I often comment to my spouse, “If people from over 100 years ago were transported to today, I wonder what they would think of …” This usually involves fashion trends, politics, or how people behave. However, if you apply this concept to the people who worked in the Chaska brick industry, what do you think they would think of Chaska today?

I would have to think the first thing that would hit them would be the amount of development that has occurred in the Chaska area. It is no longer a distinct community; it is a suburb of the Twin Cities. People are always in a hurry, with the roads buzzing with traffic. Chestnut Street, or Highway 41, is a loud, busy traffic artery. It is hard to sit in the City Square Park and hold a conversation with someone.

There has been new development in the original Chaska town site, mainly along the Minnesota River, where several big apartment buildings have sprung up. Even so, there are a lot of original homes in the Chaska area, still made of the special cream brick. A few of these late 1800’s brick industry people may even find their houses have survived. Quite a few of the original landmarks also remain, which tended to be the churches. These buildings were generally well built and were intended to stand the test of time.

How about any brick industry related remnants? These have pretty much been bulldozed away and replaced with residential developments. The late 1800’s brick industry folks may recognize the clay pit lakes that remain. I am sure these would not be forgotten by the workers, as they were the biggest danger to them back in those days. When workers were digging clay, the walls would sometimes collapse on them. This killed many workers in the brick industry in Chaska. They would probably be surprised that these lakes have turned into recreational spaces.

Progress is good and bad. I will never forget a commercial that used to play when I was a kid. A Native American was standing along a busy highway, where people were tossing trash out their car windows. As he looked around, he had a tear in his eye. I would think any brick industry worker transported to today would probably react in the same manner. It was a tight-knit community in the late 1800’s. People took care of each other and loved the quiet location along the river. Today, it is busy, and people are not as tied to the local area as they used to be. It also seems that people today don’t take as much care of their environment.