THE VILLAGE

[Kieran]

Burns

~ GENERAL

A small rural village in South West Minnesota. The name sign is by the North East border very near the train station. The village area is approximately 3 miles (5 km), or 1,5 miles (2,5 km) to any direction from the centre. Right in the centre are the post office and doctor's office. Other service buildings rise in every direction within a radius of 820 feet (250 m).

From the central area border in every direction, there is nothing but prairie for 0,3 miles (500 m), at which point there are some village homes without farmland. Most of the service owners and their employees own these homes. After these houses in every direction there are mostly farms but can be also houses without farmland.

The mail arrives daily by train from most directions but not from the west as the railroads haven't been laid there yet. Mail from the western locations without train stations arrive by coach twice a week on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Burns is mostly very friendly and living in a strong Christianity faith. Most of the residents are Protestant. Although the priest may reside in the church on any day, there is no common service during the week, but the congregation meets only on Sundays. More specifics about the village church and the priest below in the village central area info.

~ HISTORY

Burns was founded in May 1869. The founders of the settlement are Noah and Nathaniel Burns, brothers of which Noah is a doctor and Nathaniel is a priest. After applying for some land to homestead they settled there with their friend Andrew Dickens who owned a successful construction company and with a large number of his employees. The initial supplies they brought with them from New York City and the rest were ordered from the nearby towns of Sleepy Eye and New Ulm.

~ on May 1, 1869 the crowd settled in the area with the building supplies. While others were building the first house, the Burns brothers built furniture, began cultivating the land for future farming, and made sure the food and water supplies didn't run out, by regularly visiting the town of Sleepy Eye.

~ In late October that year they completed a medium sized family home so they got a shelter for the winter, and also stables for the horses. Andrew and his employees rented rooms in Sleepy Eye during the winter when practical construction was resumed only occasionally when the weather conditions were favourable. Both Burns brothers, and Noah's wife and two young sons lived in the house intending to plant seeds for crops of all essential foods the next spring.

~ In April 1870 the work resumed fully and more employees arrived. By the end of September two more homes (for Nathaniel and Andrew himself) and the mill and seed/grain storage were ready for use.

~ In April 1871 even more builders arrived to complete the sawmill, the post office and the doctor's office by the end of November. Because US government had decided to lay a railroad by the area and have a station built there which construction began in May that year.

It was completed in May 1872. A plat of the village was filled in June 1872. That year the village gained a blacksmith and a general store.

In addition to homesteaders who just happened to apply for land nearby, ever since 1869 people passed through on their exploration of the populated areas of the western frontier and many of them decided to settle here because of the occupations of the founders. Noah sold his farm to the first one who wanted to become a farmer, after first having another house built for his family nearby the office building they'd built for him earlier.

Before the separate church building, on Sundays people gathered at the largest house for worship. And before the separate school building, the children who weren't home schooled by their own mother attended school in someone's home and were taught by that family's mother. They started building the church and the school in 1873. The development of the village is detailed further below in this thread.

~ NEAREST TOWNS

* The nearest town is Sleepy Eye, fourteen miles (or 23 km) North East. It was founded in 1854 and has a population of around 1000 people during our timeline.

* The nearest very large town is New Ulm, twenty-eight miles (or 45 km) North East. Its settlement also began in 1854, and was platted already in 1857. It grew real fast; the population is 2000+ people during our timeline.

~ POPULATION & DEVELOPMENT

Population at the end of the year:

1969-1871 - 15-40
1872 - 73
1873 - 105
1874 - 146
1875 - 168
1876 - 194
1877 - 215
1878 - 243
1879 - 250
1880 - 279

NOTE!
The business owners and such that don't have a player are NPCs by default until someone picks them as a character. You can vision your character just working for one of them, or bringing a new service to the village. Just let me know so I can add it to these details.

Click on the image and use the magnifier glass.
The map shows only the location of the building and the direction which it's facing. Photos of the buildings are found below in the details.

* The date is when the service opened.
* There is a name sign in front of the building even if the picture doesn't show it.

THE CENTRAL AREA


1870

* 28. September: Mill, and the seed/grain storage.

1871

* 10. October: Sawmill, post office, and doctor's office.
The rooms on the post office's second floor are for rent, $1 per night per person. Children under the age of 13 can stay for free. There are three rooms, each sleeps four. And a small common kitchen which use is included in the rent. There's no dining area. Mail from the west arrives by coach twice a week on Wednesdays and Fridays. From other directios daily by train.
Doctor: One of the village founders, Noah Burns - (player: Kieran)

1872

* 1. May: Train station.
Stop name: Burns. The railway passes behind the building. Located on the Eastern border of the village, one mile from the Northern border. (The construction and other preparations began in early May 1871.)

* 30. June: Blacksmith.
Builds and fixes coaches, makes shoes for horses, and so on.

* 4. November: General store
200 m2 in two floors. The upstairs is the owner's home.

1873

* 29. September: School
(Construction began in early June.)
~ Teacher: Jacob Reed (Wanted Ad)
- The school year starts on the first Monday of October. Also registers children in the surrounding area of Burns. Can accommodate up to thirty-ish pupils at once, always two desks side by side.
- Photo from the inside.

~ School day:
09:00-14:00, (study time: 3 h 45 min)
- Recess: 10:30-10:45
- Lunch: 11:30-12:30

~ School year approx. 132 days.
- From early October to late April.
* Many children are not in school the full year because of planting time in the spring.

~ Holidays:
- Columbus Day, second Monday of October.
- Thanksgiving Day, third Thursday of November.
- From Christmas Eve to the first week day in January. (About a week.)
- From a week before Easter to the Tuesday after.
- Several months of summer holiday.

* 28. October: Second general store and a bank.
The general store is 200 m2 in one floor + storage room. The bank has a different owner. They both built a home on the centre's border.

Common ice house. This store's owner also had an ice house built for all the villagers and surrounding area's people to use.

* 30. November: Church
(Construction started at the end of June 1872.)
----> It can accommodate approx. 200 people at once.
---> Protestant, Evangelist-Lutheran and the theology is liberal.
---> Priest: One of the village founders, Nathaniel Burns. (That's a Wanted Ad.) He usually does not preach the wrath of God but teaches about His love. He is not a missionary, this is his only congregation.
- Worship: 09:00, usually lasts about an hour.
- Sunday School: 10:00, usually lasts about an hour, the start time linked to the duration of worship.

1874

2. December: Fire house.
The employees live at the centre's border. They're paid from tax money which the Minnesota government collects. There's always at least one employee available here at all times.7