31 July 2023
In the late 1800s and early 1900s, clammers would drag 12-foot crowfoot bars along the bottom of the St. Croix River. Mussels, sensitive to disturbance, would clamp tightly onto the hooks.
Their shells were harvested and turned into buttons for the St. Croix Pearl Button Co. in Stillwater.
Historian Robyn Stoller will discuss the history of freshwater mussels and the pearl button industry in the St. Croix and Mississippi river valleys during a program sponsored by the Washington County Historical Society at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Washington County Heritage Center in Stillwater; the presentation will also be presented virtually on Zoom.
The pearl-button industry was short-lived in the Stillwater area. “Advances in plastics technology and mussel over-harvesting led to its early demise, but its history is amazing and includes unique stories of locals ‘making it big’ during the pearl-button boom,” according to a press release from the WCHS.
Stoller, a longtime member of WCHS, researched the area’s pearl-button industry as a volunteer for the National Park Service. Her project provided park rangers with detailed content to share with visitors and to augment an exhibit at the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway Visitor Center in St. Croix Falls, Wis.
The program is free to the public; reservations are not required. For more information, go to wchsmn.org/event/pearls.
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