I hope you all are enjoying this step back into the past of Goodhue County's beginnings. It has been a pleasure to unearth some of the names of our area's forefathers who are now passed. Many of the residents of this area will find their grand and great grandparents in these brief capsules of a time review. I hope the memories bring you joy!
Third on our list of "ghost Towns" is the only entirely new village founded in Goodhue County in the 20th century. Named Bombay by the railroad company that erected a depot there in 1903, the last major railroad construction in this county was by Milwaukee Railroad. This was an extension of the railway from Wabasha to Zumbrota in 1878 by Minnesota Midland's narrow-gauge line. The new line went from Zumbrota to Faribault and took 25 years after the completion of the Wabasha/Zumbrota line to bring to fruition. The grading for the line began in 1901 after extensive discussions about the most desirable route and the surveying of the land in question. Track was laid in 1903, and the trains were able to carry both freight and passengers from town to town. Another depot was built in Kenyon, and two more in Rice County in the towns of Ruskin and Epsom. Now, there was plenty of growth in this area of development. Hader area had built a small community with general stores, a cheese factory, a mill and a few other businesses, and was prospering. An interesting side note is that because of the location of this line, both Wanamingo and Bellechester moved to new locations to be on the route.
When the Bombay Depot was built, the L. M. Loomis Company from Minneapolis decided to build a grain elevator near the depot. Not long after, the Milwaukee Elevator Company also built an elevator in the vicinity. Both companies began taking in grain in 1903. About the same time, the railway went into business.
The next spring, John Otterness along with Marcus and Jonas Charlson who had conducted business in Sogn, opened a general store just north of the Loomis Elevator. Established farmers in the area wanted a cheese factory in the area as well, but it took many years for that dream to come true.
By the way, nobody I spoke to and in no records of the past is there a solid explanation as to why Bombay was the name given to a small town in a mostly Norwegian area. Speculation was that possibly one of the railroad's managers came from Bombay, New York, or it was chosen randomly as a tribute to a town in India. The owner of the land the railroad passed through was John Davidson, and some of the people in the area petitioned to name the town Johnson, or Davidson, but that never happened. The people finally gave up trying to change the name, and to this day it remains.
A small freight shed was constructed as the first "depot" in Bombay, but in August of 1904, the new town was booming, and the railroad company announced they would replace it with a larger shed. The new depot was 16' by 36', and 14 feet high. There was an office and a waiting room on the west side and express and freight rooms on the east side. The Charlson brothers and John Otterness handled the freight business there for a while.
The elevators enjoyed a thriving business, and local farmers wanted to form a cooperative and purchase one or both elevators. Negotiations began in 1906, but it wasn't until 1909 that they finally formed a cooperative and purchased the Loomis Elevator. The new Bombay Farmers Mercantile and Elevator Company organized in April of 1909 was able to purchase the Loomis Elevator with $10,000.00 in capital. They made O.J. Wing its first President, R.H. Wickum was the Vice President, Helmer Voxland the Secretary, and John Davidson the Treasurer. By the end of 1909, the co-op had also purchased the Milwaukee Elevator, as well as a lumberyard. In 1916, the elevators were moved closer together for convenience and remain there to this day.
1909 was also the year the Bombay Cheese Factory started operations with Dave Kunz , a cheesemaker from Pine Island, who opened and ran the factory until 1913. Later it was run by the firm of Sherz & Heigle. The farmers and organizers of the elevator co-op purchased the factory and organized the Bombay Dairy Company for $3,000.00. The Cheese Factory was never very profitable and closed in 1920. The Bombay Dairy Farm is now a 2 generation family business run by Wayne Lexvold.
Other changes were also happening. In 1908, John Otterness bought out his partners the Charlson brothers and ran the Bombay store by himself for the next 4 years. In April of 1912, he sold it to Michael Davidson, son of John Davidson, and also one of the incorporators of the Bombay Dairy Company. Although many people ran the store, it remained in the Davidson family until it closed. In 1913, the Wanamingo firm of Swanson & Roe bought the lumberyard, and Charles O. Roe came to manage it and the elevators.
Bombay reached its peak during World War !, between 1914 and 1918. In 1919, William Shepard of Kenyon was able to buy enough stock in the elevators to be the major shareholder, and appointed his son Frank the manager. Frank remained as long as the corporation existed. In 1924, the elevators could no longer support its operations and were sold to Fleischmann Malting Company of Red Wing, who kept the management local. When the company was moved to Skyberg, Martin J. Ruud succeeded Frank as manager, and with his son Arnold, also ran the store. His daughter Mabel was the store clerk.
The Cheese Factory closed down in 1923 and the building was sold to Ole Yngsdal who opened a garage and ran it until 1939 when his brother Elmer took over until it was no longer profitable. The building was torn down in 1997.
In 1927, Carl Langness took over management of the Bombay store and his wife Signora and her sister ran it for the next 3 years. In 1930, due to a decrease in business because of the Great Depression, the store closed, selling its inventory at a 10% discount. That same year, the Bombay depot was suspended as railroads everywhere were retrenched. D.D. Day remained on as custodian for the next 15 years.
Despite blows to the economy, Bombay remained. In 1932, a road was constructed between Zumbrota and Faribault and passed by the Bombay Store. As traffic increased, Michael Davidson restocked and opened the store. From that time until its closing in 1992, the Davidsons kept the store open. It was managed by Claremont and Esther Skillestad for the last few years. I remember my grandpa Clarence Carlson going to Bombay to sit with the local farmers who would gather to have coffee and pass the time playing cards and talking about the events of the day. The Bombay Store is now a residence owned by Obert and Kathy Flikke.
In 1944, Fleishmann sold the elevators to Commander Elevator company in Minneapolis, a division of what is today Archer Daniels Midland. The Farmers Union Grain Terminal Ass'n acquired the elevators in 1960, operated it until 1990. It was sold, and has had several owners since then. The depot stood until 1941. In 1979, the Milwaukee abandoned the Zumbrota line, and Bombay lost the railroad that brought it to be.
Currently Bombay still has the elevators, the dairy, and 5 homes, including the former store, so it is not officially a ghost town. Surprisingly enough, it never had a post office because it was founded about the time of the RFD ( Rural Free Delivery). A sign along the highway shows motorists where a town once stood.
