Just about 19 miles south of Dodge Center is the town of Sargeant. The namesake of the city, Henry Sargeant, traveled from Canada by rail to LaCrosse, Wisconsin in March of 1865 and then crossed the Mississippi River on ice with his team, to settle in the area. He had been there to year before and purchased a plot of land with a small frame house and 60 acres of land under cultivation. The village had a population of 76 people in 1910 and grew to 138 by 1940. In 2020 the population had returned to 63 persons.
The celebration will be held at the community center, on Saturday, July 25th from 11am to 2pm. The Community Center is the former Sargeant School building. The first school building was built in 1880 and later a two-room school house was completed. In time an addition was added to house a kitchen and a gym. Classes were held through the spring of 1975, before the school district consolidated with Hayfield.
Some of the highlights of the village of Sargeant include the Chicago Great Western railroad arriving in 1883. The railroad delivered coal for heating and shipped out grain grown locally. The village council granted a liquor license to the bar for $800 per year in 1901 and then voted to allow two saloons in 1903. Transient travelers would get off the train and spend the evening drinking in the taverns until the early hours of the morning and then whoop it up on the streets before boarding the train again in the morning.
In 1907 the Sargeant Diamond Coronet Band was playing in the band shell two nights each week. During December of 1922, railroad crews burning grass along the tracks, resulted in a runaway fire which destroyed the Weyerhaeuser Lumber Company building located by the RR Crossing. In 1947 the village council approved card playing until 10pm in the Beer Parlor. During the winter of 1938, a fire started in a shed and destroyed the pool hall, dance hall, the barber shop and a residence. The flames were so intense it cracked the glass in the bank building across the street.
But the biggest night in the history of the little town was May 17, 1939 when the Cream Can Bandits attempted to rob the Sargeant State Bank. They plied their burglary across the Midwest, earning their name from bringing water in cream cans to cool the cutting tools used to break into the safe. A citizen noticed shadows during the middle of the night and summoned the sheriff from Austin. Arriving with three officers the deputy surprised the bandits who fled with nothing but hot lead. Three were arrested at the scene while one escaped but was apprehended later. The end of the Cream Can Bandits crime spree may headline news for the village of Sargeant.
Keeping the local history alive, the village will hold the celebration on Saturday, July 25th with lunch, music by Larry’s Karaoke and reminiscing from 11am to 2pm. The lunch is $5.00 per person and there will be commemorative coffee mugs, coolies and a historical booklet for sale. Income will be used to buy a new swing set for the park. Be sure to stop by if you have an interest in the community of Sargeant.
