New book tells history of Champlin

Mike Brey might not have been born in Champlin, but he knows the city like a native

Brey, a school bus driver by trade, has spent the last seven years compiling new, or rather old, information for the 445-page history of Champlin, entitled "Champlin on the Mississippi Revisited."

"I've been working on this on and off, but I really put the pedal to the metal this last year," Brey said.

After joining the Champlin Historical Society eight years ago, Brey was enlisted to bring back to life the history book written once before in 1979. The old book was worn and tattered, and Brey didn't have a good place to start his research. The company that originally printed the book was out of business and many of the book's contributors were dead, but Brey took what little information he had and went to work.

"The [original] text was pretty good, but it was all piecemealed," said Brey. "The [Champlin] Historical Society had a heck of a time figuring out where to go."

The historical society had three options in front of it: Start from scratch, reprint the book including its mistakes, or update the original. Brey chose the last.

Brey fixed the errors from the last edition, added 700 photos and illustrations and provided an index. Since talking with the previous authors wasn't an option, Brey relied on the Anoka County Historical Society and Minnesota Historical Society to fill in the gaps.

"We've been around for so long [our history] just kind of gets buried," Brey said.

While doing his research, Brey stumbled upon the fact that Champlin fell off the map for a while after it first appeared in 1852.

"Champlin started off as a river town ... but as things evolved and Minneapolis got bigger, the highway system kind of changed the town and it was eventually choked off," Brey said. "So, many people weren't even aware that there was a town of Champlin."

In late September, 1,500 copies will become available for purchase. The book costs $36, but Brey isn't too worried about selling copies.

"It's kind of like a snowball rolling downhill, getting more momentum," he said. "When people hear about the book they are always interested in getting a copy."

Now that he'll be sending the book off to the printer, Brey feels confident that he produced a "quick read, but something you can use for research too." If the historical society sells enough copies to cover production costs, Brey hopes to donate some of the books to local schools.

"When they move into a city people don't always know what was there before their house was built," Brey said. "This is such a great way to bring information forward and let them know about the pioneers who originally settled here."

Hannah Gruber • 612-673-4864