Stories in the Rear View Mirror

Delta Daggett

Some of the cabins along the north shore of Wymer were built for the superintendents/owners of the Frazee sawmill. The mill quit logging trees in 1917 as the trees were all logged off. There was no replanting or reforesting in those days. The machinery was taken apart and shipped off to western Montana, Idaho and I think some ended up in Oregon also.  

Grandpa Daggett (DW) purchased one of the properties in 1922 so our family celebrated 100 years of being on Wymer last July 4. David Daggett has a house on the original property that DW owned.

Dad told the story that his father had been hired by the sawmill to haul out what we call the Wymer Lake log. This was probably done sometime after 1910.

Wymer Lake was where you went to go swimming.   

Some have told me they took swimming lessons there. There was also a Wymer Lake Dance Pavilion in the north east corner of the lake. You can still see the remains of the support posts in the bottom of the lake early in the summer when the water is calm. The pavilion burned after two or three years. 

This picture of Jim Anderson and his father, Jack shows the Pavilion in the background. Jim was born in 1910 to give you an idea of the timeline. He looks about 4 or so in the picture.  

Jim was the town cop when I was growing up. In those days, when you were doing something that you probably should not be doing, Jim found out and usually your parents also. He had patience with people and would just warn you, rather than lecture you. 

His daughter, Carol Courneya, lives on Lake Seven, sons Dennis lives in Vergas and Jimmy lives and works up on the Iron Range as a plumber.  

Swimming lessons were given in the 40’s at Eagle Lake Park. We were bussed there from town.  Town Beach was established in the 50’s    

Good to see the Highway 87 project is near completion. The Railroad and Highway Department must have used the same sheet of paper to design the railroad crossing. Thank you both for the smooth crossing.  

I lived on or near Wymer Lake from 1967 until 2020 and drove the road into Frazee several times a day. Just after you passed the entrance to the Lions Park, as you came down the hill, there was always a wrinkle in the road. This was more prominent in the north bound lane but did cross both lanes. The road has been fixed several times so it would be smooth for a few years but then the wrinkle would appear again. Cloyd Jacobs and I had a conversation about this and he had been told it was caused by the settling and collapsing of the car bodies that had been buried when the road was originally built. The road is sure smooth again now that the 87 project is near finished. Maybe the wrinkle problem has been fixed. Time will tell.

Editor’s note: Delta and Karen are off to Florida for the winter. They can be reached at 941-497-4497 or DeltaDaggett@yahoo.com.