The Washington Co Portrait Project

   Washington County, Mn has a rich history of farming and of keeping an incredible archive of it's citizen's and their life in the St. Croix Valley over the last 150 years. Most of what has been collected and preserved are photos, artifacts, and personal histories donated by the valley residents themselves.

    I approached Brent Peterson of the Washington Co Historic Society and asked if there was currently any effort being made to photograph and record the stories of long time residents.  The answer was no, so my project was born.

   My focus will be residents who farmed over the last century and those new immigrants who farm the land now. This county used to be primarily agricultural land, but that has steadily decline since development has taken over.

  My objective is to document the people who made this place what it is today and to include the new comers trying to create a life through farming the land that is left. 

  The images of this post are of John Breschens and his family. He is a fourth generation farmer in Lake Elmo. He no longer works his land but leases it out to a group of Hmong farmers.