The once lavish estate of the Hormel family, which built one of the nation's most prosperous meat-packing firms, is now a home for wayward children. The family that had long dominated the civic and social life of Austin, Minn., moved away and gave up active management of Geo. A. Hormel & Co. in the 1950s. But the meat-packing plant remained the economic mainstay of the pleasant small town (pop. 23,000) in the rolling farm country of southern Minnesota. Thus when 1,450 workers went on strike last August at Hormel's new $100 million facility, Austin was torn apart.
Suddenly, families and neighbors...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
