Marais and International Falls. The value of this enterprise was estimated to be $2,000,000 in 1957.

Also at the Corner appeared a garage and service station, owned by Herman Skarp and Edmund Maunu respectively. Skarp later sold his business to Moses Liupakka, and Ray Lindholm built a new filling station and garage on the site of Maunu's building, which was lost in the 1918 fire; this business is operated by Howard Sunnarborg.

The Esko post office was opened in 1935, with Hjalmar Mattinen as the first postmaster; he was the son of pioneer Erick Mattinen. At the same time the name of the village was changed from Esko's Corner to plain Esko. After Hjalmar Mattinen's death, his wife Celia became postmistress. She had already lost a son earlier - Harvey, killed in Europe in World War II.

Esko has three food stores : one owned by Emil E. Juntti, another by Charles Mannila, the third a branch store of the Cloquet Cooperative Society. In addition, there are E. Kinnunen's building supply store; S. R. Bergsted, Inc., agricultural machinery; Otto Juntunen, Jr., poultry wholesaler and supplier of "Eskomo Brand' eggs; Eleanor Särkelä (daughter of Alex Esko), owning the Dairy Delight ice-cream store; Esko's Coffee Shop, owned by Emil Hill; Mary's Cafe, owned by Charles Winquist. The Esko Locker Plant is a cooperative enterprise, started by the vicinity farmers, for processing and storage of meats.

In September 1956 a monument to Thomson's Finnish pioneers was dedicated. It is located in Esko, on U.S. Highway No. 61. The bronze plaque attached to the memorial declares its purpose : a memorial to the Thomson Town pioneers who came here in 1873 and later, and who laid the groundwork for the community. The bas-relief of seven trees on the upper part of the monument symbolizes the seven Finnish pioneers who came to the area in 1873: Henry Nelson (Laakso), John Alatalo, Simeon Palkki, Antti Karjala, John Kajander, Lassi Moilanen and Jack Nelson. The memorial was designed by a Finnish artist, Edgar Olson.

Cloquet

In the St. Louis River, which flows along the western boundary of Thomson, is a small island, near which C. D. Harwood and Shell Olds in 1879 built a sawmill. The area, uninhabited up to that time, now got a few houses, and in 1880 there were 25 persons signing the petition to request formation of a community to be named Carlton. The request was approved but not the name, for

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