Dedicated to Aaron Greenwald and his comrades, who near this spot shortly after 10 A.M. on April 15, 1861, were the first Union Civil War Volunteers in the Nation.
Aaron Greenwald was killed at Gettysburg July 2, 1863, in the "Famous Charge That . . . — — Map (db m156730) HM WM
This building was designed by U.S. Government architect James Knox Taylor. It is a textbook example of Georgian Revival style architecture with its massive rectangular size, brick façade, cornice, arched windows, modillions under the eaves, and . . . — — Map (db m132571) HM
The Mississippi River was an obstacle to overland travelers attempting to cross to the other side. From 1855 to 1884 a flat bottomed cable ferry was maintained between Anoka and Champlin. For a time two ferry companies operated at this . . . — — Map (db m158388) HM
The Dakota and Ojibwa people believed that the confluence of two great rivers was a sacred place.
The Point was used as an encampment and gathering place for several tribes. It was also a meeting place to form hunting parties going north . . . — — Map (db m70897) HM
Father Louis Hennepin, Belgian Recollect missionary accompanying Sieur de la Salle's expedition to the Mississippi River region, left Fort Crevecoeur, Illinois, on February 29, 1680, for an exploration of the upper Mississippi River. On April 11, he . . . — — Map (db m225175) HM
Fireman's Grove is located here in the area just above the confluence of the Rum River. It was named for the firemen who pastured their horses at The Point. Fireman's Grove became a favorite gathering place for townspeople and visitors who . . . — — Map (db m70973) HM
The Rum and the Mississippi were highways for the earliest recorded European explorers of Minnesota. Many explorers traveled past The Point and some may have camped here including Radission, Hennepin, Du Luth, Pike, Faribault and Nicollet.
. . . — — Map (db m70569) HM
The white pine forests fell to the logger's ax in the northern Rum River pineries, "Seventy mills in seventy years could not exhaust the white pine I have seen on the Rum River" predicted Daniel Stanchfield, a lumber-wise timber cruiser . . . — — Map (db m70937) HM
Struggles and hardship are expected in building a community, but Anoka may have had more than its share of disasters. Through each trial, the community rebounded and Anoka continues to be a vital, dynamic community.
Anoka County was . . . — — Map (db m70953) HM
The Rum and the Mississippi were river highways for the Dakota, the Ojibwa, European explorers, traders and settlers.
Between 1850 and 1870 the Rum and the Mississippi became "working rivers" for lumbermen. In the fall loggers traveled . . . — — Map (db m70914) HM
Robert W. Akin (1871-1920) came to Anoka in 1898 and began working as a cashier in the State Bank. His property a few blocks south of Main Street on the east bank of the Rum River was said to be one of the "most picturesque sites in the . . . — — Map (db m162173) HM
The first dam was built here in 1853 of logs and earth fill by Caleb and W.H. Woodbury. It washed away in high water in the Spring of 1854. A second dam was built in 1854 by James McCann. This dam and its pool provided 5 sluiceways for water . . . — — Map (db m70264) HM
The square of land on the east side of the Rum River just south of Main Street has been a place for Anoka citizens to gather since the town began in the mid-1800's. Known as Bridge Square, it was a place to share news, to hear speeches and . . . — — Map (db m70586) HM
Three stone houses were built during the 1920's by Thaddeus P. Giddings (1969-1954). Giddings was the Supervisor of Music for the Minneapolis Schools and founder of the National Music Camp in Interlachen, Michigan. The stone houses were part . . . — — Map (db m70825) HM
This house was the home of three generations of the Ticknor Family, who greatly contributed to the development of Anoka. The architecture of the house incorporates design features of Gothic Revival (1867, design of original house) and the Queen Anne . . . — — Map (db m181514) HM
Native peoples and traders met at a trading post constructed across the Rum River from The Point in 1844 by Joseph Bellanger. The Ojibwa brought furs and skins to trade for copper cooking pots, cloth, blankets, decorative beads and iron . . . — — Map (db m70921) HM
The Mississippi River forms a unique and complex ecosystem spanning 2000 miles. From its origin at Lake Itasca in Northern Minnesota to its outlet in the Gulf of Mexico the river encompasses a diversity of life found only in a very few places . . . — — Map (db m70908) HM
Who Lived Here
Thousands of years ago, glaciers and inland seas covered much of North America. These early forces shaped the land to form lakes, rives, soil deposits, and land features. Sandy soil at the southern end of the Rum River . . . — — Map (db m236855) HM
Why Settle Here? Looking for Work
Timber was a resource that drew many west and in 1847, surveyor Daniel Stanchfield noted, "Seventy mills in seventy years couldn't exhaust the white pine I have seen on the Rum River". The rivers . . . — — Map (db m70982) HM
This amphitheater is a rare example of a semi-circular, open-air theater in Minnesota. It echoes the design of ancient Greek and Roman theaters. Set into the hillside, it was designed to accommodate 1,600 people. The idea for its construction came . . . — — Map (db m230699) HM
The Mighty Mississippi River One of the world’s great rivers, the Mississippi trickles from Minnesota’s Lake Itasca, gathering the waters of the nation’s heartland as it flows to the Gulf of Mexico. On its timeless journey, the river weaves . . . — — Map (db m70952) HM
This church, the Swedish Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ham Lake as it is called on the National Register of Historic Places, has a rich history. Founded in 1872, the building was constructed on land donated by Johan and Fredrika Magnuson shortly . . . — — Map (db m207320) HM
Twenty thousand years ago, a great sheet of ice, the Superior lobe, covered this
area. At its farthest advance, it formed the St. Croix moraine, a series of high hills to the
west, south, and east. When it melted, it left behind vast . . . — — Map (db m70297) HM
Itasca grew up around an Indian trading post which was established 800 feet east of here in 1849 by Thomas A. Holmes and James Beatty. At the suggestion of Territorial Governor Alexander Ramsey, the settlement was named in honor of Lake Itasca, the . . . — — Map (db m69908) HM
The Rum River, a 148 mile river of gradual grade, is rich in history. The French explored it. The Chippewa and Sioux fought along it, and the pine logs that helped build the cities of the Midwest were floated down it during the lumber boom of the . . . — — Map (db m94721) HM
