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Site Information
Welcome to Deadpioneer's Lost Minnesota Highways page!
The main focus of this site is to unearth the history of the highway network we enjoy (most of the time) here in MInnesota, as well as find remnants of the infrastructure that has been left behind by the constant processes of improvement and maintenance required to keep Minnesota moving.
Usually, the opening of a new highway is cause for celebration. Construction no longer causes traffic nightmares, and getting from point A to point B becomes all that much easier. However, there are those roads and routes that become imprinted in our memories - the roads we travel every day to work - the roads used only on special occasions or holidays - the road to Grandma's house - the road to the cabin - the road home. They may only be in reality concrete, gravel, and tar - but it in the act of driving they take on a shared importance to us. When the roads we remember are realigned, reconstructed, or even given a new number; the reality, landmarks, and feelings that formed the memory are lost to time. But sometimes, something is left behind to remind us of what once was.
Site Organization
This site is organized into several primary sections, all accessible from the navbar on the upper left.
In-Depth Projects:
The project section contains pages devoted to large-scale topics. The two initial projects (ongoing) that currently make up the majority of the site include the Dakota County Project, and the U.S. Highway 61 Project. Both projects include diagrams of lost highways, maps of locations of old highway alignments, construction histories, junction histories, and pictures from expeditions I have taken.
Articles:
The articles section includes short vignettes on specific lost highways or one-off topics, including info sent in by readers!
Maps:
The map section is designed to be a guide to the Official Highway Maps issued by the Minnesota Department of Highways and MN/DOT since 1923. Collecting official maps was one of my first steps towards highway obsession, starting with the map from 1952. This section includes images of the map covers, and detailed information on the development of the maps from year to year. Thankfully, I no longer have to shell out more than 100 bucks on ebay for the early maps from the 1920's and 1930's, thanks to the Minnesota Digital Library, where the maps from 1919 to 1949 were recently scanned and made available for viewing and image download.
Research Sources
The cornerstone of this site is the public availability of historic information and documents on the internet. Thankfully, the state of Minnesota has made a wealth of information downloadable from numerous state agencies, most notably the MInnesota Department of Transportation (MN/DOT). I also use several other non-internet sources.
Information from MN/DOT:
The Minnesota Department of Transportation provides the majority of the historic documents I use to do research on old alignments and highway development. I primarily use the Construction Project Logs (available from the Roadway Data Page) in conjunction with highway construction plans and right-of-way maps, available for download from MN/DOT's Electronic Documents Retrieval System (under "Road and Bridge Plans", Java is required).
Also of interest over at the MN/DOT site is the Historic Roadside Development Structures Homepage, which provides information on the remaining historic structures along Minnesota's highways.
Aerial Photos
Historic aerial photos are an invaluable tool for confirming information on highway plans and revealing other details not covered by other documents. A few web sites provide historic aerial photos for viewing or download.
- Landview: Minnesota DNR - This online mapping site provides links to downloadable historic aerial photos from periods ranging from the late 1930's to the 1970's, but only for certain regions.
- Ramsey County GIS Users Group Online Mapping - Another online mapping tool. This site allows for viewing and comparison of aerial photos from the 1930's all they way through 2006 for all of Ramsey County.
- Minnesota Digital Library - St. Paul Public Library Collection - The St. Paul Public Library has provided a set of aerial photos for viewing of the city of St. Paul from the mid 1920's, the earliest I have seen.
For maps not available online, I use the massive Minnesota aerial photo collection in the Borchert Map Library at the University of Minnesota.
Maps
My collection currently contains the following:
Official Minnesota Highway Maps:
To take a look at my collection, check out the Map Section of the site. For maps not yet in the collection, I get my information from the Minnesota Digital Library, which provides fully viewable scans of all of the official maps from 1919 to 1949.
Other Historic Maps:
- Standard Highway Map of Ramsey and Dakota Counties, Minnesota - McGill-Warner Co, ca. 1925
- Rand McNally Official Auto Trails Map, District No. 9 -1921
- Phillips 66 Highway Map of Minnesota - 1934 (Produced by H.M. Gousha)
- Rand McNally Pocket Maps, Minnesota - 1937
Other Historical Resources:
- The Minnesota Historical Society Library in St. Paul contains a collection of Department of Highways press releases, titled "Minnesota Highway News", that reveal a great deal about the early highway construction projects undertaken in the 1920's and 1930's.
- The Winona Republican Herald is viewable online courtesy of Winona State University.
Other Minnesota Highway Pages:
Sometimes referred to as "Road Geek" sites, these sites are put together by several other folks who are just as, or more obsessed, with Minnesota highway lore than me.
- The Unofficial Minnesota Highways Page - by Steve Reiner - I probably would have never started this project if it weren't for Steve Reiner's site, which gave me the foundation I needed to start my research. His site is a definite first stop for anyone remotely interested in Minnesota highway history. HIs site provides information on all of Minnesota's numbered routes, past as present, as well as background information on their legal basis.
- Froggie's Place - A site with a ton of information on Minnesota highways (plus other states), including exit lists and information on proposed highways that were never built.
- Northstar Highways - Some great information and photos of old infrastructure around MInnesota (its good to know I'm not the only one doing this!)
Other Online Mapping Links:
I strongly suggest using one of the following sites to provide a good reference map while viewing my site, just in case my writing gets you hopelessly lost.
- Google Maps
- Microsoft Live Maps (Check out their bird's eye views of the Twin Cities!!)
Images and Road Signs
All of the color photographs on the site are from my own collection, unless otherwise credited. I currently use a Nikon Coolpix 5200. If you would like to use one of my photos for non-commercial purposes, please drop me an email (see contact info below). I am 99.9% sure that I will allow it, as long as appropriate credit is given.
Most of the diagrams and maps on the page are based on public domain aerial photos from the USGS Seamless Data Distribution System. I usually use the NAIP 1 meter resolution color photos, unless I feel the 1991/92 black and white orthophotos are more appropriate, or if the color imagery is not available. Here's the standard citation for these aerial photos:
Data available from U.S. Geological Survey, EROS Data Center, Sioux Falls, SD
All of the road signs on the page were made using either scans from old highway maps, or from digital pictures taken while on the road. The modern state highway signs on the page are actually taken from a digitally altered picture of a road sign in Farmington at the junction of Highways 50 and 3.
About the Author
Hi. I'm Deadpioneer, but you can actually call me Andrew. I am a University of Minnesota graduate and employee with a B.S. in Geography. I currently reside in Minneapolis.
If you have any questions, suggestions, or corrections for me, feel free to email me: deadpioneer at yahoo.com
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