Stillwater, Minnesota

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Stillwater, Minnesota
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Why do some Cities develop and grow and others
fade away?

• Site Features unique to this location.
• land features, topography,
• resources, soil, water
• Situation How this location is connected to
  other locations.
• river, railroads, bridges, roads,

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Aerial Photograph
http//nationalatlas.gov/natlas/Natlasstart.as
St. Croix River
Wisconsin
Downtown Stillwater
The current city of Stillwater, Minnesota is
located along the St. Croix River. Stillwater is
located at Longitude -92.82222 and Latitude
45.05639. What does this photograph tell you
about the current city of Stillwater?
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Topographic Map
Myrtle Street
http//terraserver-usa.com/image.aspx, July 1,
1993
Interstate Bridge
The contour lines on this map give a sense of the
landscape in the city of Stillwater. Locate the
Interstate Bridge on the map. What happens to
the elevation as you move west from the
Interstate Bridge and along Myrtle Street? How
do you know that the elevation has changed?
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What factors contributed to these buildings
collapsing after a rainstorm?
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Transportation Network
Highway 95
Highway 36
Cities develop as nodes within a transportation
network. How many types of transportation
connect Stillwater with the rest on Minnesota and
Wisconsin?
Transportation map. http//nationalatlas.gov/natla
s/Natlasstart.asp, 2005
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Transportation Map
Interstate Highway 694
http//www.dot.state.mn.us/statemap/pdf/cities/Met
ro_area.pdf
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Metro CountiesMinnesota planning Land Management
Information Center, http//server.admin.state.mn.u
s/maps/mn_clr.pdf,August, 2005.
Stillwater
St. Paul
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Why did sawmills and flour mills develop in
Stillwater?
Runk, John. August 22, 1918, Patricia Condon
Johnston. Stillwater Minnesotas Birthplace.
Afton, Minnesota Afton Historical Society
Press, 1995.
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Why does logging and rivers go together in the
development of a community?
Minnesota History Center, Photo Collection,
August 10, 2005.
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Why are these logs floating on the St. Croix
River?
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Logs on the St. Croix River
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• Stillwaters position on the St. Croix River
  provided excellent access to St. Paul and
  Minneapolis and the rest of the world.
• Logs from Northern Wisconsin Forests could be
  floated down the St. Croix River.
• The flow of the river could be redirected to
  power the saws in the lumber mills.
• The finished lumber could be loaded onto boats
  and sent to Minneapolis and St. Paul, or even to
  other countries.
• The St. Croix River was connected to the rest of
  the world by the Mississippi River.

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Connections to the rest of the state

• River Boats
• Stage Coach
• Railroad
• Highways
• Freeways

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Why were riverboats a practical form of
transportation in the early years of Stillwater?
Was the balloon being used for transportation?
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Railroads connect Stillwater to the rest of the
state.
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Overlap of types of transportation
If the lumber companies were using railroads to
transport their materials, why did they still
have horse a wagons around?
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• As roads improved between St. Paul and
  Stillwater, citizens had more choices on how to
  travel. They could travel by horse, by carriage,
  stagecoach, and steamboat. Factors such as time
  and weather would influence final decisions.
• Railroads expanded their service into Stillwater.
• By 1909 there were four railroads with regular
  passenger and cargo service to Stillwater.
• Three passenger depots were build to provide
  passengers a place to wait to meet the train.
• In 1923, the trains dropped passenger service to
  the city.
• What happened between to the river passenger
  service when the railroads began delivering
  regular passenger service to Stillwater?
• Why did the railroads drop passenger service to
  Stillwater in 1923?

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Stillwater continues to grow
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Streetcars connect various parts of the city
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Notice the horse drawn vehicles on the same
street as the street. There are many people in
this picture. Why arent there more vehicles?
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Union Station is the meeting point between
streetcars and trains
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Trains move goods from Stillwater to the rest of
the country and the world
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Why are tractors being manufactured in Stillwater?
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Why would Stillwater have a creamery?
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• Stillwaters position as the center for
  processing logs into lumber ends when easier and
  less expensive methods are found to move logs to
  processing. As the lumber industry moves away
  from the St. Croix into other areas to find logs,
  Stillwater becomes less important.
• Other businesses began to develop to meet the
  needs of the surrounding communities.
• Local farmers can send their milk to nearest
  creamery in Stillwater
• Manufacturing companies can still ship their
  products using railroad, boats, and the emerging
  highway system
• Local citizens and people from the surrounding
  smaller communities will shop in Stillwater for
  goods and services.
• Employment is provided by the Washington County
  Courthouse and Government Center and the
  Minnesota State Prison is located in nearby
  Bayfield, Minnesota.
• However, none of these can replace the number of
  jobs that are lost with the closing of the lumber
  mills and their supporting businesses.

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Discussion Question
Why didnt Stillwater disappear or fade into a
small town after the lost of its major industry
and supporting businesses?