Landmarks
Point Douglas to Superior Military Road, also known as Point Douglas to St. Louis River Military Road and as Douglas Highway, was a road that ran between Point Douglas, located at the outlet of the Lower St. Croix Lake near Hastings, Minnesota, first to the falls of the St. Louis River near Thomson, Minnesota, and later extended to the mouth of the St. Louis River in Superior, Wisconsin. From Douglas Point immediately east of Hastings, Minnesota, the route connected Stillwater, Taylors Falls, Sunrise, Chengwatana, Fortuna, Scotts Corner, to Thomson and Superior. Several discontinuous sections of this road are still in use.
In 1852 the federal government began building the Point Douglas to Superior Military Road. Although intended as a highway for troop movement, this route from Hastings, Minnesota on the Mississippi River to Superior, Wisconsin on Lake Superior, was one of the first roads in Minnesota Territory and attracted a flood of civilian and commercial traffic. When Minnesota achieved statehood in 1858, responsibility for the road devolved to the state, which did not have the funds to finish the project. Although very rough and in places incomplete, the road was still the best route north until railroads were built in 1870. An alternative to the Military Road that ushered in the decline in use of the road came in 1895 when William Henry Grant built a spur of the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad to run to Sandstone, Minnesota. Traces of the unimproved military road can still be seen in Wild River State Park and Banning State Park.
Washington County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 238,136, making it the fifth-most populous county in Minnesota. Its county seat is Stillwater. The largest city in the county is Woodbury, the eighth-largest city in Minnesota and the fourth-largest Twin Cities suburb.
St. Louis County is a county located in the Arrowhead Region of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2010 census, the population was 200,226. Its county seat is Duluth. It is the largest county in Minnesota by land area, and the second largest in the United States east of the Mississippi River, after Aroostook County, Maine.
Pine County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 29,750. Its county seat is Pine City. The county was formed in 1856 and organized in 1872.
Chisago County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 53,887. Its county seat is Center City.
Carlton County is a county in the State of Minnesota, formed in 1857. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 35,386. Its county seat is Carlton. Part of the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation lies in northeastern Carlton County.
Rushseba Township is a township in Chisago County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 804 at the 2010 census.
Sunrise Township is a township in Chisago County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,994 at the 2010 census, up from 1,594 in 2000.
U.S. Route 61 or U.S. Highway 61 (U.S. 61) is a major United States highway that extends 1,400 miles (2,300 km) between New Orleans, Louisiana and the city of Wyoming, Minnesota. The highway generally follows the course of the Mississippi River and is designated the Great River Road for much of its route. As of 2004, the highway's northern terminus in Wyoming, Minnesota, is at an intersection with Interstate 35 (I-35). Until 1991, the highway extended north on what is now Minnesota State Highway 61 through Duluth to the Canada–U.S. border near Grand Portage. Its southern terminus in New Orleans is at an intersection with U.S. Route 90. The route was an important south–north connection in the days before the interstate highway system.
The St. Croix River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 169 miles (272 km) long, in the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Minnesota. The lower 125 miles (201 km) of the river form the border between Wisconsin and Minnesota. The river is a National Scenic Riverway under the protection of the National Park Service. A hydroelectric plant at St. Croix Falls supplies power to the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area.
U.S. Highway 8 (US 8) is a United States Numbered Highway that runs primarily east–west for 280 miles (451 km), mostly within the state of Wisconsin. It connects Interstate 35 (I-35) in Forest Lake, Minnesota, to US 2 at Norway in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan near the border with Wisconsin. Except for the short freeway segment near Forest Lake, and sections near the St. Croix River bridge and Rhinelander, Wisconsin, it is mostly undivided surface road. As a state highway in the three states, US 8 is maintained by the Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan departments of transportation.
Wild River State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, curving along 18 miles (29 km) of the St. Croix River. This long, narrow park is shaped somewhat like a sideways 'S', with development largely concentrated in the lower third. The remote upper sections flank the mouth of a tributary called the Sunrise River. The park is managed to provide quieter, more nature-oriented recreation as a counterpoint to the busier William O'Brien and Interstate State Parks downstream.
State Trunk Highway 35 is a Wisconsin state highway running north–south across western Wisconsin. It is 412.15 miles in length, and is the longest state highway in Wisconsin. Portions of WIS 35 are part of the Great River Road.
Lake Lena is an unincorporated community and Native American village in Ogema Township, Pine County, Minnesota, United States, located along the Lower Tamarack River. It currently is the administrative center for the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation, District III.
Chengwatana is an abandoned village site in Pine County, Minnesota, United States.
Almelund is an unincorporated community in Amador Township, Chisago County, Minnesota, United States.
The Point Douglas–St. Louis River Road Bridge, built in 1865, is the second oldest known stone arch bridge in the state of Minnesota after Sibley's Ferry Bridge in Mendota, which was built in 1864. It was constructed in Stillwater Township to carry the Point Douglas to Superior Military Road over Brown's Creek. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 for having local significance in the themes of engineering and transportation. It was nominated as an example of stone engineering and as a remnant of Minnesota's early government roads.
County roads in Minnesota are roads locally maintained by county highway departments in Minnesota. County roads span a wide variety of road types, varying from A-minor arterials that carry large volumes of traffic to gravel roads.