So Minnesota: A Cokato photographer’s legacy

A picture captures a moment in time.

One photographer from Cokato left behind a lasting legacy that will last for generations.

The Gust Akerlund Photography Studio is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

“It’s a hidden gem,” Johanna Ellison with the Cokato Museum and Historical Society said. “Getting your photographer taken in the 1900s was a big deal.”

Akerlund’s photos give us a fascinating glimpse into small-town Minnesota during the first half of the 20th century.

“Just to have something like this in this community is just really special,” Ellison said. “It’s just really is a great way to document life in a small town.”

Akerlund died in 1954. His family donated his studio, camera equipment, and more than fourteen thousand photographs and eleven thousand negatives to the museum.