Rock Island Excursion, 1854

On February 22, 1854, the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad completed the first rail line to connect the Mississippi River to the Atlantic Ocean. To promote that feat the company contacted notable East Coast citizens and journalists and invited them to ride their train to Rock Island. From there, the visitors took a steamboat trip up the Mississippi, stopping at St. Paul. The journalists, pleased with what they saw, wrote of the beauty and splendor of a region that many in the East thought was little more than a wilderness.

Anoka–Champlin Mississippi River Bridge

Constructed in 1884, the Anoka–Champlin Bridge 4380 was the first structural span of the Mississippi River between Anoka and Champlin. A 1920s renovation strengthened the bridge, replacing the original’s stone materials with steel.

Babcock, Charles Merritt (1871–1936)

As state highway commissioner (1917–1933), Charles Babcock established high standards for funding and building roads throughout the state of Minnesota. His plans for taxation and construction allowed modern roads to reach every corner of the state.

Beargrease, John (1858–1910)

The US Congress ordered the beginning of mail service from Superior to Grand Portage, Minnesota, in 1855, but service was spotty. John Beargrease and his brothers came to the rescue. They began covering a regular mail route between Two Harbors and Grand Marais in 1879.

Bicycling Craze, 1890s

In the 1890s, after bicycles became more comfortable and affordable, bicycling swept the nation, Minnesota included. Minnesotans who embraced bicycling at this time helped lay the groundwork for a number of lasting changes in American society, from shorter skirts to better roads.

Cable Cars of the Minneapolis and St. Paul Street Railway Companies

Before Minneapolis and St. Paul upgraded their street railway systems from plodding horse cars to modern electric trolleys, both cities flirted with the use of cable cars. Costly to build, only two lines operated in St. Paul before both cities converted to electric streetcar systems.

Charles A. Lindbergh Memorial, St. Paul

On May 24, 1985, the sculpture “Charles Lindbergh—The Boy and The Man” by Paul T. Granlund was dedicated in front of a crowd of approximately 1,000 people on the grounds of the Minnesota State Capitol. Commissioned by the Lindbergh Fund and the Minnesota Historical Society, it honored the aviator’s 1927 transatlantic flight and his childhood roots in Minnesota. It did not address Lindbergh’s support of American isolationism and antisemitism leading up to World War II—additional dimensions of his complex legacy.

Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Turntable

In August 1900, rail service to the community of Currie began with the completion of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha branch line from Bingham Lake. A hand-operated turntable was built the following year, expanded in 1922, and used until the advent of diesel locomotives in the 1950s. In 1972, a local 4-H club restored the historic turntable and preserved Currie’s railroad heritage through the creation of the End-O-Line Railroad Park & Museum.

Construction of the Stockwood Fill, 1906–1909

Construction of the Stockwood Fill in Clay County between 1906 and 1909 taught Northern Pacific Railway engineers a bitter lesson about building big on northwestern Minnesota’s former-lake-bottom soil.

Currie Line Railroad

Railroads played an important role in the development of Cottonwood County. The 38.6-mile railway called the Currie Line hastened the growth of agriculture and establishment of towns in the northern part of the county in only a decade.

This Day in Minnesota History

December 20, 2017

The last Boeing 747 jumbo jet in Delta Airlines' fleet makes its final landing at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. The long-distance luxury jet, introduced in 1968, put Minnesota-based Northwest Airlines (which merged with Delta in 2008) on the international flight map.

Duluth Incline Railway

In December 1891, the Duluth Street Railway Company opened an incline railway on the right-of-way of Seventh Avenue West. The company had received a charter from the state in 1881 to build a streetcar line for Duluth, and this railway was part of the larger system. The hillside was too steep for a regular rail line, and cable powered lines were often used in similar situations.

Duluth Ship Canal Opening, 1871

The opening of the Duluth Ship Canal in 1871 was a historical turning point for the city of Duluth and the Twin Ports of Duluth and Superior.

Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Depot, Endion

Admired for its jewel-like character, the Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range depot at Endion was constructed in 1899. The depot was designed by notable Duluth architect I. Vernon Hill, and it is one of the last small passenger depots of its kind.

Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway

The Duluth, Missabe and Iron Range Railway (DM&IR) was a small railroad that hauled iron ore and taconite from the mines of northern Minnesota’s Mesabi and Vermilion Iron Ranges to docks on Lake Superior at Duluth and Two Harbors. It operated in northern Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific Railway

The Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific Railway (DW&P) was a Minnesota railroad that operated between International Falls and Duluth. It connected to the Canadian National at International Falls and to the Northern Pacific at Duluth. As a subsidiary of the Canadian National for almost all of the twentieth century, it moved freight along an artery between the Canadian West and the American Midwest through Minnesota.

Father Louis Hennepin Suspension Bridge

The Father Louis Hennepin Bridge was built in 1855 to take advantage of the transport possibilities provided by the Mississippi River above St. Anthony Falls. It was the first bridge built to span the Mississippi river, and made crossing its length above the Falls much easier. The rushing rapids helped to create industry on the river and spurred a population boom that made Minneapolis the most populated city in Minnesota.

Finstad’s Auto-Marine Shop, Ranier

George Finstad repaired and maintained boats for fishermen, residents, and vacationers for more than fifty years at his auto-marine shop on the south shore of Rainy Lake. In 2020, it stands as a reminder of the transportation history and tourist economy of Ranier, Minnesota, as they developed during the early twentieth century.

Goodsell Observatory, Northfield

The Goodsell Observatory and its predecessor, a smaller observatory that opened in 1878, helped keep trains running on time and brought national prominence to Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth centuries.

Grand Portage National Monument

The Grand Portage National Monument in far northeastern Minnesota was established in 1960, after the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (Ojibwe) ceded nearly 710 acres of their land to the US government. A unit of the National Park Service (NPS), it consists of the eight-and-a-half-mile Grand Portage trail and two trading depot sites—one on the shoreline of Lake Superior and one inland, at Pigeon River. A partially reconstructed depot sits at the Lake Superior site.

Great Northern Depot, Bemidji

Bemidji’s Great Northern Depot—James J. Hill’s last commissioned depot—celebrated its grand opening in January of 1913. Replacing the first Great Northern Depot, a wooden structure built in 1898, this impressive brick and sandstone building provided space and modern amenities to accommodate the needs of the growing community.

Great Northern Depot, Minneapolis

The Minneapolis Great Northern Depot (also called the Great Northern Station) served as an important hub for passengers of several railroads throughout the state of Minnesota for more than sixty-five years.

Great Northern Railway

The Great Northern Railway was a transcontinental railroad system that extended from St. Paul to Seattle. Among the transcontinental railroads, it was the only one that used no public funding and only a few land grants. As the northernmost of these lines, the railroad spurred immigration and the development of lands along the route, especially in Minnesota.

Harmony Grain Elevator and Railroad Depot

Like many towns across Minnesota, Harmony owes its existence to a railroad. The first train arrived in 1879, connecting the farming village to larger cities. The rail line became a major contributor to Harmony’s early population growth and economic vitality.

Highway 61 in Minnesota

For more than a century, the routes now known as US Highway 61 and Minnesota State Highway 61 have captured the imagination of Minnesotans looking for views of rushing rivers and cascading waterfalls. Although the road has been renamed, reconfigured, and interrupted multiple times, it continues to serve as a vital transportation channel along the state’s eastern corridor.

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