Dear Fount of All Information, you exhibit great wisdom indeed to engage your readers in ferreting out the finer points of Rochester's history. In this regard, we have a small drinking glass that carries a picture of "Simba," a lion, and "Samba," a lioness, under the banner, "Befort Zoo, Rochester, Minn." The glass was purchased in a local antiques shop some years ago. Was the zoo in Mayo Park that you mentioned last Friday possibly named the Befort Zoo? Thank you. -- Dan Castrodale

Dan sure knows how to charm an answer out of the Answer Man.

Simba and Samba never lived in Mayo Park, however. The Befort Zoo was a private venture that operated in the early 1950s about three miles south of Rochester on U.S. 63. According to the Post-Bulletin's invaluable archives, Willard E. Befort operated the zoo for about three years, then sold it to a nonprofit organization headed by William Van Hook in 1954. Van Hook, who was then superintendent of the Rochester parks department, and friends intended to form a Rochester Zoological Association and operate it as an "educational as well as an amusement attraction."

Befort had first approached the city about buying the zoo, but the park board passed on that opportunity. It continued to be called the Befort Zoo after its sale.

As of 1954, it featured two dozen types of creatures, including a lion (it's unclear whether it was Simba or Samba), tiger, leopard, monkeys, yaks and peccaries, a type of wild pig. The zoo also featured a then-rare bald eagle, which was described as "property of the federal government."

For the 1954 season, amusement park equipment and concessions were added as well, but a year later, the zoo closed without fanfare.

Befort, a native of Oronoco who had other business interests in Rochester, sold the zoo for health reasons and moved to Florida, where he died in 1960.

The former city zoo in Mayo Park closed in the early 1940s, according to clips.

If you have fond memories or photos of either zoo, let me know and I'll pen another column on the subject. Also, I'd be curious to know exactly where the Befort Zoo was -- presumably somewhere around the 48th Street area?

O great knower of Jack,

with brainpower you never lack.

When disposing of pumpkins, what is most "green"

in making them disappear from the scene?

-- Preston Stanley Hollister

Preston asked for it, so here goes:

Those who read my column each day

Know there's truly only one way

To dispose of pumpkins, especially for renters,

And that's to take them to the recycling center,

Where the steaming compost pile awaits

For Jack and Jill and all their mates.

The Answer Man thinks he's Lord Byron. Send questions to P.O. Box 6118, Rochester, MN 55903 or answerman@postbulletin.com.

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