Thank you Dan you are absolutely correct. The original public land survey map (1854) of the area clearly shows a trail that crosses Minnehaha Creek (then called Brown's Creek) at the same place that Hiawatha Ave crosses - which is just upstream from the "Little Falls of St. Anthony" (Minnehaha Falls).
Over the years, the Minneapolis Street Railway Company (predecessor to the Twin Cities Rapid Transit Company, predecessor to Metro Transit) built two street car lines in the general area. During the era when street cars ran on wooden tracks and were pulled by horses (1870s & 80s), a "Motor Line" (steam train) was built on 37th Street from Nicollet Ave to what is now Hiawatha Ave, then proceeded south to Minnehaha Falls. The second route built was a traditional street car line on Minnehaha Ave. The first segment of this line was built in 1884. Over time this line was extended to Minnehaha Falls, then Fort Snelling, and eventually crossed the Mississippi at the (current) Highway 5 Bridge and connected with a St. Paul street car line that followed West 7th St into downtown St. Paul. This "interurban" streetcar line was finally abandoned on November 28th 1953 (less than 6 months before the last street car ran in the twin cities). The Hiawatha/Minnehaha Ave corridor was one of the longest served areas by early street cars - over 70 years. As Earl points out it was in the early 1970s, just over 20 years after the last train ran, when residents in the area were working hard toward the return of rail transit in the twin cities. It is fitting that the Hiawatha Line was selected as the first of many restored routes in the metro area. Randall Cutting Seward p.s. Street car information from "The Electric Railways of Minnesota" by Russell L. Olson (1976) ||Dan McGuire|| > The route of the Hiawatha light rail also follows a much older trail, > that of the residents of the area for centuries who traveled from the > bluffs where Ft. Snelling sits to the Falls that we call St. Anthony. > Soon after Ft. Snelling was built the route became well traveled by > those going from the saw mill at St. Anthony back and forth from the > Fort. The route was only NOT a major thorough fare of the region for > the short time from the 1960s until June of 2004. > >>From my house, the bells of the Hiawatha Line are a pleasant tinkle 4 >> blocks > away. My family and I will be at the head of line at the 46th St. > Station on the 26th, and will be frequent users in both directions > thereafter. > > Dan McGuire > Ericsson > REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
