Cities and Towns | Page 79

Business buildings in Cannon Falls

Business buildings line this Cannon Falls street in the early 1880s. Such wood frame structures, often clustered together, proved susceptible to fire.

Black and white photograph of destruction caused by the 1887 fire in Cannon Falls.

Destruction caused by 1887 fire in Cannon Falls

This view, looking north on Fourth Street shows Cannon Falls in the aftermath of the 1887 fire. The Yale House is at the top left. First National Bank vault is the small white structure left of center. A livery stable and the home are behind the vault.

Cannon Falls Fires, May 20, 1887

Buildings along the main streets of Minnesota's earliest communities were particularly vulnerable to fire. Even small blazes could grow quickly and incinerate wood-frame structures in densely packed business districts. The 1880s fires in Cannon Falls serve as an example.

Red Wing’s “Stone Age”

Thanks to the limestone bluffs and hills that surrounded Red Wing, the town became a Minnesota lime-making and stone quarrying center from 1870 to 1910. Those forty years are sometimes known as the city’s “Stone Age.”

A crowd watches a fire at the Marlborough Apartment Hotel, Minneapolis

A crowd watches a fire at the Marlborough Apartment Hotel, Minneapolis, January 3, 1940.

Photograph of Minneapolis firefighters trying to move a Hennepin County Morgue truck after being iced in during a January 3, 1940 fire at the Marlborough Apartment Hotel

Minneapolis firefighters try to move a Hennepin County Morgue truck after being iced in during a Jan. 3 fire at the Marlborough Apartment Hotel

Minneapolis firefighters try to move a Hennepin County Morgue truck after being iced in during a January 3, 1940 fire at the Marlborough Apartment Hotel.

Marlborough Apartment Hotel fire, Minneapolis

Marlborough Apartment Hotel fire, Minneapolis, January 3, 1940.

Marlborough Apartment Hotel Fire, January 3, 1940

On January 3, 1940, the Marlborough Apartment Hotel in Minneapolis burst into flames after an explosion in its basement. The deadliest fire the city had ever seen would claim nineteen lives and destroy a three-story building housing more than one hundred twenty people.

Waconia City Hall

Postcard depicting the second city hall building in Waconia. Refurbished into senior apartments in the late 1990s and early 2000s. This building was nominated to the National Register for Historic Places.

Ice Cutting Crew on East Shore of Lake Waconia

Ice cutting crew on east shore of Lake Waconia, c.1920.

Gale Family Library