Barely six years old, Verndale was already a prosperous village at the time this photo was taken. S. Farwell Street, about 1886, looking north from 2nd Ave. S. At this time Verndale's business section was four blocks long. Numbered businesses: 1) E.C. James Furniture Store and Undertaking Parlor; 2) Post Office; 3) Drug Store in later years owned by Dr. Morell; 4) Joe Russ' Land Office; 5) Wadena County Bank; 6) Northern Pacific Railroad Depot; 7) Hotel; 8) Murray's building; 9) Dickinson's Lumber Mill; 10) Dickinson's Store. Click HERE or on image to see a larger view.

The town of Verndale grew quickly with the establishment of merchants and hotels to service the swarm of settlers moving to the area. By 1878, according to the Wadena County Tribune, which was published at Verndale, the population had grown to 300 and the countryside near the town was full of rapidly-developing farm sites.

The business community of Verndale also grew quickly to service the influx of settlers. Some of Verndale's early businesses included:

• W.H. Raymond's general supply store.
• C.C. Parker & Co., a mercantile.
• In 1877, P.A. Gatchel, moved the Wadena County Tribune newspaper to Verndale from Wadena.
• Crandall House, a hotel built by M.M. Crandall in 1878.
• Clark's Hotel built in 1878 by G.H.Clark.
• L.W. Farwell operated a lumber company in 1878.
• In 1979, A.S. Macmillan established the Verndale Journal and also published newspapers at Motley and Hubbard.
• In 1880, Dr. H.J. Harding practiced at Verndale and operated a drug store.
• Col. C.E. Bullard sold farm implements; Mr. Bullard was also an attorney and Clerk of District Court for Wadena County, in Verndale (in 1882).
• A.A. Amidon operated a store.
• E.L. Ingals opened the first blacksmith shop, which he sold to John E. Brown in 1880.
• Isaac Hazlett opened the Wadena County Bank at Verndale in 1882. This bank later became the First National Bank (1902) and is currently Star Bank.
• The Bank of Verndale was established in about 1881 by Moses Stewart.
• Dr. Spencer had an office at Verndale in 1885.
• In 1886, E. H. McGuire was a dentist practicing at Verndale.
• Dr. Rounds had a practice in Verndale in 1887.

S. Farwell Street, about 1907, west side of street looking south. Businesses from left to right include: E.C. James Furniture Store, a restaurant, meat market, drug store, refreshment house, Smith Brothers Merchantile, shoe shop, Calvert's City Feed, McMillan's Wigwam book store, and First National Bank. The five buildings from the restaurant to Smith Brothers were all lost to the flames of the Big Fire in April 20, 1909. Standing in front of the bank are Elmer Coen and Guy LaLone.

Verndale had a grain elevator in 1880 that was owned by Barnes & Tenney of Glyndon, MN, which was managed by F. J. Lynch. This might have been the elevator east of the depot, which was later purchased by Mr. Andrews. In 1874 the firm Barnes and Magill & Co., was organized. They were grain dealers and in 1879 they erected their first elevator. In 1879, Barnes and Major L.H. Tenney operated under the firm name Barnes & Tenney. When Tenney died in 1880, his place was filled by Col. S.G. Magill who with his son, H. E. Magill, had established Magill and Co., a seed, feed and fuel business in 1879.

Moses Stewart built a grain elevator in 1882, west of the train depot. Mr. Stewart also ran the Bank of Verndale. Bert and Al Pettit who came from Iowa in 1879 and 1880, respectively, later purchased Mr. Stewart's elevator and started the Pettit Grain and Potato Company, which became a large and important business in Central Minnesota. The company was headquartered at Verndale and incorporated with B.H. Pettit, president; C.P. Pettit, vice president; and L.H. Pettit, secretary and treasurer. The Pettit Grain and Potato Company did an annual business of about $400,000 and had elevators or warehouses at Verndale, Leaf River, Wadena, Aldrich, Philbrook, Hewitt, Parkton, Menahga, Henning, Sebeka, Bluffton, New York Mills, Deer Creek, Park Rapids, Battle Lake and Staples.

Verndale has always been known as a village for efficient and prosperous banking. Both Wadena and Verndale had several banks in the early days. With little to no banking regulation in those days, anyone with a little extra capital and a safe could call themselves a banker. If the man provided good service and was reputable to deal with, his business was sure to grow and he would become a reputable banker.

Oral history mentions early banks at the corner of Mason Avenue and Farwell Street, about where G&L Service is today. Another bank may have been located at Front Street (First Avenue) and Butler Street, about where the 1907 creamery stood. Additional research will need to be done to verify this as fact.

On October 15, 1880, Moses Stewart, Jr., originally of Nashua, IA, opened the Bank of Verndale, a private bank. His advertisement in the Verndale Journal in 1887 mentions that his is the "oldest bank in Wadena County." Mr. Stewart was called a "pushing and sagacious businessman, who has done a great deal for the development of the town." Stewart also owned a grain elevator and huge livery stable at Verndale. After the county seat battle with Wadena, Mr. Stewart moved his bank to Duluth in 1887 (M. S. Stewart Bank), and in 1888 went in to business with Charles Britts (Stewart & Britts Bank, Duluth). Charles was the son of E. M. Britts and he had come with his father to Verndale in 1880 to start the Verndale Flouring Mills, E. A. Britts & Co.

The first bank in Wadena County was actually in the village of Wadena. It closed in a brief time, followed shortly by the Bank of Wadena. These closings left Isaac Hazlett's independent bank, "The Wadena County Bank" of Verndale, the main bank in Wadena County at that time and for a number of years to follow, It wasn't until February of 1885, that the village of Wadena again established a bank, "The Wadena Exchange Bank," which later became the First National Bank of Wadena. Its growth was greatly aided by Verndale's defeat for the county seat - putting Wadena at the forefront - a position never again relinquished.

The town developed as a wheat trading center for the county, and much of central Minnesota. Having a grist mill, two grain elevators, a Northern Pacific Railroad station and numerous merchants, made Verndale a boom town and provided a distinct advantage in commerce over neighboring communities. In 1881, the Verndale railroad station did $3,092.12 in freight business. And, in 1884, 200,000 bushels of wheat were shipped from Verndale.

Settlers heading north to the Shell Prairies, in southern Hubbard County, Minnesota, would travel by rail to Verndale, purchase their supplies at local merchants and head 55 miles north into the wilderness to their homesteads on the virgin prairie. The bumper crops of wheat grown on these fertile prairies brought a flood of homesteaders to the prairies and prosperity to Verndale.