Cavour
The
center of the once thriving community of Cavour is about ½ mile
off Highway 8 on County Highway G, and few present-day travelers have
a chance to go through Cavour. It is well worth the effort, if only
to envision what went on there at the turn-of-the-century. Cavour used
to be quite a bustling place with a lumberjack population of 600. The
Soo Line Railroad came through in 1887 at the start of the logging era.
Cavour had a general store, a sawmill, a hotel and a bar - all owned
by the Frank and Mary Hess family. The fact that the town was built
on a railroad tract instead of a major Highway shows that it was built
in a different era.
The Hess Hotel had a legacy all its own. It
was a place where many a logger came to stay and while away his woes
in pleasant surroundings. In 1911 the original hotel burnt down and
was 
rebuilt
immediately. Frank Hess died and Mary ran the hotel by herself from
1919 on until her death in the 1950s. The Hess House and school still
stand for anyone who wants to visit this historical place.