"Railroads Were Built..."

Photo of crew laying down a railroad line on the prairie, 1887.

Construction of St. Paul, Minneapolis & Manitoba Railway, 1887.

Minnesota Historical Society Photograph Collection, Location no. HE6.41G p9 Negative no. 2096

The mills wouldn't be in Minneapolis if it weren't for St. Anthony Falls. But the industry needed transportation as much as it needed power. Railroads carried the grain from the far-off fields to the giant mills and took barrels of flour to markets throughout the country. Until tracks spread through the state, there was little farming settlement on the prairie and no major flour milling industry at St. Anthony Falls.

"...Towns Sprang up as If by Magic..."

Photo of a town on Minnesota's western boarder showing dirt roads, a train, and a grain elevator, ca. 1890.

Minnesota farmers in wheat field, ca. 1915.

Minnesota Historical Society Photograph Collection, Location No. SA2.3 r3, Negative No. 94022

"...And the Bare Plains Were Turned into Wheat Fields"

Postcard of two men standing chest-high in a wheat field.

Minnesota farmers in wheat field, ca. 1915.

Minnesota Historical Society Photograph Collection, Location no. ML1.9 MA8 p15 Negative no. 33815