Historic Contexts Study and Phase II Inventory (Downtown Elk River) 2022

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Ferry at Elk River in about 1900. Photo: MHS. Several early ferries shuttling passengers and goods across the Mississippi were attempted in the mid 1850s, but the one established in 1867 by Horatio Houlton appears to have succeeded.' The 1879 View of Elk River, Sherburne County locates it just behind Horatio Houlton's Sawmill. Another ferry route at the foot of Jackson Street is shown on the 1903 Map of Elk River. The arrival of the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad was an essential connection for Elk River, ensuring some level of continuing success for its mills and early town center, as well as passenger service. The railroad company was formed in 1862 and first built a line from St. Paul to St. Anthony. ' The line to Elk River was completed in 1864, and reached Sauk Rapids in 1867. 37 The line bypassed the dam and mills at Orono, on a route that allowed a crossing of the Elk River in Big Lake Township. The depot and sidings became the focus of the Lowertown settlement, and when the Elk River townsite was formally platted in 1865 it was oriented toward the railroad and the depot. ss The railroad transformed the Minnesota and the Elk River economy. In the 1860s, outgoing freight included lumber and lumber products such as shingles, chairs, and wooden shoes, and flour exported as far as Boston. Among products sent to St. Paul in 1869 were "cattle, hay, feed, deer, hides, eggs and cranberries.i39 The St. Paul and Pacific was sold to the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba line in 1879. In 1884 this company built its own line parallel to the St. Paul and Pacific. Subsequently, the company was purchased by the Great Northern Railway Company. 40 A spur served the starch factory on Main Street. The Great Northern operated the parallel tracks as a single railroad. These lines merged into the Burlington Northern in 1970, now the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. In 1886 the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba (Great Northern) built a line to Princeton connecting to the Minneapolis and St. Cloud Railway to Duluth and Superior. This line included in Houlton Siding, a small station three miles north of Elk River and on the 3000-acre property of William H. Houlton (1840-1915), one of the area's leading businessmen and political leaders. Elk River Historic Contexts Study Draft 4/2002 14