Hello all. Three more articles added tonight. Enjoy!
Three New Historic U.S. 61 Articles, All in Maplewood!
Category: Site news
New Historic U.S. 61 Article: Old Alignment at Phalen-Keller Regional Park, Maplewood
Brand new article with photos, etc! I also just completed a revamp of the historic U.S. 61 articles, correcting a few design issues etc.
Just can’t stop….updating, updating
Work continues on the U.S. 61 project! I managed to photograph all of the historic alignments along the route between St. Paul and Wyoming last weekend. Those photos should be showing up at the U.S. 61 Project soon, along with yet more updates to the look and usability of the pages. The website has not only become an exercise in unearthing history, but also in learning the ins and outs of web design for me.
In more material news, I recently picked up a postcard via ebay showing what U.S. 61 used to look like before it was paved south of Winona near King and Queen’s Bluff.
The post card shows the road as gravel, so it for sure dates from before 1927.
And here’s what nearly the same location looks like today.
Also, the 2009-10 official highway maps are now available at the various rest areas across the state…or you could pick one up at the state fair.
A Name Change, Plus Updates Galore!
Hey all. You may have noticed that I changed the name of the website from “Lost” to “Historic”. I think the word “historic” better suits the focus of the site, plus I didn’t want any undue David Lynch references.
In more interesting news, I just posted a massive update to the Historic U.S. 61 Project, including tons of new photos from my last road trip a couple of weeks ago. The main update is to the historic alignment articles between St. Paul and La Crosse. Every article has been updated with new maps, revised info, and a new page format. Also, some of the articles have been combined or separated.
What’s in the pipeline for future updates? Well, right now I am planning on starting photography expeditions for the historic alignments between St. Paul and Duluth.
That’s all for now. I hope everyone enjoys the updated pages. If you have any comments or suggestions please let me know via email, or by leaving a comment below.
Out with the old Civic, in with the new
It has finally come time to say good-bye to my trusty 91′ Honda Civic. I replaced it with a silver 03′ Civic, which so far is rust free, has airbags, has a hood that latches, and doesn’t overheat constantly! I took it out today on an expedition down U.S. 61, and was finally able to fully photograph every alignment between St. Paul and La Crosse! I am feverishly working on an update to the Historic U.S. 61 project, which when completed, will fully cover all of the old alignments south of St. Paul to La Crosse, complete with better maps and photographs. I estimate a month to completion.
In other news, a previous entry stated that State Highway 16 had been truncated at its junction with U.S. 61 and U.S. 14 in La Crescent. This information has turned out to be totally false! MnDOT’s records are currently incorrect, as the route is still signed to the Wisconsin state line. Perhaps an agreement has not yet been reached with WisDOT to truncate the route on the Wisconsin side.
Internet Woes
Update – April 13, 2009 – Internet is back up! However, I am currently searching for a new car, so again updates may be delayed for awhile.
The internet at my domicile is temporarily down, probably until next Friday when the cable guy is coming to hook me back into the inter-webs, so please don’t be alarmed if it seems that I’m asleep at the wheel here.
Updates to the Map Section of the Site
Hello all. Just a quick entry today. I finally finished my initial redesign of the “Map Collection” section of deadpioneer.com! I will be continuing work on it in the coming weeks. For now, I just wanted to get rid of all the old pages that used the old site design. As of today, all pages on deadpioneer.com are up to the new standard!
Welcome to the new Lost Minnesota Highways Blog!
I have added this blog to deadpioneer.com in an attempt to get a little more “web 2.0”, and allow more participation from my fellow road geeks. It will feature pictures and stories sent in by readers, as well as posts by me about updates to the site, highway news, and information on my wanderings. The scope will widen a bit to include any “lost” or disused transportation infrastructure in Minnesota or elsewhere, be it trunk highways, railroads, military roads, county roads, or just about anything you can think of.
In other site news, I’ve done some tweaking to the main page’s format, cleaning up the css code and such. Content wise, I’m working on a major update to the map section of the site (which is still using the old site design), as well as preparing to post some pics sent in previously by readers (pending some permission / crediting info I need to get). Let me know if you have any comments on any of the design updates.
I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m starting to get major league cabin fever. Another snow storm is apparently heading our way for the end of the week, so that’s frustrating. Hopefully we can get a nice melt-off soon, and I can get out and get some more photos for the U.S. 61 project.
