If you’ve ever lived outside of Minnesota you know you get the same question when people find out where you’re from.
“Aren’t the winters cold there?”
After getting this question dozens of times I say, “Yes but you just wear more clothes and walk faster. You get used to it.” People usually look at me like they don’t know why anyone would want to just get used to it and we move onto other topics like the Vikings, Prince and if ice fishing is a thing people really do.
Ever wonder what winter looked like way back in the day? Well check out these winter travel scenes. If you were lucky enough to own a car, driving was quite the snowy adventure. Also with Akeley being the largest sawmill in Minnesota, a logging train chugging along would be a common scene.
Talk about #thestruggleisreal
Lumber train on the Spur railway.
A very Currier and Ives winter scene of Hubbard in 1900.
Back in the early logging days, most of the logging was done in the winter. Logs were piled up on the ice, ready for a spring thaw. The Akeley Mill was owned by the Red River Lumber Company. Forget sporty snowmobile jackets or Columbia layers, winter looked like this:
#LoggingSquadGoals
Just a few pictures from the past to show that we’ve always just rolled through winter because we have to. Yes the winters are cold. Yes you get used to it. It’s just what we do. – Erin Cox
All pictures are from the Centennial Edition of the Park Rapids Enterprise.
Remember, it’s not always winter here! Click here to request a Discovery Guide or flip through it electronically.