Breck Mission and Farm College

Breck Mission and Farm College. 1885 1909. When the St. Paul, Sioux City and Omaha Railroad came to southwest Minnesota in the early1870s, it established stations along the way. A siding was established at a place called Timber Lake (Sec. 7-Delafield Township) which eventually became known as the town of Wilder, named after the railroad's vice president - Amherst H. Wilder., Wilder may never have come into existence if it wasn't for the Breck School. Amherst H. Wilder and others donated land for the school. This donation was the deciding factor in locating the school at Wilder, and helped establish the town., Breck School, affiliated with the Episcopal Church, was named after the Episcopal missionary, Reverend James Lloyd Breck (1816-1876). Rev. David Griffin Gunn spearheaded the project., Originally the school was to be an agricultural school for boys, but was soon converted to a general preparatory and normal school serving both men and women. It added vocational classes, such as blacksmithing, later., Early accounts cite the construction starting in the summer of 1885 with completion of the first building in 1886. The school opened in 1888 with the first group consisting of 10 girls and 9 boys. The curriculum was developed and class size increased to over 500 at its peak., The most noted alumnus that attended the school during the Wilder years is Frank Mars (Shown Above) the founder of the Mars Candy Company., St. James Church (below) was rebuilt following tornado damage and reconsecrated by Bishop Whipple in 1900., After the closing of the church in 1917, the chapel was later converted to a barn, which burned down in 2014., With the creation of local high schools, the need for a private school dwindled. Breck School was forced to close in 1909. The school reopened in St. Paul in1916, and has grown to be a well-respected P-12 private school now located in Golden Valley, Minnesota., Portrait photos: , Amherst H. Wilder , James Lloyd Breck , Frank Mars , David Griffin Gunn, Early Wilder. , Photos: , Wilder Bank– Block 22, Lot 1 , First Creamery– Block 8 , Methodist Church, Block 23, Lot 21 , Southside 5th Avenue, Main and Adler , 5th Avenue, Looking East , First Depot, along the tracks , 2nd School, Block 12 , Sontag Lumber, By the tracks , Kendall House, Block 35