Balaton Area History Center

05/25/2026

Memorial Day 2026
Speaker Roy Fuhrmann, Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Metropolitan Airports Commission,
Balaton 1982 graduate
Pictured with 1982 classmates

04/18/2026

You can still send in your membership form! Thank you to everyone who has supported our local History Center!

04/13/2026

Congratulations to Mary Ellen Mattson, Balaton’s Historian!

03/25/2026

Thank you to everyone who came out and supported the Balaton Area Historical Society last night!
We appreciate it!
“Thank you” to our two special guest bakeries, The Corner Cottage and Seasons Baking Co.!
You can still pay your dues, $25 per individual. $50 a couple. Mail to PO Box 213 Balaton MN 56115 or drop at the museum Monday afternoon or Wednesday mornings.

03/20/2026

Tuesday March 24, 2026, 5:00-7:00
Community Center
Pay your dues😀
Have supper on us!🍲
Buy some baked goods!🧁

03/18/2026

1st Annual Meeting of the Farmer’s Co-op!

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Balaton Minnesota MN Postal Card Farmer's Co-op Oil Company Meeting 1956 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

03/17/2026

One week from today!

02/24/2026

Elsie Teufel (née Jaeger) was Grandpa Henry’s older sister. She married Henry Teufel in 1914 and lived in Balaton, Minnesota, which was Henry’s hometown. After deciding that it was too cold to stay, the couple and their son Earl moved to Port Arthur, Texas, where Henry took a job working in the Gulf Refinery with his brother-in-law Adolph Pietz.

While living in Balaton, Elsie and Henry ran the Fountain Inn, a café where homemade cookies were on the menu.

After my parents were married in 1972, they went to visit Aunt Elsie and got to eat some of her delicious brown sugar-walnut cookies. My mother asked for the recipe, but being an experienced baker, Elsie had only to rely on her memory. She said she would write down the recipe when she had time, but for now, the three of them would just sit and visit with one another. When the recipe arrived in the mail the following week, my mother was tickled to see that her beloved aunt had named them “Aunt Elsie’s Cookies.”

Forty-nine years later, my mother continues to bake these wonderful cookies for her church friends and for her family.

Aunt Elsie’s Cookies

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup white sugar

1 cup butter or margarine (2 sticks)

2 beaten eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup chopped nuts

Mix first five ingredients. Add flour, baking soda, and nuts. Drop by teaspoon onto a baking sheet. Bake at 325 degrees until golden brown (about 13 minutes).

02/24/2026

Elsie Teufel (née Jaeger) was Grandpa Henry’s older sister. She married Henry Teufel in 1914 and lived in Balaton, Minnesota, which was Henry’s hometown. After deciding that it was too cold to stay, the couple and their son Earl moved to Port Arthur, Texas, where Henry took a job working in the...

12/29/2025

This is a new donation from the Elliott family!
How cool is this?
Happy New Year!