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
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
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
"Who says we cannot build railroads in the winter?" asked the Mankato Weekly Union on December 10, 1869, in an article announcing that the tracks of the St. Paul & Sioux City Railroad had reached the new town of Lake Crystal.
The . . . — — Map (db m67364) HM
Washington Park
During the summer of 1868, the Minnesota Valley Railway Company contracted more than 500 people to grade and lay ties and tracks from Kasota to Mankato, reaching Mankato October 3, 1868.
The mainline was known as the . . . — — Map (db m66635) HM
On April 8, 1885 Chief Engineer Blunt of the Winona & St. Peter Railroad Co. announced that the railroad had decided to build a side track between New Ulm and Sleepy Eye for the purpose of receiving grain. The site was known only as "Siding Number . . . — — Map (db m67411) HM
In 1899, the Iowa and Minnesota Land & Townsite Company circulated a petition to locate a railroad station in Lake Hanska Township. The petition was signed by 77 people and on October 9, 1899 the village of Hanska was platted in section 24 by Harry . . . — — Map (db m66468) HM
Searles, a small community in Section 21 of Cottonwood Township, was platted on October 10, 1899, by Harry and Anna Jenkins. It was a railroad station point named by officials of the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad.
The original plat . . . — — Map (db m67914) HM
John and Daniel Burns were pioneer settlers in this area of brown County. Burnstown Township was named in their honor.
Railroad construction advanced westward and the name of the station stop here in 1873 was "Burns." A small settlement . . . — — Map (db m67542) HM
James J. Hill
The Dakota Rail Regional Trail follows the route of a former railroad line that was once part of the Great Northern Railway. Built by James J. Hill in the late 1800s, this historic line played a part in connecting Minnesota to . . . — — Map (db m98390) HM
The arrival of a train in a small town was an important event, bringing new settlers, visitors, mail, news, and goods faster and more often than in the days before the railroads. Pine River wasn't the only place in Minnesota that changed once the . . . — — Map (db m189381) HM
The first excursion train pulled into Walker on August 8, 1896 and the town was ready for the invasion of fishermen from all over the country. Pat McGarry had opened up his White Tent City, consisting of twelve white tents, which became the next . . . — — Map (db m235797) HM
In the early 1900s before the automobile, tourists could book round-trip railroad passage from Minneapolis to Walker for just fifty cents! At its peak in the 1970s, there were over 200 Ma & Pa establishments serving the lake mostly simply fish . . . — — Map (db m235794) HM
The name Leech Lake Village was changed to Walker, Minnesota when a lumber baron from Ohio by the name of Thomas B. Walker came to the area in 1862 and began buying up all the timberland around the area. The Village of Walker was named after him and . . . — — Map (db m235798) 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
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 railroad bridge west of this spot marks the location of the first bridge over the Red River. In early 1872, the Northern Pacific Railway built west from Duluth and reached the river this is where Moorhead was founded. Bridge construction . . . — — Map (db m213595) HM
Although never a city entity, this park was located on the east side of Sixth Street just south of the Northern Pacific Railroad tracks, also called NP Park as it was on Northern Pacific RR land. The first NP Depot was just to the north, . . . — — Map (db m213559) HM
The only open-air railway station remaining in the U.S.A. Built in 1896 by the Northern Pacific Railway preserved and maintained through the cooperation of local and summer residents. — — Map (db m126145) HM
The depot had its birth in 1896, and was slated for demolition when the railroad discontinued service to the Lake Hubert region. It has been preserved through the cooperative efforts of Lake Hubert residents.
Mr. Hugh McCaffrey, who ran the Lake . . . — — Map (db m126147) HM
The Mississippi River has long been a major artery for trade and transportation.
For thousands of years, Indians traveled on the river by canoe. By the 1850s, rivertowns like Hastings boomed as steamboats brought settlers into the region. The . . . — — Map (db m48589) HM
Mendota occupies a strategic position in the transportation history of Minnesota. Located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers, Mendota became a central meeting place for river boats traveling along these major waterways. With . . . — — Map (db m229037) HM
The construction of this building began in 1904 following an agreement in which the city of Red Wing provided trackage concessions and the railroad agreed to construct this depot and donate money toward construction of Levee Park. This building was . . . — — Map (db m49097) HM
River Valleys Take Shape
The two river valleys that meet here were carved thousands of years ago by water flowing from glaciers in the north. Glacial River Warren drained Glacial Lake Agassiz cutting through debris and bedrock to form the . . . — — Map (db m237601) HM
This area around the confluence, or meeting of the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers has been the center of activity in this region for centuries. Generations of people have gathered here to live, work, and recreate.
Native peoples, explorers, . . . — — Map (db m227822) HM
In 187981, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad (CM&StP) built a line across the city's southern edge. The tracks crossed nearly 50 streets between Cedar Avenue and the lakes, creating many hazards for pedestrians and . . . — — Map (db m238962) HM
Hennepin Avenue was built on the historic ox-cart road between St. Anthony Falls and Lake Calhoun. From 1884 to 1905, the Minneapolis Park Board designated Hennepin Avenue as a parkway, which limited commercial development. By the . . . — — Map (db m235324) HM
The intersection of Lake Street and Lyndale Avenue emerged as one of Minneapolis' earliest commercial areas. A cluster of stores stood at the intersection as early as 1885. Two of its most significant buildings were erected at this . . . — — Map (db m240050) HM
The Expanding City
In 1910, Minneapolis was growing in every direction. From its beginnings at the Falls of St. Anthony about 70 years before, a dense collection of commercial and industrial buildings filled the downtown, and block after . . . — — Map (db m200506) HM
In the late 1800's rail traffic in the Twin Cities experienced a tremendous growth. As rail traffic increased, street crossings shared by railcars, pedestrians, and street traffic became more congested and dangerous.
By the early 1900s, the . . . — — Map (db m237217) HM
The Falls of St. Anthony are the only significant cataract on the Mississippi. Their natural beauty captured the imagination and attention of Native Americans as well as early explorers and settlers. In the summer of 1680, Father Louis Hennepin, . . . — — Map (db m243168) HM
The landscape around the Falls was transformed by many types of construction. Blasting and excavations for bridge supports and rail trackage modified the river banks, rail trestles were built over the canal and tailrace to serve the mills, and a . . . — — Map (db m241354) HM
Discriminatory rates charged by Chicago-owned railroads favored Milwaukee and Chicago flour mills. Minneapolis millers fought back by building their own railroad, the Soo Line.
On May 2, 1878, a massive explosion caused by flour dust . . . — — Map (db m243044) HM
Waterpower Engineering
Almost immediately after lands on the west side of the Falls were opened for private development in 1855, the Minneapolis Mill Company began to exploit the use of waterpower for commercial purposes. In 1857, the . . . — — Map (db m235926) HM
The City of Minneapolis was incorporated in 1855, soon after the first bridge opened across the Mississippi. Its two main thoroughfares, Hennepin and Nicollet Avenues, met at Bridge Square. That area quickly became the commercial center of a town . . . — — Map (db m231722) HM
Milwaukee Road station agents affectionately referred to the quaint little Minnehaha Depot as "the Princess." Its delicate gingerbread architecture is reminiscent of the Victorian era when ladies in bustles and gentlemen in high collars traveled . . . — — Map (db m17233) HM
Early area survey maps from 1839 show a trail roughly corresponding to present-day Minnehaha Avenue running between Fort Snelling and the Falls of St. Anthony. Following the creation of the Minnesota Territory in 1849, the general . . . — — Map (db m134546) HM
History of Lake Street
When the City of Minneapolis was established in 1856, Lake Street was a mile beyond the southern boundary of the city.
Early Lake Street was home to dance halls, lumberyards, churches, horsesheds and . . . — — Map (db m144127) HM
African American families were among the first to settle in the neighborhood that grew south of East Lake Street. During much of the 20th century, restrictive housing covenants limited where African Americans could buy homes. Minority . . . — — Map (db m134464) HM
Tracks and Yards
In 1879 the CM&StP's Short Line tracks were laid as far as Hiawatha; by 1881 they were completed west of Hiawatha Ave. as the Hastings and Dakota Division.
A Grade Separation Campaign
As part of its westward expansion, the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad (CM&StP) built its Hastings and Dakota line across south Minneapolis in 1879-81. The tracks crossed what was then the city's southern . . . — — Map (db m201047) HM
Elevators and Rails
By 1890, 20 railroad lines stretched from Minneapolis in all directions, and more than 1,000 railcars entered the city each day with passengers, grain and other agricultural products, building supplies, and household goods. . . . — — Map (db m202890) HM
Community Design Process
In 1911, a four-span Howe truss bridge became the first of three to carry passenger traffic across the Northtown Yards. In 1925, it was replaced with a wider five-span Warren truss bridge. This bridgethen part of . . . — — Map (db m232388) HM
The first bridge at 33rd Avenue N.E. (1911) before dismantling, June 1925 (NP Archives, MHS)
Crossing Northtown Yard: The St. Anthony Parkway Bridge
Three bridges have spanned the wide expanse of the . . . — — Map (db m242658) HM
Transportation & Industry
The streetcar system began in 1875. Where tracks were laid, people built homes and businesses. Each night they patiently waited at the corners where every hour they could ride the trolley for work or pleasure. The . . . — — Map (db m232205) HM
The developers of the Minneapolis Street Railway Company gained control of the Saint Paul City Railway Company in 1885 and incorporated the Twin City Rapid Transit Company two years later. The routes of both systems were integrated over . . . — — Map (db m243249) HM
For longer distances, travelers could ride the "Motor Line"a hybrid of a horse car and train, propelled by a steam locomotive. Tracks extended from downtown Minneapolis to Lake Calhoun by 1879, and reached Excelsior by 1881. Four years . . . — — Map (db m245093) HM
This is the first horse car in the Twin Cities, July 15, 1872.
Credit: Minnesota Historical Society Collections
"The large 46-spot cars, built by the company in its own sheds, are of the most modern and . . . — — Map (db m245324) HM
History of Lake Street
When the City of Minneapolis was established in 1856, Lake Street was a mile beyond the southern boundary of the city.
Early Lake Street was home to dance halls, lumberyards, churches, horsesheds, blacksmiths, . . . — — Map (db m213113) HM
The Chicago line reached 35th Street by 1890, 46th Street by 1904, 48th Street by 1922, and 54th Street by 1928. Each extension opened up new areas to development, making it easy for people to commute to jobs and go shopping. As historian . . . — — Map (db m240773) HM
Opened in 1910, the Lake Street Station was one of six carhouses used by the Twin City Rapid Transit Company (TCRT) streetcar system that served Minneapolis and St. Paul. At its peak in 1920, TCRT had nearly 530 miles of track and 1,021 . . . — — Map (db m134460) HM
The Saint Anthony Falls Water Power Company (SAFWPC) and the Minneapolis Mill Company (MMC) were chartered by the territorial legislature in 1856, two years before Minnesota achieved statehood. The companies were on the frontier of Americaand . . . — — Map (db m235347) HM
William de la Barre, Report upon the Projected Addition to the Water Power at the Saint Anthony Falls at Minneapolis, Minnesota, 1894
The river . . . — — Map (db m239759) HM
During the nineteenth century, mills at the falls were driven directly by waterpower. Sawmills were often on platforms built out over the river, where water drove machinery through systems of shafts, gears, and belts. In the flour mills, water was . . . — — Map (db m155494) HM
Here at the Falls of St. Anthony, where waterpower, river transportation, and eventually railroads came together, the industrial heart of the upper Midwest began to beat in the mid-1800s. Keen-eyed factory and mill owners from the states of the . . . — — Map (db m155495) HM
In 1879 St. Paul railroad magnate James J. Hill opened his "Manitoba line" to the Canadian border, linking the wheat fields of the Red River Valley with the flour mills of Minneapolis. To improve railroad access at the falls he built this 2,100-foot . . . — — Map (db m21031) HM
The CM&StP: A New Route to the West
The CM&StP Railroad's Short Line bridge across the Mississippi River, completed in 1880, was the first of three important bridges in the vicinity. In 1888, crossing at Franklin Avenue and Lake Street also . . . — — Map (db m200507) HM
For 74 years this transit railway carried passengers to downtown jobs, to University of Minnesota classes, and to picnics and concerts on the shores of Lake Harriet.
Steam passenger trains of the Minneapolis, Lyndale & Minnetonka Railway first . . . — — Map (db m38850) HM
Do you know how many bandshells have been built at Lake Harriet?
Five, each built with a distinct style and features.
1888: The first bandshell was constructed by the Minneapolis Street Railway Company on their property near the rail . . . — — Map (db m211907) HM
The Wayzata Depot was built in 1906 by James J. Hill, owner of the Great Northern Railroad. The English Tudor structure, designed by architect Samuel Bartlett, was noted for its hot water heat and indoor plumbing and at one time was considered the . . . — — Map (db m83078) HM
When the St. Paul, Sioux City & Omaha Railroad came to southwest Minnesota in the early1870s, it established stations along the way. A siding was established at a place called Timber Lake (Sec. 7-Delafield Township) which eventually became known as . . . — — Map (db m233117) HM
On June 24, 1882, one of the most disastrous railroad wrecks in Kandiyohi County's history took place here. The train left Willmar to travel to Grove City gravel yards with 45-50 men on board. Two and a half miles west of Atwater the train's tender . . . — — Map (db m231744) HM
1865 Louis Larson filed homestead rights and named the site New London.
1867 Merchants W.W. Pinney and Samuel Adams each built and opened stores. Postal service began.
1868 New London became county seat of Monongalia County.
. . . — — Map (db m79619) HM
Green Lake has had three names. The Dakota who spent their summers here for hundreds of years, called it Mdeto.
The first whites called it Carnelian, for its red sandy beaches. Later settlers observed the green color, as the Indians had, and . . . — — Map (db m77792) HM
Engine 2523 is a P-2 class mountain type locomotive survivor of the steam engines acquired by the Great Northern Railway from Baldwin Works in Pennsylvania in 1923 to speed up mainline passenger service. A powerful and speedy locomotive of the P-2 . . . — — Map (db m231822) HM
This mountain type locomotive survivor of the steam engines acquired by the Great Northern Railway to speed up main-line passenger service was placed on permanent exhibition here on October 17, 1965.
A powerful and speedy . . . — — Map (db m76363) HM
Charles Hallock, a well-known New York naturalist and writer, referred to the area that would become the town of Hallock as "a Sportsman's Paradise." Hallock penned articles about its birds, grasses, flora, and wildlife for Harper's . . . — — Map (db m206298) HM
This sleigh was used by the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad Company to transport officials and employees between Duluth and Two Harbors, from 1882 to 1886, which period of time covered the construction of the road between Two Harbors and the . . . — — Map (db m78786) HM
Two Harbors owes its very existence to the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad (D&IR), established in 1883 to transport iron ore from the Vermilion Range for shipping to steel mills via the the Great Lakes. The railroad chose Agate Bay, renamed Two . . . — — Map (db m78778) HM
Central American Connection
The 3 Spot was built in 1883, by Philadelphia-based Baldwin Locomotive Works. The 3 Spot was originally built for the Tehuantepec Interoceanic Railway in Mexico. The Tehuantepec Interoceanic never took delivery, . . . — — Map (db m78787) HM
[Marker 1]
This locomotive is dedicated to the men, women, and families of the Duluth Missabe & Iron Range Railroad
[Marker 2]
DM&IR Yellowstone Mallet #229, which is displayed opposite the venerable Duluth & Iron Range Railroad 3 . . . — — Map (db m78785) HM
Hand Car
Hand and Push Cars were primarily used by section crews to move men and equipment to local work sites. Hand cars did not have a reverse gear and had to be picked up by four men and turned to face the opposite direction.
[Photo . . . — — Map (db m78806) HM
The first D&IR wooden ore cars were purchased from the Northwestern Manufacturing Co. in 1884. The first order was for 300 cars at a cost of $615 each. The cars had a capacity of 20 tons but were often overloaded. The lifespan of this equipment . . . — — Map (db m78797) HM
You are standing at the center of the town of Brickton, which today is a ghost town. However, between 1887 and 1927 Brickton was a hub of quality brickmaking in the Midwest.
This is the only known photo of the center of Brickton, taken . . . — — Map (db m236997) HM
PICTURED: William Lisky and Marion Shrade in front and Herman Riebe and Adolph Minks above on the brick pile. Minks later said 1910 was a "good, hot dry summer good for brickmaking".
This 1910 photo shows four men stacking . . . — — Map (db m237119) HM
Cass Gilbert Depot
has been placed on the
National Register
of Historic Places
by the United States
Department of the Interior
Built 1899 — — Map (db m78231) HM
Motley began as a lumber and railroad town. Its location between two rivers ensured its future. Down these rivers logs were floated to sawmills built by Morrison on the Crow Wing and Curtis and Laurence on the Long Prairie. From there the rough-cut . . . — — Map (db m207230) HM
Fulda's depot, the only surviving Eastlake - style two-story depot in southwestern Minnesota, was built in 1880 just to the southeast of the present location, on a platform between two sets of tracks. Boarding the train and loading freight was . . . — — Map (db m101287) HM
A Snapshot of Ottertail City Trading Post - Otter Tail City was originally settled by trappers that traded with the natives of the area. Donald McDonald located a trading post on the east side of Otter Tail Lake because of its . . . — — Map (db m233573) HM
This tablet is placed here to commemorate the arrival of the Northern Pacific Railway at Perham September 30, 1871. The first railroad to enter Otter Tail County, Minnesota. Dedicated by the Otter Tail County Historical Society June 28, . . . — — Map (db m233683) HM
Josiah Perham The city is named after Josiah Perham, who became the first president of the Northern Pacific Railway in 1864. Perham was a wealthy man, but lost all his money and property in an attempt to build a railroad from Lake . . . — — Map (db m233623) HM
Banning was a boom-town. In 1896, Martin Ring platted a village along the St. Paul and Duluth Railroad. To honor the industry, Ring named the village and streets after railroad officials.
At its peak, Banning had a population of about 300, . . . — — Map (db m204504) HM
The Rock Island Depot was built in 1890, using cream color bricks and Sioux quartzite trimming. It featured a slate roof and two waiting rooms; one for men and one for women. It was built by the Burlington Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway but . . . — — Map (db m235413) HM
The beginning of train service in Starbuck was heralded by a shrill steam whistle on Nov. 10, 1882. The last train left without fanfare on July 15, 1983.
This 90 mile line from Morris to Little Falls was built using horses and dirt scrapers. It . . . — — Map (db m84383) HM
Looking at this preserve it is hard to imagine the shrill sounds, bustling Shops, and iron horses built and maintained here well over 100 years ago.
Native Americans traveled through and used this landscape for thousands of years before . . . — — Map (db m137697) HM
You are standing at the turntable of the St. Paul & Duluth Roundhouse.
Round and Round They Go
A roundhouse, or engine house, is named for its distinctive shape and used for repairing and storing locomotives. Turntables allowed for efficient . . . — — Map (db m137787) HM
The Gladstone Shops were completed in 1888 at over one quarter of a million dollars. An orderly array of rail lines marched across the site paralleling fuel and raw material sheds, maintenance shops, a well, 1800 feet of sewer and a 100-foot . . . — — Map (db m212610) HM
The well at the Gladstone Shops was crucial for site operation. The Shops used between 80,000 and 100,000 gallons of water per day. Without water the Shops and the locomotives they built and maintained would have come to a standstill. Water was used . . . — — Map (db m212724) HM
I was impressed by the natural beauty of the spot and thought it should be secured as a park to be enjoyed by all the people of the city.
William McMurray, President, William McMurray & Co., coffee and spice dealers, St. . . . — — Map (db m241223) HM
James J. Hill
"Most men who have really lived here have had, in some shape, their great adventure. This railway is mine," wrote James J. Hill to the Great Northern Railway employees upon his retirement in 1912. Throughout his long working . . . — — Map (db m231549) HM
From Horse Car to Streetcar
The Saint Paul City Railway used horse cars for its first route in 1872, but horses were expensive to feed and susceptible to disease and injury. As an alternative, the company tried cable cars in 1888, but an . . . — — Map (db m241851) HM
From Europe to America
Both concrete and steel were becoming more available for bridge construction in the late nineteenth century. This inspired designs for systems of steel reinforcing to produce longer concrete spans. Austrian engineer . . . — — Map (db m241850) HM
By the 1850s, the growth of Saint Paul was altering the landscape.
In the 1850s the Dakota were forced to leave, and Saint Paul's early settlers occupied the land. Immigrants established the North Star Brewery here, and . . . — — Map (db m231222) HM
When the land was a busy rail yard, lineal concrete pads were used for train maintenance. Most of the concrete on the site was removed to make way for restored habitat. Community members advocated for keeping five of the concrete pads to . . . — — Map (db m231323) HM
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