DevelopmentDevelopmentPart 3: Railroad EraPart 3: Railroad Era

David A. LanegranDavid A. Lanegran

Geography Geography DepartmentDepartment

Macalester Macalester CollegeCollege

Geography of the Twin Cities

Jackson Street Shops of Great Northern. These early railroad construction

and repair shops were built in the Trout Creek Valley and the mainline from St. Paul to

Minneapolis. The site was somewhat constricted, so it was necessary for the railroad to

build a large facility further out from the city. Most of these structures have been

demolished and the Empire Builder industrial park, developed by the St. Paul Port

Authority.

The coming of the long haul railroad enabled businessmen in the Twin Cities to

extend their market areas over an ever increasing territory. Eventually the railroad would

provide important links between New York and other east coast cities and among the cities of

Japan and China. Although the Twin Cities were first developed during the Steam Boat Era,

they reached their greatest rates of growth during the time of the steam locomotives. Here we

see the Come Shoes of the Northern Pacific Railroad. The railroads were big business and

needed large amounts of land for their repair shops, marshalling yards, and other facilities.

They were among the first important industries to move to the outskirts of the city. These

building have been converted to Bandana Square today.

This view shows the Milling District of Minneapolis from the railroad tracks. The sign is for the

North Star Blanket factory. Although the founders of St. Anthony expected the city to develop as a

diversified manufacturing center like the towns of New England, Minneapolis soon became very

specialized in lumber and flour milling. This specialization was made possible by the large market areas,

or hinterlands, created by the railroads. The only major manufacturer that stayed by the falls was this

blanket factory that had a major contract to make blankets for the railroad.

The Emerson Newton Implement

Company. This building, now called Thresher

Square, is an example of the manufacturing

companies that could not locate in the Milling

District. This company and others made

equipment for the rapidly mechanizing agricultural

sector of the upper Midwest economy. This

company was headquartered in Batavia, Illinois.

As the agricultural region became increasingly

commercial, Minneapolis and other cities in the

region took on the role of supplying all the needs

of the farmers.

The entrance to the Newton

building with its fine terra cotta figures tells

us of the pride the early capitalists had in

their companies and their products.

This Appliance Parts

building located in the warehouse

district of Minneapolis is an example of

the warehouses that were built to

supply the needs of the expanding rural

and small town populations in the upper

Midwest.

The is Yoerg's Brewery, located below the Cherokee Heights bluffs on St Paul's West Side. It

represents two significant aspects of urban development. Before planning became established, businesses

would locate wherever they felt they enjoyed a local advantage; workers would then move to these places

of employment. The result was a pattern of very mixed land use. The Yoerg brewers were attracted to the

soft sandstone found in the bluffs. They excavated caverns in the sandstone for aging their beer.

The other point illustrated in the slide is

the impact of the national marketing, made possible

by the railroad. Yoerg and several other brewers

set-up in the Twin Cities to provide fresh beer for

the German and other European immigrants and

their descendants in the area. The various brewers

provided special varieties that appealed to honed

tastes. Howeve, they could not compete with the

lower-priced beers made with preservatives and

shipped into the market on trains. Gradually all the

local brewers in the Twin Cites closed. Scores of

businesses in the Cities faced the choice of expand

or be swallowed up by firms with a national

agenda.

St Anthony Park in Ramsey County was an early attempt (1874) to create an elite community for the population living on the East Bank of the Mississippi in the initial falls settlement known as St. Anthony. The plan did not work because of the growth of the west bank.

In 1875, the City of Minneapolis was

beginning to grow rapidly in response to the new

jobs created in the industrial sectors. These jobs are

called "basic" because their output was sold outside

of the city and brought money into the community.

The needs for all sorts of services are met by people

in "non-basic" jobs. These jobs are necessary and

circulate dollars within the community. By 1875,

suburbanization had begun. In the next two

decades, the city would dramatically increase in

size.