“On the first lot south of the west end of the Mississippi River bridge (1914) was a shed-like building in which were kept such items as shingles, cement, building paper rolls and millwork by the Sartell Brothers.

Directly in front of that building and standing on the edge of the street, was the township scale. Except for an upright enclosure about five feet high three feet wide and a foot or so thick to protect the actual weight display mechanism, it consisted of a street-level platform, below which were the levers, rods, springs and the like which responded to weights driven onto the platform. This paraphernalia was accessible for servicing and cleaning by an opening in the base of the above-mentioned weight display mechanism structure. The platform mechanism was housed within a concrete foundation about four feet in depth.

As an official weigh master, C.F. Sartell could readily leave his tasks in the Sartell Brothers office and store building, step across the street and handle the weighing jobs of farmers, contractors, ice haulers and others. Should it be necessary, he could then issue weight receipts, gross and net.

Some of the first weights measured and recorded using that scale were for crops such as potatoes, hauled in by horse-drawn wagon. Later, trucks and trailers of many sizes and loaded with other farm produce, building materials, soil and gravel, to mention but a few materials, were weighed on the platform. This scale saw service for many years, at least until World War II."

This is a direct quote from the book History of Sartell, Minnesota   Lumber, Paper, Valves and Progress A Century of Progress Welcoming a Century of Promise. Page 184