Help celebrate the 30th anniversary of the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center’s Great American Think Off with a walking tour of downtown New York Mills on Friday, June 9 at 5:15 p.m. Meet in front of the Cultural Center. There is an $8 admission with proceeds benefiting the Otter Tail County Historical Society.

When Otter Tail County Commissioners held their first meeting in September 1868, there was no NY Mills. It was a forest of white pine, red and white oak, tamarack and ash. This attracted a group of investors from Olean, New York to establish the NY Mills Company. Arrangements were made to build a lumber mill in Section 8 where the community in now situated. Materials arrived in 1872 on the first rail car and the mill operated in the area that is now Central Park.

During the tour people will hear about the community’s unique history. From communists and county division to pickles and the Cornbread Mafia NY Mills has carved its own course. 

For more information contact the Otter Tail County Historical Society at (218) 736-6038 or find OTCHS on Facebook.