Logs were shipped by rail from northern Minnesota to Stillwater and made into rafts. They were then floated down the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers. The rafts usually consisted of 8 to 10 strings of logs fastened side by side, each string measuring 16 across and about 400 feet long. Some of these enormous rafts stretched 4 or 5 acres in size.
This photograph by Paul B. Gaylord from the 1880s or early 1890s looks to the south from Duluth's hillside to Rice's Point and shows the 1871 railroad roundhouse to the east of Garfield Avenue and the steeple of Second Presbyterian Church at 1515 West Superior Street.
Lumber was rafted downstream from Stillwater. Boards were arranged in cribs or heavy crates, each 16 feet wide and 32 feet long. A lumber raft might contain as many as 200 cribs.
Landscape view; address given for photographer is Merchant Block, 22 Washington Avenue, Minneapolis; building may be the Cataract House Hotel on Sixth Ave South; verso of card is advertising for a number of Minneapolis businesses
Contributing Institution:
Hennepin County Library, James K. Hosmer Special Collections Library
Landscape view; Stone Arch Bridge over the Mississippi River was completed in 1883; Exposition Building completed in 1886; Spillway of St Anthony Falls.
Contributing Institution:
Hennepin County Library, James K. Hosmer Special Collections Library
Street view; unpaved streets with horses and buggies; awnings extended on the first floor windows; building could be the First National Bank Building at Washington Avenue and Nicollet Avenue.
Contributing Institution:
Hennepin County Library, James K. Hosmer Special Collections Library
Landscape view; address given for photographer is 119 Washington Avenue North, Minneapolis; building is not identified but may be Eastman Flats; Eastman Flats were constructed starting in 1877 on Nicollet Island; verso of card is advertising for a number of Minneapolis businesses; card gift of Stuart Dudley Diamond.
Contributing Institution:
Hennepin County Library, James K. Hosmer Special Collections Library
Landscape view; view of the bridge taken before railroad ties were laid; steel frame bridge; bridge could be the Northern Pacific Railroad Bridge or Short Line Bridge (this is penciled in on back).
Contributing Institution:
Hennepin County Library, James K. Hosmer Special Collections Library
Photo is unidentified; board walk is visible in front left of photo; unpaved streets; streetlight and power pole; list of stereographic views by photographer/publisher on verso.
Contributing Institution:
Hennepin County Library, James K. Hosmer Special Collections Library