Getting Here

Getting Here. . , Map from the book, The Red River Trails by Gilman, Gilman, and Stultz. Minnesota Historical Society Pres, 1979., Transportation is the key to the development of any community. The Rum and Mississippi Rivers were the highways of the Native Americans who traveled them. The place where these two rivers met was very special to the Dakota and Ojibwe Nations. The word "A-No-Ka-Tan-Han" in the Dakota language means "on both sides of the river". The Ojibwe word, "An-O-Kay" meant "work". These words gave rise to the name "Anoka" as both translations were descriptive of the new community., The first horse drawn streetcars ran on Ferry Street from about 1885-1895. The electric cars ran from 1915-1916. Courtesy of the Anoka County Historical Society., The first streetcars in Anoka were horse drawn and helped moved [sic] people from the train depot on 7th Avenue to downtown Anoka in 1885. By 1913, gas powered streetcars ran over a network of lines to Minneapolis five times daily. Two years later, the cars switched to electricity and plans were made to extend the line all the way to the Cuyuna Iron Range. The line was never extended, and the electric cars ran until 1939., The William Crooks was an engine of the St. Paul and Pacific Railway Company. It was often the first train to enter a community when the tracks were built. Courtesy of the Anoka County Historical Society., "Hurrah for the Railroad" was the headline in January of 1864 when the first locomotive reached the town of Anoka. The trains would change Anoka's destiny because lumber, farm crops, dairy products, and produce could reach much larger markets which assured sales. Goods brought by train filled the shelves of the stores in Anoka. Proceeds from farm sales allowed settlers and citizens to buy the items they needed for good lives in the rapidly growing new town. Passengers soon had their choice of times throughout the day to ride the trains between Anoka and Minneapolis., Buck Ward beside the VEERAC used by Green Livery, ca. 1911. Courtesy of the Anoka County Historical Society., Cars and trucks traveled Anoka roads with the invention of the internal combustion engine. The VEERAC was a motorized vehicle manufactured in Anoka for a few years starting in 1910. The name came from the design of the engine and how it worked: Valveless Explosion Every Revolution Air Cooled., An ox cart train on the trail, ca. 1925. Courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society., The Red River ox cart was nearly the only means of transporting goods in the area. The trail they used began moving supplies west and furs east through Anoka in the 1830's. The carts crossed the Rum River in three areas: at the mouth were Robert's Ferry began operating in 1851; near the Main Street bridge crossing which was used after its construction in 1853; and near the present-day fairgrounds. The construction of the Military Road between Point Douglas near Hastings and Fort Ripley near Little Falls made travel easier for wagons, and the basic route remains a main highway into the 21st century., The J.B. Bassett was just one of many steamboats on the rivers near Anoka. After this boat was no longer used, its whistle was taken off and used as the fire whistle in Anoka. Courtesy of the Anoka County Historical Society, Steamboats brought supplies and settlers to Anoka as early as 1851. The landing on the Rum River was on the east bank about halfway between the Main Street Bridge and the Mississippi. Drawing as little as 12 inches of water, the flat-bottomed riverboats could go as far north on the Mississippi as Sauk Rapids. The bridge built across the Mississippi in 1884 was a swing style bridge that opened to allow river traffic to pass. Most river traffic supported the lumber industry as the railroad was more reliable for passengers and freight. The construction of the dam in Anoka Township, now Coon Rapids, ended riverboat traffic in 1913, but created a haven for pleasure boats that continues to the present day., , [Reverse:] , Robert's Ferry, the first ferry across the Rum River, was first described as "not having progressed beyond the rowboat stage." The ferry boat at the mouth of the Rum River was upgraded in 1851 and continued to carry wagons and passengers across the river. Traffic from the west traveled down what would become known as "Ferry Street" to get to first the Rum River Ferry and later to the ferry across the Mississippi., In 1853, the first bridge over the Rum River was built out of wood. Located in the same place as the current Main Street bridge, it was built under a government contract awarded to Orin Rice. The bridge has been replaced at least four times since the first one and each new bridge increased in length. Washouts and changes in the river have made the bridge size increase from the original 1853 length of 140 feet., In 1855, a franchise was granted to begin a ferry service across the Mississippi River. Known as the Elm Creek and Anoka Ferry Company, passengers and freight were transported until the construction of the bridge in 1884. Located near the end of Ferry Street, the steel bridge had three sections. The center section could swing open to allow boats to travel up river. The bridge was 900 feet long, made entirely of iron except for the wood floor, and cost $105,000 to build., By 1929, the old bridge could no longer handle the volume of traffic in Anoka, and it was replaced with a concrete open spandrel bridge. The concrete arches reached a total of 995 feet across the river and had a deck width of 60.5 feet. The bridge was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980. In the late 1990's, the bridge underwent a major rebuilding and widening project, but retained its historic elements.