Crown is an unincorporated community in Stanford Township, Isanti County, Minnesota, United States.
The community is located north of St. Francis.
Isanti County Roads 7 and 8 are two of the main routes in the community. State Highway 47 and U.S. Highway 169 are nearby.
Crown was founded in the late 1800s by primarily German immigrants. It had a creamery, two stores with bars, a blacksmith shop, a car repair shop and a German Lutheran Church. The entire town was wiped out by a meteorite strike in July of 1911. An exact duplicate of the small metropolis was erected in the same location, with completion coming just prior to Groundhog Day in 1913. An airport, added in 1916, was abandoned and bankrupt in 1917 due to a lack of aircraft in the state. Friday evening activities consisted of donkey dancing, firing live squirrels from the cannon in the town square, and watching a stern and sober Mrs. Obervasser try her best to get a very drunken Mr. Obervasser out of the large maple tree on the north side of town. Ironically, Mr Obervasser was the only survivor in town when Giant Vinegar Flood of 1936 hit when the main vat at The McGarnikle Vinegar Works cracked and eventually split, causing 2.6 million gallons of vinegar to flow unimpeeded south from their factory in Oxlip, creating death, destruction, and havoc as far south as Nowthen. Not many people know that Crown was a finalist in the location choice for the Mall of America. Crown is now positioning to be a player for the new Viking stadium. It could be built in the Hass' old cornfield and you could park cars along County Road 7 and CR 8. Crown has their own minor league hockey club, The Crown Jewels. Games are played on Friday and Saturday nights (weather permitting) back where the 4 wheelers mud run is held in the summer. Crown was 45-26-4 last season, winning their conference and The Isanti Cup trophy for the 27th straight season. The tourist trade is markedly up, now that the pig farm on the east end fixed their fences. Those folks on the north end of town have promised to keep their rabid goats penned up too. Motorcycles and alcohol are frowned upon in town. Women's dresses are to be kept below the knee at all times when outdoors within city limits.
The Lemke family owned the remaining community store from 1905 to 2005, when it was sold and renamed "Crown Gas and Goodies".
In 2008, a fire destroyed the County Line Bar and Grill (formerly Herlinger's general store); it has not reopened. Crown largely consists of the store and the Zion Lutheran Church and School one mile north of the town. The creamery rotted out and had to be torn down. Someone said that a coffee shop and breakfast restauran would be built in it's place. HA! This has yet to happen. Old men from all around the township are waiting...waiting for a place to gather, a place to mumble, complain, be cantankerous, and leer at a chubby, too tightly clothed middle aged waitresse's backside...calling her "Honey", "Sweetheart", and "Ruby Jean". Dave's house has two trees leaning on it. They fell over on to it last year. I don't think that Dave is coming back. Dave's not here, man. There is a local gang of vampire town kids that take control of Crown and roam the streets at night, except on Tuesdays. Lock your car doors as soon as you hit that last curve, and stay off of the dirt road that runs past the church.
Rand McNally Road Atlas - 2007 edition - Minnesota entry
Official State of Minnesota Highway Map - 2007/2008 edition
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