Johnson Boat Works - J.O. Johnson was born in Norway in 1875, and orphaned at a very young age. In 1893, at 18, J.O. Johnson came to White Bear Lake, Minnesota. He rented a building where the White Bear Boat Works now stands. The Johnson Scow became the talk of the inland sailing. In 1909, he designed a bi-wing airplane with a 20-horsepower engine. J.O. Johnson had 3 sons: Walter (Buster), Iver, and Milton, all of whom worked all their lives at the Boat Works.
