CROW WING COUNTY

EXISTING STATIONS
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Station Name	Original Railroad	Current Location	Type	Date Built	Current Use	Track Status	Building Material	More Info
brainerd		8th Street & Front Street (GPS: 46.357031, -94.198732)	F	1902	Business	Gone	Brick
crosby		Cuyuna Range Historical Society Museum, 101 1st Street NE (GPS: 46.483594, -93.950203)	C	1910	Museum	In Use	Brick
lake hubert		6894 County Road 13 (GPS: 46.501673, -94.258705)	C	1896	Display	Gone	Wood
nisswa		25532 Main Street (GPS: 46.521488, -94.289288)	C	1907	Museum	Gone	Wood
STATIONS OF THE PAST
Station Name	Original Railroad	Notes
Barrows		The depot was located on 1st Street (now called Depot Street). It was built in 1914 and measured 30'x48'.
Baxter		According to the NP Valuation Records from 1917, there was only a cinder platform at this location at that time.
brainerd	AND	This was the first station. It was built in 1872 and also was later used as for passengers and an office building by the M&I RR (formerly the Brainerd & Northern Minnesota RR). It was remodeled in 1888 and burned down in February 1917. It was on the east side of South 6th Street near Washington Street at GPS: 46.357720, -94.200155.
Brainerd		The original freight station, built in 1878, was on the north side of the tracks between 7th and 8th Streets at GPS: 46.357746, -94.198502. After the new freight station was built in 1902, the old freight station was used as storage for the NP. It was torn down sometime between 1917 and 1929.
Brainerd	AND	After the original station burned in 1917, a ticket office was set up in a freight car and the waiting room was housed in a refrigerator car. Soon thereafter, a small, temporary station was constructed that served from 1917-1920. It was described in the local newspaper as a "barn-like contraption" and was located on the west side of South 6th Street on the north side of the tracks at GPS: 46.357772, -94.200879. The 1917 NP Valuation Records lists this temporary station as a one-story, frame station measuring 20'x77' with a seperate baggage house that was built in 1913.
brainerd	AND	The second (permanent) station here opened on May 15, 1920. It was on the SW corner of Washington Street at 6th Street on the north side of the tracks at GPS: 46.357801, -94.201801. The M&I also had offices in this station until that railroad was absorbed into the NP. The station was torn down in October 1968.
Brainerd		After the second station was torn down in 1968, the NP moved its passenger operations to a new building at 8th and Front Streets (Brainerd Dispatch, 6-29-1968). Although the article in the Dispatch implied that a new building was was put up, the passenger depot was actually moved into a very small part of the old 1902 freight depot on Front Street (still standing).
Brainerd		The original Brainerd & Northern Minnesota depot here burned down in January 1897 and a temporary depot was soon erected followed by the B&NM using the NP depot after that. The BN&M was sold to the M&I in 1901.
Brauer		This Mississippi, Hill City & Western station was between Hill City and Washburn at mile post 20.5 (from Swan River) and was 3.7 miles from Hill City. This line ran from Hill City to Mississippi Junction and then into Swan River via the GN. The line opened in 1910 and was abandoned in 1935.
Crow Wing		This station was originally a combination depot/store and was built in 1889 (according to the 1917 NP Valuation Records). It was located between Barrows and Lenox just off MN-371.
Deerwood (Withington)		This station was located off East Front between Maple and Archibald. It was built in 1872 and burned in April 1915.
Deerwood		A brick station was constructed in 1916 that measured 30'x102'. It was torn down in 1987.
Deerwood		There was also a freight house here.
Deerwood (Withington)		This station was built in 1871 when Deerwood was known as Withington. The name was changed to Deerwood in 1882. This original depot burned down on April 2, 1915. Source: “Cuyuna Country: A People’s History”, Volume I, p. 64, Cuyuna Country Heritage Preservation Society.
Deerwood		Located at the southern end of 5th Avenue at CR 10, this station was moved to Riverton in 1922.
cuyuna
Fort Ripley		This station sat along Front Street between South and Main Avenues. It was built in 1889 and measured 16'x48'.
Gull River		This station was eight miles west of Brainerd.
Iron Hub		The station was north of town between Villa and Home Streets (not sure if the town exists anymore, let alone these streets).
Ironton	AND	According to the NP Valuation Records from 1917, this station was built in 1913 (the town was founded in 1911, so it was probably the first station there) and measured 30'x108'. The Soo and NP shared iron ore operations in the area.
Jenkins		This station was on the north side of Lilac Street at Front Street.
Klondyke		According to the NP Valuation Records from 1917, there was only a cinder platform at this location at that time.
Leaks		This station was three miles north of Brainerd and was named after John Leaks who was an engineer on the M&I.
Lenox		There was a RR carbody that was converted into a passenger shelter here in 1907.
loerch		This station was on the east side of Dullum Road (55th Ave.), on the south side of the tracks. It was built in 1902 and measured 22'x26'. This station may have also been called Jonesville at one time.
Lenox Station
Manganese		Grading for station grounds began in 1914 with a station planned that measured 24'x60' with 300' of platform (Brainerd Daily Dispatch, 8-7-1914), however reports from 1915 said that the depot was slated to be built in the summer of that year (Brainerd Daily Dispatch, 4-12-1915).
Merrifield		This smaller shelter appears to have predated the station listed below.
Merrifield		This station was on what is now Train Bell Road. In 1913 it's exact location was adjacent to the western edge of the property owned by Mrs. L.J. Van Doren. It was on the east side of the tracks.
Mississippi Junction		This Mississippi, Hill City & Western station was at mile post 6.7 (from Swan River) and was the junction with the Great Northern. The MHC&W has trackage rights over the GN into Swan River from here. This junction was near Jacobson.
Oreland
Pequot		This station was on the north side of East Main Street. It was on the east side of the tracks.
Rabey		This Mississippi, Hill City & Western station was built around 1909 and was moved to the Wayne Michelson Farm (along with the potato warehouse) in 1935. The station was at milepost 13 (from Swan River) on the line.
Riverton
Seaver (Seavey)		This Mississippi, Hill City & Western station was at mile post 9.5 (from Swan River)
Washburn (Marshfield)		This Mississippi, Hill City & Western station was at mile post 17.4 (from Swan River) and was 6.8 miles from Hill City.
1898 CROW WING COUNTY RAILROAD MAP

Notes About Existing Stations... Deerwood (Soo Line) - The original location of this station was at the southern end of 5th Avenue at CR 10. Lake Hubert (Brainerd & Northern MN) - The line here was originally a 42-mile narrow-gauge logging line owned by the Northern Mill Company that ran from Brainerd to Spider Lake. The Brainerd & Northern Minnesota purchased the line in 1894 and switched the line to standard gauge between Brainerd and Lake Hubert. The line was bought by the Minnesota & International (later NP) in 1901. The station was purchased from the railroad for $1 in 1968 by Hugh McCaffrey (who ran the Lake Hubert Store) and it was moved from its original location to this nearby plot. It was restored in 1969. The location changed its name from "Hubert Station" to "Lake Hubert" in 1928. The build date of 1898 is given on a plaque on the station. It is the last surviving vintage open-sided station in the U.S.