A Little Railroad with a Long History

A Little Railroad with a Long History. . , The railyards in January 1914 (left) and 1919 (right), before and after expansion. (Great Northern Railway Company Records, Minnesota Historical Society), A Minneapolis Eastern locomotive, 1954, with the engine house on First Street in the background. (Brian Flakne photograph collection), The Minneapolis Eastern engine house around 1970, about the time that the railroad ended operations. First Street is to the right, and the Hall and Dann Barrel Company (Mill Place) stands in the background. Visible to the left are two tall doors of a single-story freight house at the corner of Second Street and Third Avenue (site of the Mill City Quarter Apartments) and a corner of the Milwaukee Road Depot. (Minnesota Historical Society), You are standing where the Minneapolis Eastern Railway Company once ran a railyard. When the trains arrived with grain cars bound for different mills, the company sorted the cars and delivered them to the right mill. It also collected cars filled with flour for outbound trains. Established in 1878, this "transfer railroad" operated until 1972. While the company was long-lived, its line was remarkably short, with less than 3 miles of tracks., The Minneapolis Eastern trestle along the riverbank by the mills in 1890, shortly after it was completed. (Hennepin History Museum), When the Minneapolis Eastern announced plans to build a track between the Mississippi and the mills lining the riverbank in the 1870s, it had competition: the Minneapolis and Saint Louis Railway (M&SLR). Its rival was backed by powerful millers, including William and Cadwallader Washburn. In addition to his milling and railroad interests, William represented the state in the U.S. House and Senate. His brother Cadwallader was a former Wisconsin governor and developed the Washburn "A" Mill. Both were stockholders of the Minneapolis Mill Company, which had established the canal system that powered the West Bank milling district., The Minneapolis Mill Company claimed that the proposed Minneapolis Eastern tracks would damage its property. The city sided with the Minneapolis Eastern, but the M&SLR and Minneapolis Mill Company countered with a plan to build a rail trestle over the mill canal (now First Street) on the downtown side of the riverfront mills. In December 1878, the Northwestern Miller reported on the ensuing construction race: "The Minneapolis and St. Louis have their elevated tracks in front of the mills about completed, and the other, the Minneapolis and Eastern, are pushing the work on theirs, and will soon have the cars at the back of the mills.", The Minneapolis Eastern first operated from small buildings by the railyard. In 1902, it added a brick office building on First Street. Twelve years later, it expanded the office into a larger structure that included an engine house and fuel storage., After the railway retired its last locomotive in 1972, the First Street facility did not stand vacant long. The location was desolate, with only the pioneering Fuji-Ya Restaurant across the street, but James Howe, a local entrepreneur, saw the property's potential. He renovated the building and opened First Street Station, a popular restaurant and bar. It eventually closed, and the Minneapolis Eastern's engine house is now offices. In 1989, a large residential building was constructed between the historic structure and the railyards., This photo is from a brochure publicizing the First Street Station Restaurant. (Hess, Roise and Company files)