Minneapolis and the Age of Railways

November 3, 2005
7:00 p.m. CDT
Free Admission

Mill City Museum, Minnesota Historical Society
704 South Second Street
Minneapolis, MN 55401

Mill City Museum's monthly "First Thursdays" series continues with a lecture and book signing about Minneapolis during the railroad era. Prof. Don L. Hofsommer will give a presentation and sign copies of his new book "Minneapolis & the Age of Railways," a history of Minneapolis from the 1860s to the 1950s, when railroads provided the link between the city, its region and the rest of the world. Don L. Hofsommer is professor of history at St. Cloud State University. He is the author of many books on railroad history, including The Tootin' Louie, The Hook & Eye, and The Great Northern Railway.

The museum also opens a new exhibit, "Railroads and the Marketing of the Northwest." This display will feature advertising images from the Minnesota Historical Society collections highlighting how railroads promoted the resources of Minnesota, the Dakotas, and Montana. Included in the display are nineteenth-century railroad advertisements touting agriculture in the Red River Valley, and 20th-century images promoting railroad tourism of the west, especially to the new national parks in Montana and Wyoming. Among the railroads represented are the Northern Pacific, the St. Paul, Minneapolis, & Manitoba (and its successor the Great Northern), and the Minneapolis, St. Paul, & Sault Ste. Marie ("Soo Line"). The exhibit will be on display in the museum's Mill Commons until April 30, 2006, and is free and open to the public during regular museum hours.

We would love to see all of you at Mill City Museum on November 3!

For more information, contact:

David Stevens
Public Programs Coordinator
Mill City Museum, Minnesota Historical Society
704 South Second Street
Minneapolis, MN 55401
612-341-7524
612-341-7553 fax
david.stevens@mnhs.org
www.millcitymuseum.org

Downlod the postcard PDF (284 KB)