Exterior of Finstad’s Auto-Marine Shop

Exterior of Finstad’s Auto-Marine Shop

Exterior of Finstad’s Auto-Marine Shop in Ranier. Rainy Lake is visible in the background. Photograph by Marjorie Savage, September 21, 2017.

Northwest Trail

For untold generations, Indigenous people traversed North America’s interlocking waterways by canoe. When moving between drainage systems, it was necessary for them to bridge the high ground that kept the waters separated. This meant carrying, or “portaging,” canoes and belongings between watersheds. One of the most important portage routes in Minnesota, known today as the Northwest Trail, connected the Mississippi River to Lake Superior.

Plat map of Rice County showing the location of Nerstrand, 1900. From the 1900 Rice County plat book.

Plat map of Rice County

Plat map of Rice County showing the location of Nerstrand, 1900. From the 1900 Rice County plat book.

Three unidentified people in front of the Nerstrand Hotel with American flags on display, ca. 1890. Nerstrand city records, Nerstrand City Hall.

Nerstrand Hotel

Three unidentified people in front of the Nerstrand Hotel with American flags on display, ca. 1890. Nerstrand city records, Nerstrand City Hall.

Nerstrand Railway Station (998_b-9, Great Western Railroad), ca. 1935. Used with the permission of Rice County Historical Society.

Nerstrand Railway Station

Nerstrand Railway Station (998_b-9, Great Western Railroad), ca. 1935. Used with the permission of Rice County Historical Society.

Nerstrand Railway Station

From 1885 to 1982, the Minnesota and Northwestern Railroad significantly impacted the village of Nerstrand. For this rural, agricultural community in Rice County, the establishment of a station in September 1885 not only transformed the un-platted settlement into a quintessential “railroad town,” but also strongly aided in its population growth and development for decades to come.

Map of the Interstate 94 corridor, 1965. From Alan A. Altshuler’s The City Planning Process: A Political Analysis (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1965). Used with the permission of Cornell University Press.

Map of the Interstate 94 corridor

Map of the Interstate 94 corridor, 1965. From Alan A. Altshuler’s The City Planning Process: A Political Analysis (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1965). Used with the permission of Cornell University Press.

Neighborhood Resistance to I-94, 1953–1965

In the 1950s, planned construction of Interstate Highway 94 (I-94) threatened to fracture four Twin Cities neighborhoods: Rondo, Prospect Park, Merriam Park, and Seward. Although each community responded differently and achieved different results, all were models of persistence and resistance.

A transit worker applies a “T” (for transit) decal to one of the old Twin City Lines buses before being sent out on the streets under new management for the first time in September 1970. All of the former TCL buses were eventually repainted a solid red before until they were replaced. Photo by the St. Paul Pioneer Press; used with permission.

Transit worker applying decal to bus

A transit worker applies a “T” (for transit) decal to one of the old Twin City Lines buses before being sent out on the streets under new management for the first time in September 1970. All of the former TCL buses were eventually repainted a solid red before until they were replaced. Photo by the St. Paul Pioneer Press; used with permission.

Aging bus operated by Twin City Lines, ca. 1960s. Photo by the St. Paul Pioneer Press; used with permission.

Twin City Lines bus

Aging bus operated by Twin City Lines, ca. 1960s. Photo by the St. Paul Pioneer Press; used with permission.

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