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1896 Map of St. Paul

Name: 1896 Topographic Map of St. Paul
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1938
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1938

About this map

The Fort Snelling Military Reservation stands at the strategic confluence of the Mississippi River and the Minnesota River, anchoring a landscape defined by rapid late-nineteenth-century urban and industrial expansion. This 1894 survey documents the dense rail networks of the St. Paul and Minneapolis area, where lines like the Minnesota Belt Line Ry. and the Northern Pacific crisscross the river valleys.

South of the urban centers, the terrain transitions into a mosaic of small glacial lakes and rural settlements. Points like Pilot Knob and Pike Island overlook a complex of waterways, including Pickeral Lake and Black Dog Lake. The map details the early footprints of riverfront towns such as Mendota, Inver Grove, and South St. Paul, providing a precise record of neighborhood names and railroad alignments before the mid-twentieth-century industrial shifts altered the river banks.