♪ ♪ AND NOW WE'RE AT ONE OF THE OLDEST HOMES IN ANOKA TALKING TO A MEMBER OF ONE OF THE OLDEST FAMILIES IN ANOKA, THE WEAVERS.

WE HAVE CHARLIE WEAVER.

HELLO MARY!

HELLO!

HELLO!

NOW YOUR FAMILY CHARLIE, GOES WAY BACK.

HOW FAR BACK HERE IN ANOKA?

ALMOST 150 YEARS.

IT WAS 1857 WHEN MY GREAT GREAT GRANDFATHER CAME TO MINNESOTA FROM CANADA, AND THE PRESIDENT ACTUALLY GAVE HIM A BIG CHUNK OF PROPERTY RIGHT ACROSS THE RIVER, AND ULTIMATELY HE SETTLED HERE IN ANOKA, SO ALMOST 150 YEARS.

WE HAVE A NICE HISTORIC PHOTO HERE, AND THIS IS YOUR... THIS IS MY GRANDFATHER CHARLES RIGHT DOWN ON RICE STREET RIGHT ACROSS THE ROAD, AND THIS IS HIS HOMESTEAD, AND THESE ARE HIS TEAM OF HORSES THAT HE WOULD USE.

HE BUILT PART OF HIGHWAY 10 WITH THAT AND A BUNCH OF ROADS IN LITCHFIELD AND AROUND THE STATE, BUT HE USED HORSES TO BUILD THE ROADS BACK IN THOSE DAYS.

(Mary) HE BUILT A LOT OF THE ROADS ALL AROUND THE AREA.

IT WAS BIG OPERATION.

(Charlie) MOST OF THE ROADS IN THE NORTHERN SUBURBS, THE MAJOR ROADS WERE BUILT BY CHARLES WEAVER.

AND WE HAVE THE MESS HALL.

WHAT HAPPENED HERE?

THIS IS WHERE THE GUYS WHO WERE OUT EATING WOULD COME BACK OR WERE OUT WORKING CAME BACK AND EAT.

AND ACTUALLY MY GRANDFATHER, CHARLES, WAS ONE OF THE FIRST PEOPLE TO BRING BLACKS UP FROM SOUTHERN MINNESOTA OR SOUTHERN UNITED STATES, FROM MISSISSIPPI, TO WORK IN MINNESOTA.

(Mary) IT WAS AN INTEGRATED WORKFORCE?

(Randy) ONE OF THE FIRST INTEGRATED CONSTRUCTION COMPANIES IN THE STATE, AND THIS IS WHERE THEY ATE.

AFTER A HARD DAY'S WORKOUT USING TEAMS OF HORSES TO BUILD HIGHWAYS, THEY WOULD COME BACK TO THE BUNKHOUSE AND EAT.

THERE'S A LONG HISTORY OF WEAVERS HOLDING PUBLIC OFFICE.

(Charlie) IT'S A GENETIC DEFECT!

IT RUNS IN THE FAMILY.

IT'S TRUE!

HOW MANY GENERATIONS OF WEAVERS GO BACK.

WELL, FOR ONE OFFICE OR ANOTHER, AT LEAST 3.

MY GRANDMOTHER, MY GRANDFATHER, MY UNCLE, MYSELF, AND WE'LL SEE IF ANY OF OUR KIDS HAVE THAT SAME BAD GENE, BUT SO FAR 3 GENERATIONS.

AND YOU MENTIONED YOUR UNCLE.

WE DO HAVE A SHOT HERE OF YOUR UNCLE, JOHN WEAVER, HERE.

TELL US ABOUT WHAT WE'RE SEEING.

THIS IS THE METRODOME JUST BEFORE IT WAS FINISHED.

MY DAD WAS ON THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL AT THE TIME.

THIS IS MY FATHER, AND MY UNCLE JOHN WAS SERVING IN THE LEGISLATURE AT THE TIME.

(Mary) WE'RE STANDING ON SOME PROPERTY RIGHT NOW IN A HOME THAT BELONGED TO YOUR FAMILY, THE WEAVER FAMILY.

(Charlie) RIGHT.

IT'S ONE OF THE OLDEST HOMES IN ANOKA.

IF YOU LOOK TO OUR LEFT, THERE'S AN OLD INDIAN TRAIL THAT RUNS ALONG THE RUM RIVER.

ANOKA REALLY WAS A TRADING POST BACK IN THE MID 1800S SO THERE'S AN INDIAN TRAIL THAT RUNS ALONG THE RUM, AND ANOKA IS AN INDIAN NAME FOR LAND BETWEEN 2 WATERS BECAUSE IT'S SITUATED RIGHT BETWEEN THE MISSISSIPPI AND THE RUM, SO THIS IS A GREAT HOME.

THE INDIANS USED TO COME DOWN HERE, AND THEY WOULD TRADE RIGHT ON THE PENINSULA WHERE THE RUM INTERSECTS THE MISSISSIPPI.

WE LOVE THIS TOWN; IT'S A GREAT TOWN.

IT'S GOT A LOT OF HISTORY.

THE PEOPLE ARE TERRIFIC.

IT'S A NICE MIX OF PEOPLE.

IT'S NOT A WEALTHY COMMUNITY BY ANY STRETCH BUT HARDWORKING GREAT PEOPLE WHO GET THINGS DONE.