History Mystery

This week's History Mystery isn't exactly a mystery, but we would love to get more information about this giant piece of history, all 5,000 pounds of it.

Cloquet resident Bill Stolberg stopped by the office in July, shortly after inviting the city of Cloquet to move the massive millstone that had been sitting in his yard for about 45 years. Stolberg believes the millstone was likely used by Northwest Paper Company to grind the pulp to get the fiber out in the early 1900s.

Stolberg fished the massive round stone out of a secret location in the St. Louis River sometime in the 1970s. There were several of the millstones there for the taking, provided you had someone to loan you a wrecker and the brash confidence of a young man.

"I went out with the cable and winched it up, got it right up to the bank and the cable broke," Stolberg said. "Then I did it again. I carried it home in the back of the wrecker, dropped it in the yard and there it sat."

By the time city workers came and picked up the stone last month, it had sunk into the soil so much it was only part of a circle.

It is now sitting next to the parking lot at Cloquet's Spafford Park, for anyone who wants to go have a look. In the future, city officials plan to put an information kiosk next to the stone. We promise to share any of your stories or thoughts with the city and the rest of our readers.