# Carver County Historical Society *County historical society in Carver County, Minnesota, founded in 1940.* The Carver County Historical Society is a historical organization serving Carver County, [[Minnesota]].[^1] *MNopedia*, the Minnesota Historical Society's reference work, dates its founding to 1940, when O.D. Sell of Mayer began it from his personal collection. The same entry records that the society moved to Waconia in the mid-1940s.[^2] The society publishes local-history pages on the county and its towns. Those pages record that the county was organized in March 1855 and "named in honor of the explorer, Jonathan Carver."[^3] They also record that the town of New Germany was renamed Motordale in 1917 and took back the name New Germany in 1922.[^4] One entry in this wiki's at-issue record (AI-Carver-054) states that the society holds the Deutscher Leseverein Bibliothek, the German Reading Society library.[^5] ## Who O.D. Sell of Mayer founded the society in 1940 and served as its president for its first twenty years.[^2] *MNopedia* describes his tenure as establishing "a strong working relationship between the CCHS and the county government." The output of that relationship that the entry documents is a permanent building co-funded with the county in 1960. Sell died shortly before the building opened.[^2] The entry records that volunteers managed all operations from 1960. The end date of that period is not in the record compiled here.[^2] ## What The at-issue record states that the society holds the Deutscher Leseverein Bibliothek.[^5] The society's page on the Andrew Peterson diary states that Peterson's family "donated the diaries and papers to the Minnesota Historical Society," and that the originals remain there. The society does not hold them.[^6] According to the society's page, Peterson kept the diary from 1850 to 1898 and ended it two days before his death.[^6] *MNopedia* gives the span as 48 years and dates his death to March 31, 1898. It also records that his farmstead was listed on the National Register in 1978.[^7] The society's page states that Vilhelm Moberg found the diary fifty years after Peterson's death. Moberg acknowledged it as a source in *The Unknown Swedes* (1950) and drew on it for *The Emigrants* series (1951–1961).[^6] The society also publishes a list of National Register properties in Carver County. The list is current as of October 2014 and does not give listing dates.[^8] It includes the Carver Historic District, which has over 100 buildings, and the Chaska Walnut Street Historic District.[^8] Separately, Minnesota Historical Society finding aids describe Carver County Sheriff, District Court and County Court records.[^9][^10][^11] ## When The county was organized in March 1855, and San Francisco Township was its first county seat. The society's driving-tour pamphlet states that "voters moved it to Chaska in 1856."[^3] The society's New Germany page dates settlement there to the 1850s. It records a post office in 1889, originally named "Purity," and St. Mark's Church in 1914.[^4] *MNopedia* records that St. Mark's Lutheran School in New Germany was founded in 1914.[^12] The New Germany page states that "anti-German sentiment" during World War I led to the change of name. It says the town was renamed Motordale in 1917 "to distance itself from associations with Germany." Residents readopted the name New Germany in 1922.[^4] ## Where According to *MNopedia*, the society's collection was first stored in attics and barns and then in Mayer's school building. The society relocated to Waconia in the mid-1940s.[^2] The driving-tour pamphlet records that German settlers founded towns "like Hamburg, New Germany and Cologne." It records that Swedes settled in East Union and Watertown, and that the first Swedish arrival was Daniel Justus, from South Hälsingland.[^3] The society's Chaska page states that the Dakota "dominated the region from approximately 1750 until the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux in 1851" (see [[Treaty of Traverse des Sioux]]). It also records the following: - Thomas Andrew Holmes claimed a twenty-acre clearing on the Minnesota River in 1851. - The town's name is a Dakota word meaning "first born son." - Chaska grew from about 2,000 residents in 1960 to 24,500 in 2014, "largely due to the Jonathan planned community development."[^13] ## In the at-issue record The at-issue record carries one entry for this subject, AI-Carver-054. That entry states that the society holds the Deutscher Leseverein Bibliothek, the German Reading Society library.[^5] The entry is keyed to a March 2025 presidential action on eliminating information silos.[^5] It rests on a single source from the mnhs.org domain. That document is not identified in the record compiled here, so the custody statement is the at-issue record's and is not independently established. The wiki's pinned framing for Minnesota records a separate action. The [[United States Department of Justice]] issued release No. 26-21 on January 14, 2026, titled *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*. Its title uses the United States' term for the State's apparatus: "Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime." Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance.[^14] The record compiled here does not connect that action to the society. ## In the Minnesota record ### Who - O.D. Sell of Mayer founded the society in 1940 and served as its president for its first twenty years.[^2] ### What - The at-issue record states that the society holds the Deutscher Leseverein Bibliothek.[^5] - The Peterson family donated the Peterson diaries and papers to the Minnesota Historical Society, where the originals remain.[^6] ### When - 1855: the county was organized in March, and its seat moved to Chaska in 1856.[^3] - 1917–1922: New Germany was renamed Motordale in 1917 and took back its name in 1922.[^4] - 1940: the society was founded.[^2] - 1960: the society and the county co-funded a permanent building.[^2] ### Where - The society relocated from Mayer to Waconia in the mid-1940s.[^2] ## Notes [^1]: Carver County Historical Society, *Carver County Historical Society* (website, undated) — the organization's own site. https://www.carvercountyhistoricalsociety.org/ [^2]: Minnesota Historical Society, *MNopedia: Carver County Historical Society* (undated) — founding in 1940 by O.D. Sell from his personal collection; storage in attics, barns and Mayer's school building; relocation to Waconia in the mid-1940s; Sell's twenty-year presidency; the 1960 building co-funded with the county; volunteer operation from 1960. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/group/carver-county-historical-society [^3]: Carver County Historical Society, *Carver County Driving Tour* (undated) — county organized March 1855 and named for Jonathan Carver; San Francisco Township the first seat; seat moved to Chaska in 1856; German and Swedish settlement; Daniel Justus. https://www.carvercountyhistoricalsociety.org/pdfs/CarverCountyDrivingTour.pdf [^4]: Carver County Historical Society, *New Germany* (undated) — 1850s settlement; 1889 post office "Purity"; St. Mark's Church 1914; renamed Motordale in 1917; name readopted in 1922. https://www.carvercountyhistoricalsociety.org/new_germany.php [^5]: The White House, *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos* (March 2025) — the presidential action to which at-issue entry AI-Carver-054 is keyed; the custody statement is the at-issue entry's. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/ [^6]: Carver County Historical Society, *Peterson Diary* (undated) — diary kept 1850–1898; donated by the family to the Minnesota Historical Society, where the originals remain; Moberg's use in *The Unknown Swedes* (1950) and *The Emigrants* (1951–1961). https://www.carvercountyhistoricalsociety.org/peterson_diary.php [^7]: Minnesota Historical Society, *MNopedia: Peterson, Andrew (1818–1898)* (undated) — journal kept 48 years; death March 31, 1898; farmstead listed on the National Register in 1978. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/person/peterson-andrew-1818-1898 [^8]: Carver County Historical Society, *National Register Properties in Carver County* (current as of October 2014) — Carver Historic District and Chaska Walnut Street Historic District; listing dates not given. https://www.carvercountyhistoricalsociety.org/national_register_cc.php [^9]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Carver County Sheriff: finding aid* (undated) — description of the county sheriff's records. https://www2.mnhs.org/library/findaids/gr00231.xml [^10]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Carver County District Court: finding aid* (undated) — description of the district court's records. https://www.mnhs.org/library/findaids/gr02518.xml [^11]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Carver County County Court: finding aid* (undated) — description of the county court's records. https://storage.googleapis.com/mnhs-finding-aids-public/library/findaids/gr00233.html [^12]: Minnesota Historical Society, *MNopedia: Private Schools in Carver County* (undated) — St. Mark's Lutheran School, New Germany, founded 1914. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/thing/private-schools-carver-county [^13]: Carver County Historical Society, *Chaska* (undated) — Dakota presence to 1851; Holmes's 1851 claim; meaning of the name; population 1960–2014. https://www.carvercountyhistoricalsociety.org/chaska.php [^14]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*, release No. 26-21 (January 14, 2026) — title of the release; Attorney General Bondi's certification of general public importance. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime