Rails to the North Star: A Minnesota Railroad Atlas

by Richard S. Prosser, Don L. Hofsommer (Foreword)

“Railroads were the country’s first big business providing the nation’s vital cardiovascular system, setting the tempo of life everywhere. All of it was reflected locally. . . . Rails to the North Star is a masterful catalog of data, a treasure-house of useful information, offering ‘one-stop shopping’ in a field central to Minnesota’s history. All aboard!” —Don L. Hofsommer In the 1960s, Richard S. Prosser prepared Rails to the North Star , the first work to trace the routes of Minnesota’s railways. From the first land grants for the construction of railroads in Minnesota in 1857, to the height of the street railways of the 1920s, to the consolidation of railroad companies in the 1960s, the work captures all facets of Minnesota’s railroad development. Much has changed since then, but rail lines still traverse Minnesota’s landscape. Featuring a section of redrafted full-color maps, Rails to the North Star is a primary resource on the history of railroads in Minnesota. Richard S. Prosser (1930–2005) was a railroad enthusiast who grew up near the Milwaukee Road in south Minneapolis. Don L. Hofsommer is professor of history at St. Cloud State University. He is the author of several books, including Minneapolis and the Age of Railways (Minnesota, 2005).

296 pages, Paperback

First published January 2, 2007

Reviews

[Rock · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got a couple dozen pages into this before I realized it was a reference book. And one of the most valuable local railroad references it certainly is, but not the most compelling work of history. The first hundred pages is basically a chronological listing of what company built what railway where - maybe 5 human names appear and there is little attempt to include historical context. Still, the text is useful as bibliography, since it's all pulled from musty old primary sources. And it gets an extra star for an excellent collection of maps.