On West Main Street at Park Street, on the right when traveling east on West Main Street.
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
Near 2nd Avenue south of Adams Street, on the right when traveling south.
Anoka's first City Hall stood on Main Street between Second and Third Avenues and housed the fire department on the first level. Courtesy of the Anoka County Historical Society.
Starting in the 1950's, a series of annexations . . . — — Map (db m249568) HM
On Ferry Street (U.S. 169), on the right when traveling north.
Before this bridge was built, crossing the Mississippi River meant using either ice bridges or a ferry boat. The first ferry crossed the river at this point in the fall of 1855.
The first bridge to span the river between Anoka and Champlin . . . — — Map (db m288140) HM
On the Rum River Regional Trail north of Harrison Street, on the left when traveling north.
The feed mill in the early 1950s had only two silos.
Owners Ernest Petersen and his sister, Alice, in the office, 1952 or 1953.
Anoka Independent Feed and Grain is one of Anoka's oldest family run businesses. . . . — — Map (db m248924) HM
Near 2nd Avenue south of Adams Street, on the right when traveling south.
Logging on the Rum River stretched from Mille Lacs to Anoka. This crew included J.W. Freeburg in 1894. Courtesy of the Anoka County Historical Society.
The last log drive on the Rum River occurred in the 1890's when the . . . — — Map (db m249652) HM
On E. Main Street at S. 3rd Avenue, on the right when traveling east on E. Main Street.
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 faηade, cornice, arched windows, modillions under the eaves, and . . . — — Map (db m132571) HM
On 2nd Avenue north of Van Buren Street, on the left when traveling north.
Medal of Honor
Awarded to
Richard Keith Sorenson
Rank and Organization: Private US Marine Corps Reserve, 4th Marine Division
Place and Date: Namur Island, Kwajalein Attol [sic], Marshall Islands, 1-2 February 1944
Entered . . . — — Map (db m249068) WM
Near South Ferry Road 0.3 miles east of South Ferry Street (U.S. 169).
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
Near South Ferry Road 0.3 miles east of South Ferry Street (U.S. 169).
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
On 3rd Avenue at Monroe Street, on the right when traveling north on 3rd Avenue.
Colonial Hall is a Georgian Revival style building that was designed as a home and medical-practice office for Doctors Alanson and Flora Aldrich. They were renowned for their civic engagement and medical practice. Dr. Flora Aldrich was one of . . . — — Map (db m286329) HM
On 1st Avenue at East Main Street, on the right when traveling south on 1st Avenue.
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
Near South Ferry Road 0.3 miles east of South Ferry Street (U.S. 169).
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
On 2nd Avenue south of Harrison Street, on the right when traveling south.
In the early 1900s, brothers, J.W. (Bill) and Archie Freeburg were business partners in the W.H. LaPlant Company that sold feed, seed, coal and other farm related items. In 1933 Bill and Archie left the LaPlant Company and opened their own . . . — — Map (db m249021) 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
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 . . . — — Map (db m249485) HM
Near South Ferry Road 0.3 miles east of South Ferry Street (U.S. 169).
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
On W. Main Street at Green Avenue, on the right when traveling west on W. Main Street.
The first burial in Oakwood Cemetery was Alexander Lane on December 19, 1855. His grave is not the oldest grave here as his body was removed. The oldest grave in Oakwood Cemetery is that of Laura E. Little. She died in 1857 at age 22.
In . . . — — Map (db m283595) HM
On Jackson Street east of 2nd Avenue, on the right when traveling east.
The Jackson Hotel building stands at the heart of Anoka's business district and was a vital part of the prominent role Anoka played in Minnesota as a lumbering, agricultural, milling, and commercial trade center. The Jackson Hotel once featured . . . — — Map (db m308869) HM
On S. Ferry Road east of Ferry Street (U.S. 169), on the left when traveling south.
Built on one of Anoka's busiest thoroughfares, this French Second Empire style structure is of an impressive size, design, and prominent location, all of which were combined to make it unique. The building was Anoka's first hospital and played . . . — — Map (db m287611) HM
On the Rum River Regional Trail north of E. Main Street, on the left when traveling north.
Lincoln Mill, built in 1880 by W.D. Washburn, was the largest and most successful of Anoka's mills. The mill measured 60'x120' and was 7 stories tall. The mill was powered by two American turbine wheels, a 250-horsepower Corliss engine, and . . . — — Map (db m249327) HM
Near 2nd Avenue north of Van Buren Street, on the left when traveling north.
Logs were cut in the winter and stacked on the riverbank until they could be floated down river in the spring. Many rivers carried logs from more than one logging camp, so it was important to know which logs came from which camps. Before . . . — — Map (db m248813) HM
Near South Ferry Road 0.3 miles east of South Ferry Street (U.S. 169).
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
On the Rum River Regional Trail north of E. Main Street, on the left when traveling north.
The first Main Street Bridge was built by Orin W. Rice as part of the Military Road project in 1853. The 140-foot wooden, single arch bridge served Anoka for more than 50 years. Around 1907, the wooden bridge was replaced with an iron . . . — — Map (db m249407) 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
Peninsula Point is formed by the confluence of two great rivers. Throughout its history it has been the meeting place of many cultures. Now Peninsula Point Two Rivers Historical Park, "The Point," is a meeting place for you to discover the rich . . . — — Map (db m248604) HM
On Rice Street at Levee Avenue, on the left when traveling west on Rice Street.
The first ever swimming hole in the city of Anoka was known as Rice Street Beach. The beach was located at the west end of Rice Street and Levee Street on the Mississippi River. The beach first opened in 1931. The beach offered a recreational . . . — — Map (db m287155) HM
Near South Ferry Road 0.3 miles east of South Ferry Street (U.S. 169).
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
Near North 2nd Avenue north of Jackson Street, on the left when traveling north.
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
On the Rum River Regional Trail north of E. Main Street, on the left when traveling north.
Construction on the first dam began in late summer 1853. The dam was built using rocks, earth, and tamarack logs for pilings, which were cut from the swamps near Round Lake in Andover, MN. The dam was used to divert water to power the saw . . . — — Map (db m249175) HM
Near 2nd Avenue south of Adams Street, on the right when traveling south.
Oral traditions and archaeological evidence suggest early human habitation. Inhabitants hunted game, gathered plants, and made pottery. Conflict between the Dakota, who lived near Lake Mille Lacs, and the Anishinaabeg (Ojibwe) who were moving . . . — — Map (db m249680) HM
On Fremont Street at Franklin Lane, on the left when traveling west on Fremont Street.
The Greek Revival Architecture and its association with the founding of Anoka combine to make this property historically significant. The original east section of the house was built for Neil Shaw and his family, who were prominent land . . . — — Map (db m285801) HM
Near 1st Avenue south of East Main Street, on the right when traveling south.
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
On Jefferson Street west of 3rd Avenue, on the right when traveling east.
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
Near S. Ferry Road east of Ferry Street (U.S. 169).
100-year chronology of significant events affecting water quality in Anoka and the Mississippi River
c. 1900
Residential sewage flowed directly to the river without treatment.
1916
Anoka's first rudimentary wastewater . . . — — Map (db m288652) HM
On 2nd Avenue south of Harrison Street, on the right when traveling south.
Built in 1872 by W.D. Washburn & Co., the mill had an annual production of 16 million board feet of lumber. Combined with the planing mills, dry kilns, etc., the mill employed about 125 men. For 17 years logs from the headwaters of the Rum . . . — — Map (db m242327) HM
On Harrison Street at 2nd Avenue, on the right when traveling west on Harrison Street.
Washburn Saw Mill Chimney
On July 13, 1907, in front of a crowd of 3,000 onlookers, the iconic 90-foot Washburn Saw Mill chimney was razed. The chimney was constructed of approximately 125,000 Kelsey bricks; a high-quality . . . — — Map (db m248997) HM
Near South Ferry Road 0.3 miles east of South Ferry Street.
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
Near South Ferry Road 0.3 miles east of South Ferry Street (U.S. 169).
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
On Castle Field Boulevard west of 7th Avenue, on the left when traveling west.
Willard "Butch" Castle, was a lifelong resident of Anoka, Marine Corps Corporal, Veteran of World War II, and an outstanding athlete. He received All-Region and All-District honors in basketball while attending Anoka High School and was a . . . — — Map (db m279129) HM
On Ferry Street at the footbridge over the Rum River, on the right when traveling north on Ferry Street.
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 . . . — — Map (db m230699) HM
