Due to being blocked off for road repairs, behold the glory that is Franklin Avenue SE without cars.

#OnThisDay July 3 1863: A year and a day after the St Paul & Pacific begins service, Minnesota's first railroad fatality occurs when a wagon driven by Abraham Bennett is struck at Como Road. There was talk of a bridge at the site, but ironically Bennett himself had opposed it.

I call this train bunching phenomenon "Accidental frequency"

#OnThisDay July 4 1896: The Minneapolis Journal, predecessor of the @startribune, becomes the first newspaper in America to use halftones, a printing technique that simulates photographic images and illustrations by using small dots of varying sizes.

#OnThisDay July 4 1868: During Independence Day celebrations at Minnesota Point, Dr. Thomas Foster gives a grand oration during which he calls Duluth the “Zenith City of the Unsalted Seas” for the first time. He's later pictured on advertising for the Northern Pacific Railroad.

Happy 4th of July!

If you're the only one on the middle car does that make you the problem? 🤔

#OnThisDay July 5 1862: Following wild Independence Day celebrations, the city center of Winona Minnesota catches fire in the early hours. Over 100 buildings burn, including the fire station. One store owner saves his business by supplying fire fighters with whiskey.

#OnThisDay July 5 1948: John Brummer tests the consistency of the mixture at the Ives Ice Cream factory, 128 2nd Ave Southeast in Minneapolis, back in an era when most food production was still local. Today this is the site of the St Anthony Main Parking Ramp. East Bank Neighborhoods

#OnThisDay Jul 6 1848: Minnesota's 1st brewery is opened by Bavarian immigrant Anthony Yoerg in "Uppertown" St Paul. His product was a hit and by 1871 Yoerg's expanded across the river to West St Paul, making 35,000 barrels annually of some of the nation's finest German beer.

Hopkins is nice! A great example of a close-in town born on the steam railway and later designed around the electric streetcar, so it's intrinsically accessible, walkable, charming.

#OnThisDay July 6 1883: The first streetcar service begins in Duluth, Minnesota, along Superior Street. The line was pulled first by mules then later by horses.

Hey Best Of Minnesota, you're still doing that thing where you post content made by local creators but don't give credit. This map was originally made by Brett McKean, first published MinnPost and is available at the Minnesota Streetcar Museum website. Here's also a higher resolution

Another poorly written ragebait article The Minnesota Star Tribune Kim Hyatt, and yet more perplexing it's being regurgitated again today. And despite what your marketing department says, "Greater Minnesota" hasn't existed since 1858.

Concrete pour day on the new E-Line station at Westgate. This route will transform old St Anthony and SE Mpls, interconnecting it in a way that hasn't been seen since the electric streetcars that once plied 4th Street SE over 70 years ago.

#OnThisDay July 7 1960: A view looking east on Como Avenue Southeast as the former Como-Harriet-Hopkins interurban streetcar tracks are paved over. The bridge in the background carries the Northern Pacific Railway.

#OnThisDay July 8, 1939: Last day of streetcar service in Duluth, Minnesota. Unlike the wholesale destruction of the Twin Cities Rapid Transit system 15 years later, Duluth kept the electric infrastructure and converted its lines to more flexible trolley buses.

#OnThisDay July 15 1928: The open spandrel arches are complete and decking is underway on the new Cedar Avenue - 10th Avenue Bridge in Minneapolis. Standing 120' above the river, when built it was the highest and longest bridge in the region. Fully renovated in 2021.

Mr. Beardsley, station agent with the Chicago Milwaukee St Paul & Pacific Railroad, and his staff await you on the platform at Odessa, Minnesota. 1882.