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Navigable water extended only to Sauk Rapids, except in times <br />of high water. Passengers and freight were carried on the <br />Governor Ramsey, as well as the North Star and H.M. Rice, <br />new boats that began service in 1855. Prone to low seasonal <br />water levels and in poor competition with railroads, regular <br />steamboats were generally discontinued by 1874. However, <br />the Davis Island Boom Company and other lumber interests <br />operated steamboats and a variety of craft for logging <br />operations; the 1900 census for Elk River notes that two young <br />natives of Quebec, John Ward and Humphrey Guane, were <br />among those employed as river drivers. <br /> <br />Conflicting with steamboat traffic, the dramatic log drives of <br />timber from the northern pineries were a seasonal event along <br />the river, with the traffic handled by boom companies. <br /> <br />Several early ferries shuttling passengers and goods across the <br />Mississippi were attempted in the mid-1850s, but the one <br />established in 1867 by Horatio Houlton appears to have <br />succeeded.33 The 1879 View of Elk River, Sherburne County <br />locates it just behind Horatio Houlton's Sawmill. Another <br />ferry route at the foot of Jackson Street is shown on the 1903 <br />Map of Elk River. <br /> <br />The St. Paul and Pacific Railroad <br /> <br />The arrival of the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad was an essential <br />connection for Elk River, ensuring continuing success for its <br />mills and early town center, as well as passenger and freight <br />service. The railroad company was forn~ed in 1862 and first <br />built a line from St. Paul to St. Anthony. ~ The line to Elk River <br />was completed in 1864, and reached Sauk Rapids in 1867. 3s <br />The line bypassed the dam and mills at Orono, on a route that <br />allowed a crossing of the Elk River in Big Lake Township. The <br />depot and sidings became the focus of the Lowertown <br />settlement, and when the Elk River townsite was formally <br />platted in 1865 it was oriented toward the railroad and the <br />depot.3~ <br /> <br />Ferny at Elk Ri'oer in about <br />1900. Photo: MHS. <br /> <br />The Elk River Depot in 1911 <br />(razed). Photo: MHS. <br /> <br />Elk River Historic Contexts and Phase I1 Downtown Commercial Area Study <br /> 18 <br /> <br /> <br />