Instead of being an instrument of
healing, the first sauna in Minnesota caused a lawsuit.
In 1868, two Finnish neighbors,
Barbo (later it became Barberg) and Selvala, built and shared a log
sauna on the property line between their adjoining farmsteads, for
their families’ use. The families did not construct a separate
dressing room, but cooled off outdoors. They took turns heating it
every Saturday, bathing together, for 20 years. Over time, Selvala
bought out Barbo’s share.
By the late 1870s, a public road
was laid on that property line — which became an increasingly busy
road. The sauna was still located along the side. People driving past
on bathhouse day would see the sauna-goers relaxing and wonder about the
custom. (You can imagine what those non-Finnish horse-and-buggy
drivers were saying.)
When the road became a township
road in the mid-1880s, the sauna was ordered to be moved. Only three
dollars was allotted for its removal from the right of way. Selvala
protested — and sued the township.
He won his case and was awarded
$30 for the damage to the right of way and $40 for moving the sauna
to a more private site.
(I first read about this in
Florence Barberg Merrill’s family history at the Cokato Historical
Museum in Cokato, Minnesota. It’s also found on MNopedia, a curated
online encyclopedia about all things Minnesota.
Nikki
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