Anoka County(26) ► Isanti County(3) ► Kanabec County(3) ► Pine County(18) ► Washington County(71) ► Burnett County, Wisconsin(5) ► Polk County, Wisconsin(18) ►
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On Park Trail (County Route 12) at Maple Lane, on the right when traveling north on Park Trail.
The village of Almelund and the Immanual Lutheran Church were established in 1887
Reverse
By Gods grace, the people of Amador Township and with the assistance of the Almelund Lions Club, this Triangle Park was developed in 1987. . . . — — Map (db m232288) HM
The pristine view in front of you would look much different without Walter F. Mondale's passion and tenacity. As Minnesota Attorney General, U.S. Senator, Vice President and an engaged citizen, he has spent a lifetime advocating for the . . . — — Map (db m235503) HM
Near the main park road north of the road to the boat landing, on the left when traveling north.
One seed at a time, human hands are reviving this rich prairie.
This area was named Amador Prairie in the 1850s. However, prairie species faded as crops were planted, farm animals grazed, and homes and schools were built.
Efforts to . . . — — Map (db m235618) HM
Off in the distance, near the river, is a stand of conifer trees. Can you find it? Conifers are trees that produce cones, such as pines, spruces, cedars, firs and tamaracks.
In this part of Minnesota, conifer forests often exist only in small . . . — — Map (db m231375) HM
[Panel 1]
View of Almelund, 1902.
Photographer: Seth Cedarholm
Relationships that began in the eastern United States sometimes resulted in two or more families settling together when they reached Minnesota. An example . . . — — Map (db m235615) HM
Logs collected above the dam until they were needed at sawmills downriver.
Photo courtesy of St. Croix National Scenic Riverway (National Park Service)
The Last Log Drive
Large numbers of logs were sluiced . . . — — Map (db m235036) HM
People Of The ValleyWe have evidence of many earlier users of the St. Croix River Valley. Why do you think they decided to come here?
People look for ways to make their lives better. Many people found what they needed along . . . — — Map (db m233090) HM
[First panel]
Farmers hauling milk into Almelund, ca. 1902.
Photographer: Seth Cedarholm.
The Military Road ran from Point Douglas in Hastings, Minnesota to Superior, Wisconsin.
Above: Superior, . . . — — Map (db m233093) HM
Nevers Dam, 1898.
Nevers Dam once linked Minnesota and Wisconsin from the point of land directly across the river to the place where you are standing. The dam was named after Charles Nevers, a Wisconsin farmer whose land was bought . . . — — Map (db m234287) HM
In the 19th century, this part of Minnesota was covered by a mix of hardwood forests and open savannas. (A savanna is a grassland with scattered trees — often oaks.) When settler-colonists moved in, they turned most of the savannas into farm . . . — — Map (db m234229) HM
Look out at the top of the bluffs. Now look down to the river. That height difference represents the power of the St. Croix River. Over the past 15,000 years, the river has carved out this valley.
Nature isn't the only force making changes in . . . — — Map (db m234134) HM
Loggers cutting a large white pine.
From the St. Croix and its tributaries—the Kettle, Snake, Rum, Clam, Trade, and Yellow Rivers—thousands of pine logs were sent downstream. Nearly 100 logging camps upstream supplies logs for sawmills . . . — — Map (db m233538) HM
Near Equestrian campground Road north of Main park road.
By 1890, 53 years after logging began in the forests that were predicted to last forever, enough trees were cut in one year along the St. Croix to build 50,000 houses. Hundreds of thousands of people across the Midwest lived in houses made from . . . — — Map (db m233412) HM
On Equestrian campground Road north of the main park road.
In the 1830's, logging companies from the eastern United States were running out of easily-harvested trees to supply the lumber for the growing population of this continent. Then they explored along the St. Croix River, and claimed the forests . . . — — Map (db m233405) HM
On the road to the boat launch, on the left when traveling east.
Before the arrival of the first French, English, or American explorers, people lived in the St. Croix River Valley. They were here before the Ojibwe came from the east, and before the Dakota and Mesquakie Indians guided and traded with the . . . — — Map (db m233179) HM
Wild River State Park gives visitors a sample of the beauty and variety of the landscape in the St. Croix River Valley. It is one of five Minnesota state parks located along the National Wild and Scenic Riverway. Wild River holds evidence of . . . — — Map (db m232715) HM
Near Interstate 35 at milepost 154,, 1.5 miles Stark Road (County Road 10), on the right when traveling north.
"The North Country is a siren Who can resist her song of intricate and rich counterpoint?"
(Grace Lee Nute, The Voyageur's Highway, 1941)
Lured by America's premier wilderness canoe region, Lake Superior's rugged shoreline and . . . — — Map (db m222163) HM
Born January 26, 1861, just a mile southwest of here, Frank Lowden attended school at this site, until the age of 7. His Dad, Lorenzo, helped build the school at the beginning of the Civil War, his brother, Eugene, and sister, Caroline, are buried . . . — — Map (db m230058) HM
On 1st Street north of Wilcox Road (County Route 11), on the left when traveling north.
In the summer of 1914, Carl and Ethel Mae left Braham, MN to take clerk jobs at Elias Nordgrens mercantile store. It was here on December 26, at 12:26AM, Carl ran over to the neighboring house and announced to Harry Wolleat, they had a son named, . . . — — Map (db m230633) HM
Below: Map of the Arrow Line route as advertised.
Above: Portion of an Arrow Line stock certificate.
Construction by the Twin Cities & Lake Superior Railway Company took place in 1907-1909. Forty miles of . . . — — Map (db m229960) HM
The people who created this state park will never meet you but they gifted you with a cherished place. Protection allows this landscape to welcome visitors in much the same way it has for centuries. Did you travel hours or minutes to get here? . . . — — Map (db m216753) HM
On South Street at Traprock Street, on the left when traveling south on South Street.
The Treaty of 1837, made between Wisconsin Territorial Governor Henry Dodge and the Chippewa nation of Indians, ceded to the United States a large area of Chippewa territories, the St. Croix and its headwaters up to a line 30 miles south of Duluth. . . . — — Map (db m216748) HM
On West Government Street, 0.1 miles south of First Street, on the right when traveling west.
William Henry Carmen Folsom, St. Croix River Valley lumberman and land speculator, chose this imposing site for his home in 1854. He, his wife Mary Jane, and their two small sons lived in an open barn on this property to prove up the claim while . . . — — Map (db m44027) HM
On Saint Croix Trail (U.S. 8) 0.3 miles south of Bench Street (State Highway 95), on the left when traveling south.
About 1.1 billion years ago, a great rift valley formed across the North American continent from the Lake Superior region southwest to Kansas. As this rift valley opened, basaltic lavas erupted into it, accumulating to a thickness of up to 20 . . . — — Map (db m45814) HM
The potholes at the St. Croix Dalles have their origins in a tale of fire and ice. They are carved in a dark volcanic rock called basalt, which erupted as lava 1.1 billion years ago. This basalt is related to lava flows that line the North Shore of . . . — — Map (db m46434) HM
On St Croix Trail (State Highway 95) 0.3 miles south of Mulberry Street (County Highway 34), on the left when traveling south.
So read the local paper in 1904 as engineers surveyed the Saint Croix River in search of a suitable place to build a hydroelectric project. The falls had long fueled the local lumbering and milling industries, but the Minneapolis General Electric . . . — — Map (db m120099) HM
On West Government Street at Basil Street, on the right when traveling west on West Government Street.
This is the oldest Methodist Church building in continuous use in Minnesota. Methodist circuit riders of the Sunrise Mission served the Taylors Falls area 1852-59. On March 27, 1859, the Rev. Sias Bolles organized the Taylors Falls Methodist . . . — — Map (db m44571) HM