The original courthouse built on this site in 1887 included a jail and sheriff's residence. It served a population of about 2,000 people. As a logging town, Aitkin became a railhead and an important stopping point for boats on the Mississippi . . . — — Map (db m127867) HM
This is the site of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Biological Survey Camp 3. Serving as the home of Company 2705 from 1939 to 1941, as many as 23 buildings were once located here to house and support 200 men.
[Captions:] Crew . . . — — Map (db m210895) HM
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), what began as a Depression era work program, became an important building block to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's National Wildlife Refuge System. In 1939, seven thousand Corps participants worked at 35 . . . — — Map (db m210281) HM
Settlement
In the late 1800s, the first white settlers came to the area that is now the refuge. They were loggers, ranchers and market hunters. Loggers cut the pine trees from the land and floated them down the Rice River to the Mississippi . . . — — Map (db m210313) HM
In late 1850, some 400 Ojibwe Indians perished because of the governments attempt to relocate them from their homes in Wisconsin and Upper Michigan to Minnesota west of the Mississippi River. The tragedy unfolded at Sandy Lake where thousands of . . . — — Map (db m206878) HM
Early water transportation on the Upper Mississippi River from St. Paul to St. Louis was hindered by fluctuating water levels. In 1878, the Corp of Engineers studied the impact of a reservoir system on the river. The study resulted in the building . . . — — Map (db m207887) HM
Of the American Fur Company was established near here about 1830, after an earlier location further south at the Northwest Companys station had been abandoned.
William A. Aitkin for many years was a leading trader in this region. Indian . . . — — Map (db m207745) HM
This map shows the locations of some of the villages of the 19 Ojibwe Bands whose treaty annuities were paid at Sandy Lake in 1850. Today, these 19 Bands are succeeded by the 12 federally-recognized Bands whose present-day reservations also are . . . — — Map (db m207530) HM
To the native Anishinabe (Ojibwe) and to the white fur traders who bartered with them in the late 1700s and early 1800s, no Minnesota lake had a more strategic location than Big Sandy Lake, which stands at the intersection of two major trade . . . — — Map (db m210859) HM
(side 1)
Glacial Lake Aitkin
Two million years ago the first of four glaciers covered the surface of Minnesota. They were named for the limit of their southward expansion. The first was the Nebraskan, followed by the Kansan and the . . . — — Map (db m43932) HM
Albert was a guiding force in the growth and development of County government and its communities. For his lifetime dedication to the preservation of parks and open space, he is known as the "Father" of the Anoka County Park System. — — Map (db m279218) HM
Constructed in 1986 for the citizens of Anoka County by authorization of the Anoka County Board of Commissioners
County Commissioners
Albert A. Kordiak Natalie Haas Steffen Dan Erhart Robert Burman Paul McCarron Margaret . . . — — Map (db m280514) WM
The M41 Walker Bulldog was placed into service in 1953 during the Korean War. The tank, named for Army General Walton Walker, was an agile and well armed vehicle. However, due to its weight, fuel consumption and loud engine noise the tank saw . . . — — Map (db m282186) HM
The highest US military decoration, awarded by Congress to a member of the armed forces for gallantry and bravery in combat at the risk of life above and beyond the call of duty.
James Dennis LaBelle
Private First Class . . . — — Map (db m281431) HM WM
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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 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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
Coon Rapids Dam pictured above during construction in 1913. Near here, a small village sprang up during construction of the Coon Rapids Dam. At peak construction, the site became a community including bunkhouses, mess halls, official's quarters, . . . — — Map (db m279236) HM
The Mighty Mississippi River One of the worlds great rivers, the Mississippi trickles from Minnesotas Lake Itasca, gathering the waters of the nations heartland as it flows to the Gulf of Mexico. On its timeless journey, the river weaves . . . — — Map (db m70952) HM
The gates of the Coon Rapids Dam have changed throughout the years to keep up with flow of the Mississippi River. The Coon Rapids Dam was built in 1913 to generate electric power for a proposed trolley line. The metal structure you see before . . . — — Map (db m280036) HM
Over 600 men worked around the clock using hand tools, horses and coal powered shovels to build the original dam in 1913.
From 1914 until 1966 the dam produced electricity using the energy of falling water. The water fell 19 feet to turn . . . — — Map (db m280346) HM
On the 12th of April 1870, Manomin County was admitted to Anoka County. At that time the name was changed to Manomin Township and later to Fridley Township. This Anoka County Park was formally dedicated 'Manomin' on the 6th of February 1973 by . . . — — Map (db m282372) HM
[obverse]
The Banfill-Locke Tavern stands at the confluence of Rice Creek and the Mississippi River. This two story, Greek Revival style building was built in 1847. John Banfill, a retired Colonel and the state's first Auditor, used it as an . . . — — Map (db m282246) HM
1938
In 1938, Moore Lake was surrounded by farms and forests and very few people. Despite the lack of modern development, Moore Lake still had its problems. Runoff from agricultural fields carrying sediment and nutrients appears to . . . — — Map (db m248397) HM
What are Native Plants?
Plants found in Minnesota before extensive European settlement in 1850 are considered native to the state. These plant species are well-adapted to Minnesota's soil conditions and seasonal changes in . . . — — Map (db m248321) HM
1880 Albin Riedel immigrated from Germany to New York City. He accepted a job offer to work on a farm in Minnesota. After earning enough money, he purchased land in Fridley and built this large farmhouse.
1889 Swedish immigrant, . . . — — Map (db m248740) 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 Mississippi National River and Recreation Area is a 72-mile river park that has opportunities for fishing, boating, and canoeing. On its banks are excellent locations for birding, bicycling, and hiking. Although annually millions of . . . — — Map (db m278724) 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
This plot marks the site of the home of John Cook, pioneer settler, who with his wife Diantha J., and children Freddie W., Mary E., and John W., were murdered by Indians April 26, 1872. — — Map (db m227703) HM
Hamden Slough National Wildlife Refuge is named after the 800-acre Hamden Lake, drained in the early 1900's for agricultural development. Much of the rich prairie soil was also plowed for agriculture. A decline in wildlife populations followed. In . . . — — Map (db m170558)
This courthouse constructed by Becker County in cooperation with the Works Progress Administration of the Federal Works Agency S. L. Stolte State Administrator Harry Phinney District Manager W. R. Koester District Engineer Albert . . . — — Map (db m209093) HM
This lake and the city located on its northern shore received its name from the French word dιtroit, meaning a narrow place in a lake and in this case referred to the bar which divides Little and Big Detroit Lakes. Today this can be seen about . . . — — Map (db m233589) HM
The great ice ages that began about one million years ago were characterized by the advance and recession of huge ice sheets over vast areas of North America. These continental glaciers, originating in Canada, moved southward, scraping up mantle . . . — — Map (db m252767) HM
Through woodland and prairie, along riverbanks and through sloughs, the mixed-blood American and Canadian buffalo hunters called Metis blazed trails with their oxen and squeaky-wheeled wooden carts. They carried buffalo robes and pemmican from . . . — — Map (db m252763) HM
Bad Medicine Lake also called the Lake of the Valley, was originally known to the Ojibway Indians as Ga-wimbadjiwegamag (Lake lying in a mountain depression). Among the many stories about the names origin are legends of serpentine fish and . . . — — Map (db m207258) HM
This trail was used by early settlers and Indians to reach the maple sugar and wild rice campsite located at the north end of Tamarac Lake. It extended east to the Ottertail River and then branched to the south and north. The south branch followed . . . — — Map (db m226131) HM
Minnesota is one of the few states where the Red River Ox Cart was used extensively as a mode of transportation. From 1832 to 1862 the carts went back and forth between St Paul and the fur trading outposts at Pembina, ND and Fort Gary in Canada. . . . — — Map (db m232425) HM
This marker locates a part of the original trail which was cut out of the forest by the U.S. Army in 1868 to facilitate travel from Leech Lake to White Earth. Soldiers accompanied the paymasters along this road in the early days to provide . . . — — Map (db m8537) HM
The first Minnesota mission to be named for Saint Columba was built by James Lloyd Breck in 1852 at Gull Lake near the present-day Brainerd. It was the fourth Episcopal church established in Minnesota.
The initial group of Chippewa Indians . . . — — Map (db m207531) HM
Beltrami County was established by an act of the state legislature on Feb. 28, 1866. The new county extended from a line drawn west from Lake Itasca to a north/south line between Cass Lake and Lake Winnibigoshish. The northern border went through . . . — — Map (db m290685) HM
Beltrami County was established by an act of the state legislature on February 28, 1866.
The first post office in the county was established in Red Lake in 1875.
The first homesteader in the county was Joachim Cyr at Little Turtle Lake in . . . — — Map (db m131652) HM
June 1911 Bemidji Commercial Club entertains Louis Hill, Governor Eberhart, and others at Markham Hotel for dinner and tours them around the Bemidji area hoping Hill will commission a new Great Northern Depot in Bemidji. April 24, 1912 . . . — — Map (db m235292) HM
In commemoration of the first Reserve Unit in the United States to be called into active service in World War I. Forty eight men, composing the Fifth Division of the Minnesota Naval Militia, were mustered in for service directly to the southwest of . . . — — Map (db m235294) HM
Beltrami Camp was built in 1942 by the Works Progress Administration. It was a popular gathering place for family reunions and civic groups. The only remaining building from the Beltrami Camp is the Dining Hall. Today it is still used by the Girl . . . — — Map (db m136149) HM
I wish you would listen in pity to my words for only a few moments. You see that I am now nothing but a corpse, but I will try to speak my mind to you. Regarding our removal, what shall we do when we get there? How shall we manage to get ahead . . . — — Map (db m290901) HM
The statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe were both built in 1937 in connection with a January Winter Carnival. The 18-foot Paul weighs two-and-one-half tons and stands above five tons of concrete footings. Babe was originally built to be mobile, covered . . . — — Map (db m131670) HM
The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians, their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent Northwest Ordinance July 13, 1787 Shaynowishkung's life in this region spanned a time of . . . — — Map (db m290889) HM
Shaynowishkung was born about 1834 near Inger, Minnesota. He Who Rattles is the English translation of his Ojibwemowin name. As a young man, he hunted and harvested throughout this area, which had been a village site, gathering place and . . . — — Map (db m290883) HM
Here now, it is winter, and not a dollar of their annuities, which by solemn treaty stipulations ought to have been paid months ago, have any of these destitute tribes received. Minnesota Pioneer, November 21, 1850 As a result of many . . . — — Map (db m290899) HM
Near this spot, archaeologists found evidence for a Native American fishing camp. Pottery from the camp indicates that people lived here at various times between 3,000 and 600 years ago during what is known as the Woodland Period.
Harvested . . . — — Map (db m135890) HM
Pieces of pottery and other artifacts tell archaeologists that Native Americans have lived along the shores of the Turtle River and Three Island Lake for thousands of years. Because the ways in which Native Americans decorated and made their . . . — — Map (db m135881) HM
In recognition of the remarkable foresight of Dr. Haukebo in creating an unparalleled language and cultural immersion experience for young people, the Welcome Center of Concordia Language Villages at the entrance to the Turtle River Lake sites . . . — — Map (db m307392) HM
Norway Pine planted in memory of Harry Davidson 1894 1983
Harry and Vera Davidson operated Sunset Lodge on this site from 19381970. It included a cafι & bar, 9 cabins, and boat rentals. — — Map (db m199596) HM
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