Carroll Hurd served as Mayor of St. Louis Park from 1952 to 1953.
He was born on January 9, 1894, on a farm at Boardman, Wisconsin. He attended High School in Menomonee, then River Falls Normal College in 1913. His first jobs were with hotels, including the West Hotel in Minneapolis. He was a member of the Hotel Greeters of America.
In 1918 he moved to St. Louis Park, first at 31st and France. In 1921 he was elected to the School Board. In 1925 he moved to 5024 W. 28th Street. In 1932 he was on the committee to change street names. He also helped organize the St. Louis Park Civic and Businessmen’s Association.
In 1936 he started the C.L. Hurd Insurance Agency – previously he had been at the Mutual Building and Loan Association. An ad said “since 1924, so that may have been when he started his insurance career.
In May 1938 he placed a full-page ad in the St. Louis Park Jr. High Echo-ette. He was an agent for the Hawkeye Casualty Company of Des Moines, and urged the kiddies to tell dad to buy his auto liability and property damage insurance from Hurd, giving very specific rates.
In 1947 he became a charter member of Rotary, and would come to be called “Mr. Rotary.”
He served as Mayor from 1952 to 53. In 1954 he was a Councilman and also served on the charter commission In 1955 he lived at 2950 Quentin. He retired in 1969, and died on April 22, 1977.
Hurd’s first wife was Laura Henning, married on October 15, 1913. Laura died on November 8, 1959 of cancer. They had five children.
His second wife was Hazel Pinney.
Hurd’s office moved around quite a bit:
1938: Excelsior and Brookside
1940: 4201 Lake