East Second Street Commercial Historic District

The last two or three years' compilation included the entire grain shipments over the Winona & St. Peter railroad, and as it was almost impossible longer to keep the run of the actual shipments from first hands, the compilation was discontinued. In 1868, when the grain shipments reached as per above table, the amount of 2,432,080 bushels, Winona rated as the fourth primary grain market in the Tnited States, Chicago, Milwaukee and Toledo alone leading her in this respect. No pains were spared to center this immense grain trade at this distributing point, and this intelligent effort was crowned with such success that it soon raised Winona to the very front rank of Minnesota cities, and gave her an impetus in the way of progress that has tided her over the shoals of two seasons ol financial depression into the haven of assured prosperity. During the ten days ended July 24, 1875, the shipments of wheat from Winona were 100,000 bushels. Until railway communication was established with the eastern markets, tliat is, for about twelve years from the opening up of the export trade in wheat at this point, all shipments were by river, and the scene along the Winona levee during the months that navigation was open was indeed a busy one. This new industry came most opportunely to Winona, at a time when she was just recovering from the financial depressi(m of 1857-8, and under its impulse and the returning prosperity her population almost doubled in the five years from 1860 to 1865, notwithstanding the nation was involved in bitter and protracted civil war during almost that entire period. During the next five years she more than doubled her population, and was conceded without question the third place in importance and population in Minnesota. As was natural, the growth of the little settlement on Wabasha prairie began along the front of the great river whose current, unused for ages by larger craft than the canoe of the aborigines, had of late years felt the ploughing keels of mightier craft, and borne the burdens of a growing commerce. The dedication of the original plat, among other reservations, for public use and pleasure, stipulated for a levee stretching along the sandy, gravelly margin of the river for about 2,000 feet, from" Walnut street on the east to Washington street on the west, and running back from the river to Front street. The foot of Center street touched this public levee as nearly as possible in the center, as its name indicates. Fronting this levee, almost at its eastern extremity, the cabins of the pioneers and the shanties of the first merchants were clustered in the early days of 1852-3. Later, the warehouses of the grain-dealers clustered around the outskirts of the levee, and the whole face of trade was turned toward the Father of Watei-s, whose broad tide floated the commercial ventures of the growing metropolis of southwestern Minnesota.

Passage source: History of Winona County, published 1883.

When the great fire of 1862 swept clean the business of the place, and so many presaged the death of the young city, it was in fact but the clearing away of the old wooden structures, that upon their unsightly ruins might be laid the substantial foundations of tlie solid blocks of brick and mortal- that have risen in their place. This work of building has kept pace with the growing prosperity of the city, until to-day whole blocks of solid brick stretch along the main business thoroughfares of the city, and give an air of substantialness and permanency to the trade of the city, thoroughly in keeping with the confidence, everywhere felt by her capital and trade, that this permanency is real. The residence portion of the city is also most creditable to the taste of the citizens, and evidences the pride they feel in the city they have built. Elegant dwellings, spacious grounds, velvet lawns, charming beds of color in flower and foliage are found all along the principal residence streets; and outside these grounds the ornamentation is continued in broad borders of greensward, extending from the sidewalks toward the center of the street from ten to twelve feet, and rising above the driveway from ten to twelve inches. The sod on these borders is kept as closely shaven and well watered as the lawns, and the whole eft'ect most grateful and cooling to the senses as one walks or drives along the thoroughfare in the delicious fragrance of an early summer evening. The public buildings (with the single exception of the court-house, which time will some day remedy) are a credit to the city. The state normal school, erected at a cost of $165,000, occupies two full blocks in a charming situation, well back from the river, and its grounds are most delightfully laid out, unfenced, and always kept green and fresh during the growing season. The high school building and the ward scliools each occupy a full block, and the spacious grounds are kept in most excellent condition. The ample roominess ot these grounds, and the provision made for the comfort of the children, as well on the play-grounds as within the sclioolrooms, are a noticeable feature of the Winona public schools. As in her schools, so in her churches Winona has taken a most commendable pride. The (,'atholics, Episcopalians. Congregationalists, Presbyterians and Methodists have all that could be required in this direction. The Episcopal and Congregational churches are built of solid stone, and the latter of these structures, erected in 1882, is really a poem in stone, an architectural gem in granite. The bend in the river at this point has placed Winona within a ]K)cket in the bluffs, and looking out in any direction your eye rests on the surrounding heights, rising above the spires of the city and overlooking every object of interest. Across Winona lake lies Wof)dlawn cemetery, that beautiful city of the silent, than which no more quiet resting-place, in which to sleep after life's fitful fever is over, can well be found. It lies just within a little upland vale, and encroaching very perceptibly upon the rugged steeps that inclose the little valley on the west. Here the ground has been terraced and sodded, and broken into irregular forms, and in all things made to preserve its character as the dear resting-place for the weary when the di-eamless sleep into which life sooner or later quiets itself shall come. The morning beams salute the faces of the terraces as the sun climbs the eastern sky and peers over the bluff in the orient. The midday sun warms the cool shadiness and penetrates each leafy nook and green retreat, the westering sun retires behind the height up which the terraced mounds are built, and his long shadows fall like the hovering wings of peace, regretful to depart, over the beautiful resting-place of Winona's dreamless sleepers. Turning from the quiet of Woodlawn to the bustling activities of the city, witliout more particularly noting the stages of her growth, her magnificent system of water-works, or aught else connected with her public spirit or private ways, leaving unsaid all so easily inferred, the growing wealth of her citizens, the superior character of her j)ublic schools, tiie intelligence of her people, the social culture of her homes, the health fulness of her atmosphere, the beauty of her surroundings, and the charming views of natural scenery alternating in wood and water colors ; we close this article

Passage source: History of Winona County, published 1883.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Winona City - 29,591 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.