Minnesota Railroads in 1944 inJust click the button to the left to view a great map in an Adobe format so you should be able to zoom in or zoom out to see specific areas!  This is a JPG example of the map available at the link.  Railroads were hugely important links from the mid 1800's through the 1950's and more.

Here's a great image of a steam locomotive operated by the Milwaukee Road line.  Similar engines were run in the area by the Great Northern, Soo Line, Northern Pacific and more! James J. Hill and associated investors controled the NPRY, the GNRY and the Burlington Route that finally merged to form the Burlington Northern, now Burlington Northern Santa Fe!

The SOO Line railroad was a division of the Canadian Pacific Railway and the formal name was the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway... but the "SOO Line" was easier to say!

Brooklyn Township farmers may've grown potatoes and hauled them to Osseo and other junctions for shipment by rail.  With the network of rail lines shown in the map above, you can see how widely they could distribute their products just in Minnesota, much less the points beyond! At about 49th & Osseo Road (now Brooklyn Boulevard) the HOWE INC. business processed potatoes and the SOO Line provided a railroad spur right to the side of the plant.

With so many railroads by the 1940's, the industry was a major employer in many communities... did you have an ancestor that was an engineer, conductor or a railroad employee?

Brooklyn Historical Society celebrates Brooklyn Township in Hennepin County, the State of Minnesota and the cities of Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center.                                                                                            Updated December 2007

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