Minnesota became a state in 1858, and Maple Plain enthusiastically celebrated its centennial, but our town's own hundredth birthday came in 1968. We were an unincorporated village for 44 years. Incorporation and a village election preceded the first recorded minutes of a village council meeting which is dated April 19, 1912. It was held in the office of the Lundsten Lumber Co. H. V. Miller was chairman, L. E. Christ, the banker, was clerk; Frank Halgren, Charles Cox and Charles Lund made up the council. The treasurer was bonded for $500.00. There was no village office, so the council met in whatever place was available — in the bank or lumber company office, or in Turnham and Beer's Store. Later, when E. L. Conover was clerk the council meetings were held in Conover's store. The village office and fire barn was built in 1956-57, and since then council meetings have been held there.
The village officers — Mayor, clerk, councilmen, treasurer and assessor were all elected until 1961. Then the village voted to change its form of government, and the clerk, assessor and treasurer are now appointed by the council.
The W.P.A. (Works Progress Administration, a government make-work project during the depression) helped finance the village water system in 1939. A second deep well and pump house came about in 1959. The first sewer was bonded for in 1950, with additions since then. Blacktopping of roads first began in 1961.
Before State Highway 12 was built, Main Street was State Highway 10. The route paralleled the railroad tracks from the east to the viaduct, turned north to County Road 19, and followed present Main Street across the wooden bridge to Armstrong; then turned north at the cemetery to the railroad racks, then on west on the south side of the tracks. Controversy developed when the State Highway Department proposed the present route. Village businessmen wanted it to stay on Main Street, fearing the loss of local and tourist trade. Village officials were troubled about the new road going so near the school which had been built in 1923. The plan called for taking a small slice off the school yard, and people worried about the children's safety. The engineers won, after some litigation, and so Highway 12 was located and finished in 1929-30.