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Peter Kocher is the oldest living resident of Hague that actually lived inside the town.

Peter was born in Hague on August 9,1918. He has lived in town longer than any other resident.

Peter’s parents, the late John and Julianna Kocher, Sr., owned the first house built in Hague. John and Julianna bought the house from the founder in 1915. They had already given birth to seven children in South Dakota, and three were born in Hague, including Peter.

The Kocher farm was just inside Hague city limits. Peter had only four blocks to walk to the Hague School and to St. Mary’s Catholic Church.

“In the winter months, farmers would go through our land on horse-drawn sleighs on their way to Hague,” Kocher said. “It was a routine thing for us to fix fences every spring that had been taken down by the sleigh riders.”

Peter married Rosemary Scherr from Strasburg on October 14, 1943. He then farmed full-time on the southeast edge of Hague. He retired in 1980, and he and Rosemary moved into the new home they built in Hague in 1991.

Peter, however, is far from being technically “retired.” Throughout his life he has served in many different positions throughout Hague. Some of these include being on the school board from 1959-62; being on the Hague City Board from 1956-66, nine of those years serving as mayor; serving as city treasurer for 19 years; serving as the Knights of Columbus financial secretary from 1962 until present (54 years), and he has served as the volunteer weatherman for Hague for 54 years, for which he was honored by the National Weather Service.

Kocher is a storehouse of knowledge about Hague. Living in Hague his whole life, he has recorded a lot of information and knows more about it’s history than any resident. The following information was provided by Peter Kocher.

In 1890 Hague’s first church was built about one mile west of town. This church was made of wood.

Hague was invaded by the railroad in 1902. This railroad went up to Linton, where it stopped. Two trains would come through Hague every day, stop in Linton, turn around and come back. The railroad increased Hague’s size dramatically.

The first mail came to Hague in 1903.

In February of 1907 Hague’s first brick church, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, was built. On the morning of Ash Wednesday, 1929, a fire broke out in the basement. Residents tried to stifle the fire with its own smoke by shutting the doors and windows, but by noon the windows had burst. The church was engulfed in flames.

Immediately plans were lain for a new church. Farmers from all around Hague volunteered their time to build the church. In the meantime services were held in different gathering places, including the Hague school auditorium during the summer months. The new St. Mary’s church was finished early 1930.

Hague reached it’s population peak in 1940 with 442 people. At one time or another there existed in Hague three general stores, a drug store, a bank, four elevators, a medical doctor, a dentist, three cream stations, a cafe, a motel, a theatre, two butcher shops, a hardware store, three mechanical shops, two bowling alleys (not at the same time) and three bars.

Hague’s Saturdays consisted of the out-of-town farmers coming in with their families. In the winter they would use horses and buggies, but in the summer there would be more model T’s showing up. The early automobiles weren’t so useful in snow.

As for the families themselves, the husbands would generally head off to the bar, the wife would go shopping, and the kids would go play or see a free movie that was provided. The theatre burned down in November of 1948.

Many of the businesses in Hague were multi-purpose. Gilly’s Bar had a dance hall that was also used as a basketball court. Schall Motor Company, which was open until 1986, allowed it’s garage to be used as a dance hall and a theatre.

An interesting Hague resident of the 1920’s was Karl E. Fischer, who was the postmaster and the church organist. He lived upstairs in the post office and was a very gifted musician. When Lawrence Welk was still living in Strasburg he traveled to Hague once a week to get accordian lessons from Fischer.

Another intriguing figure was Dr. Vonnegut. He lived in Hague for a time and later moved elsewhere in Emmons County, but in his whole career in the county he delivered 4,725 babies by 1965.

After World War II the population of Hague began to decline. Many of the young men stayed and helped on the farm until they were 21 years old and then married and took over the farm, Kocher explained. Once many of the boys were drafted, they stayed in the big cities.

Today the population of Hague is 66. The town currently has a cafe, store, a bar, the KC Hall, the Amvets hall, an elevator and St. Mary’s Catholic Church.