The industrial development of Stearns County has also endured a great deal of change. Early industries centered around processing and distributing farm products or providing services to farmers. Creameries, grain elevators, implement dealers, flour mills, breweries, and blacksmiths were connected to the agricultural marketplace. Any change in production on the family farm was felt by all of these industries. When farmers had good crops and high milk yields, they had income to purchase more farm supplies and services from these businesses. When farmers experienced an economic depression or bad weather, the business community suffered too. Today, as family farming declines, businesses connected to farming are declining too. Communities have had to find replacements for lost industry in order to survive.

		Stearns County Court House, 1923.

Agri-business was not the only industry in Stearns County, however. The granite industry was important to the community. Thanks to geological activity that occurred over four billion years ago, rich granite deposits were left in the earth in Stearns County. Although quarries could be found in Stearns County as early as 1867, the industry didn’t take root until railroad transportation systems were developed in the 1880s. Immigrants from Sweden, Poland, and Scotland who were experienced in stone cutting found work in the many quarries throughout the county. Granite was used as a construction material for buildings, railroad bridges, pier supports and paving blocks for streets. When polishing techniques were perfected, it was also used to create decorative trim for large buildings. Stearns County granite can be found in the structure of Minnesota’s State Capitol in St. Paul and the Stearns County Court House. The industry also began to quarry granite to make cemetery headstones and monuments.

In 1920 Stearns County had become one of the leading granite producing areas with over 18 quarries and 50 businesses producing granite products. The industry was about to undergo a period of great change. Several of the large quarry owners introduced machines to increase the ease of production and reduce costly human labor. Machines replaced the need for stone cutters. In addition, smaller quarry owners could not compete with mechanized quarries and were forced to merge or sell. As granite deposits were depleted from the earth, many quarries closed. In spite of this dramatic change and loss of industry, Stearns County is still a major force in the granite industry. The Cold Spring Granite Company, which owns quarries throughout the United States and Canada, is the world’s largest granite company.

How has technology changed industry in your community?

Automation or mechanization gave industry a faster and less expensive way to produce goods. It took away the high cost of individual piece work and replaced it with machines that could produce up to ten times the number of goods in the same amount of time.

	Are there industries in your community that have replaced people with machines? What effect has it had on your community?
	Discuss the positive and negative aspects of automation in industry.

Today, all across the world, computer and communications technology are changing the industrial environment. Stearns County businesses can access information, products and services through the Internet. This technology can also be used to introduce products to people all over the world. They can bring the world to Stearns County without having to buy a single airplane ticket. The Internet combines computer and communications technology by sending computer messages through the phone line. Industries that have offices in several states can use advanced technology to network their operations. By using fiber optic, satellite, microwave, or telephone communications, they can connect their offices together. For example, Coborn's Inc. is able to communicate with their twenty grocery stores in three states as if they were next door to each other.

	How do you benefit from computer and communications technology?
	What happens to communications equipment when the electricity goes off?
	How do you cope when the phone or computer doesn't work?