbey, and “Minnesota 13” earns its rep as the best shine in the country.

1946

Invented on the Oregon coast, then imported to Chicago, the Pronto Pup (made with cornmeal!) arrives at its spiritual home, the Minnesota State Fair, thanks to William Brede.

1946

The first herbicide becomes available. That, paired with huge amounts of nitrogen-based fertilizer and genetic manipulation, massively accelerates corn production.

1954

Clellan Card, who rode his “Scandihoovian” accent to stardom on WCCO Radio, premieres a new children’s show, Axel and His Dog. The accent plus the puppet add up to pure cornpone sensation.

1973

Olivia’s Bob Rauenhorst, owner of Trojan Seed Company, vexed by Rochester’s 23-foot-long ear of corn, has a 25-foot ear constructed of fiberglass and placed atop a gazebo—the new biggest ear in the world.

1987

Somehow, A Prairie Home Companion regular Howard Mohr transcends his entire corny milieu by adapting his PHC bits into How to Talk Minnesotan. The TV special’s not too bad either.

2005

Gov. Tim Pawlenty signs a bill requiring all gasoline in the state to contain 20 percent ethanol by 2013. Minnesota is the first state in the country to have the 20 percent requirement, accelerating corn production even more.

2009

The Chippewa Valley Ethanol Company, a collective that produces millions of gallons of E85 ethanol, gains positive publicity for becoming the base spirit of award-winning vodkas like Shakers and Prairie Organic.

2011

The Current closes its anniversary party in the corniest way imaginable: with its DJs leading a mass “Funkytown” sing-along at First Ave. Jeremy Messersmith looks like a hostage onstage.

2011

That everlasting hotbed of corn innovation that is the Minnesota State Fair produces yet another leap for cornkind: After a winter in the lab, Steph and Mike Olson’s Blue Moon Dine-In-Theater introduces its sweet corn ice cream.

2020

Gustavo Romero brings heirloom corn up from his native Hidalgo, Mexico, and incorporates the ancient nixtamalization process to produce acclaimed tortillas at Nixta, his Northeast Minneapolis storefront.

2021

Crazed social medial addicts attempt to cancel Ann Kim for opening up Sooki and Mimi, a taco restaurant that uses corn tortillas, proving once again there’s nothing cornier than Twitter activism. 

2022

By his own estimate (“the Guinness people are hard to get ahold of”), farmer Brad Chmielewski constructs the largest corn maze in the world at Stoney Brook Farms in Foley, with 110 acres and 32 miles of pathways.

Mpls.St.Paul Daily Edit

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