[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 151 (2005), Part 14]
[Senate]
[Page 18970]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




             HONORING THE CITY OF ALEXANDRIA, SOUTH DAKOTA

 Mr. JOHNSON. Mr. President, I rise today to honor and publicly 
recognize the city of Alexandria, SD. This year marks the 125th 
anniversary of the founding of Alexandria, and from August 14 through 
August 18, its citizens will gather to celebrate their proud past as 
well as their hope for a promising future.
  Located three miles from the banks of the James River in southeast 
South Dakota, Alexandria was originally named Clarksville after 
Dearborn Clark, who donated the land upon which the town was built. It 
was renamed Alexander in 1879, and later changed to Alexandria, to 
honor Alexander Mitchell, the president of the Chicago, Milwaukee 
Railway. The first buildings were built in 1880, and the city was 
officially incorporated in 1883. Later that decade, Alexandria was 
named county seat of Hanson County, a title it still maintains.
  The frontier town grew quickly in the following years, and by 1893, 
the population exceeded 1,000 people. Enjoying a robust agricultural 
economy, Alexandria shipped more than 1,000 boxcars of grain annually. 
In 1914, the city purchased an electric generator, and local 
businessmen financed a $1,200 project to make Alexandria one of the 
first communities in South Dakota with electric streetlights. In 1885, 
the city applied to become the State capital, but came in fourth in the 
voting.
  Since the boom years of the early 1900s, economic circumstances have, 
of course, changed. Still, Alexandria continues to provide essential 
services and support to local farmers and ranchers. The rugged days of 
pioneer life have ended, but the residents of this extraordinary 
community continue to exemplify the bold and enterprising pioneer 
spirit.
  In her book, Hanson Heritage, Mildred Soladay celebrates the courage 
of the settlers who founded Alexandria: ``They had no past,'' she 
writes, ``but the infinite future lay before them.'' Today, the 
citizens of Alexandria do indeed have a past worthy of celebration, yet 
as they commemorate their city's 125th anniversary, the promise of 
their future remains infinite.

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