Cedar poles that were used to create the original power lines of Woodbury. Photo: Woodbury Heritage Society
On June 13, 1918, at a meeting held in a granary, 16 farmers organized a company to bring electricity to Woodbury. They elected officers, and a motion was made and carried that each member put in $50. They named themselves Woodbury Light and Power.
At the next meeting on June 22, a motion was made to “get bids on wire and order same.” By August 22, each of the original members had contributed $250 for supplies and equipment. They paid out $2,832 for over 250 cedar poles and 6,500 pounds of wire and in November signed a contract with Northern States Power Co. to furnish electricity, connecting it at the Cottage Grove town line.
The member farmers constructed the power line themselves, and the line ran north on Tower Drive (now Radio Drive) to Bailey Road, then turned east for 3 miles. On August 19, electricity was turned on for the first time in Woodbury.
In 1921, a group of farmers to the west and north of the original line formed another company and constructed a line west from Tower Drive/Bailey Road to Woodlane Drive, then north to the Woodbury Methodist Church and west to the Ramsey County line. By 1930, extensions to both power lines had brought electricity to approximately 90 farmers in Woodbury.
In 1930, the local lines were sold by mutual consent of the users to Northern States Power for $38,350, and the company assumed responsibility for the operation of the lines. A large portion of Woodbury had electricity before many other rural communities, thanks to the farmer-owned power companies.
Margaret Wachholz is a member of the Woodbury Heritage Society. Discover more at woodburyheritage.org.
