About Annandale Online

Annandale Online was launched in 1999 by Jill Bishop when the World Wide Web was in its infancy. It is a directory of information about the Annandale community with a special emphasis on history.

Timeline:

June, 1996 - The local ISP, Lakedale Link, a subsidiary of Lakedale Communications, began offering Internet service to local residents.  Prior to that time the Internet was accessible only via a long distance phone call. 

Fall, 1997 – The idea for Annandale Online was first conceived by Jill Bishop during a college class called "Computers in Culture" at the University of Minnesota when she discovered the Blacksburg Electronic Village, www.bev.net. This community website for Blacksburg, Virginia, was one of the earliest community networks on the Internet.

Fall, 1998 – Jill Bishop wrote a "Strategic Plan for a Model Community Website in Annandale" to be presented to the Annandale City Council. The website was to be the thesis project for her Master of Liberal Studies degree, and it included her volunteer services to build and maintain the website.

January 4, 1999 – The Annandale City Council approved the Plan and voted to sponsor a community website. 
    The Website Mission: "The purpose of a community website for Annandale is to strengthen and increase the connectedness within the community by providing accurate and timely information about the Annandale community."

March, 1999 – Annandale Online was published to the World Wide Web at www.annandale.mn.us [later moved towww.annandaleonline.com]. The domain resided on the NT server at Lakedale Communications. It was created using Microsoft FrontPage 98 software and contained 32 pages. The home page displayed 12 categories of information about Annandale: Calendar, E-Mail Directories, Civic Groups, Government, Business, Religion, Education, Health Care, and About this Website, with external links to the Annandale Advocate, Lakedale Communications, and Weather.

April 10, 1999 – Annandale Online was introduced to the community at the Business Expo where the city’s booth included a computer displaying the website.

November, 2007 - Annandale Online contained over 600 pages of information and averaged around 1500 hits per day.

October, 2009 - Annandale Online's original website address www.annandale.mn.us became the sole property of the City of Annandale, and the content of Annandale Online was moved to www.annandaleonline.com.

October, 2016 - The Chamber of Commerce launched a new website taking over several sections of Annandale Online, the first major change in content since its launch in 1999. With the Events Calendar and Visitor Information now thoroughly covered by the Chamber site, Annandale Online was able to emphasize its focus on History and Civic Groups.