The Birth of 3M

Two Harbors is the place where 3M was founded. Don't know 3M -- bet you will recognize some of these products.

The story is that a group of business men went together to make a company to mine corundum. They purchased land believed to have corundum and built a processing plant. Only when all of this was done and the product shipped to the first buyer did they get a geologist report pointing out the mine was producing a different mineral, totally unuseful.

This story is told in the building in Two Harbors in which the company first had its office. I went to visit here later in the afternoon after completing a 10 K walk in Two Harbors, reported in a previous post.

 This building is now a historic site and operated as a small museum.

I learned what saved the company was the invention of Wetordry sandpaper.

Above is a roll of this paper, used to polish the finishes on cars. A nearby sign said 3M has protected the patent/copyright on this sandpaper for 75 years.

The ceiling above in this room is decorated with pieces of various sandpapers made by 3M.

In the museum I learned of two products that surprised me.

The boots worn by the astronaut on the moon were made by 3M.

Another product is stickers to put on butterflies to track their migration.

I placed my first finger by the stickers in order to give those who see this picture a reference for how small are these stickers.

In another room in the building there is a display about 3M international presence. A large sign lists the various countries in which 3M does business and the date it began in each country. With my interest in Central Europe I looked for those countries.

An interesting place to visit -- and I'd never thought about why the street by 3M in Saint Paul was called McKnight. Turns out McKnight was president of 3M for many years.

Walking in Two Harbors

On Tuesday I woke to just a cloudy day. I had driven to Two Harbors the day before, hitting rather thick fog in the Duluth area. I packed my rain coat just in case rain appeared during the walk.

Two Harbors is all about mining -- not the actual mines, but rather the place the ore is loaded onto lake freighters. Hand in hand with this is/was the railroad service that transported the ore to the lake shore. 

The first part of the walk went along 7th Avenue which is also Highway 61, carrying a lot of traffic along the North Shore. The walk, however, was pleasant, giving me a chance to peek into shop windows. In a 1.5 K the walk route turned right towards the business district.

Here's a view of the Carnegie Library.

 If you click on the link for Two Harbors above, you will learn that the library opened in 1909, built with a $15,000 donation from Andrew Carnegie. I've walked by many Carnegie libraries, routes go here because some walkers keep track of these landmarks. This is the first one I've seen still functioning as a library; this one has an addition built in 1983.

Next I found the Lake County Courthouse.

This is the second building on this site, the first one burned. This building was opened in 1906. The building to the left is called the Sheriff's Residence and Jail. I've seen many courthouses in Minnesota, particularly through my work with the Minnesota Department of Health, and this is the first one to my knowledge that includes a sheriff's residence as part of the courthouse complex.

The walk continued through the small business district. The map told me to walk through the parking lot to the first locomotive. This is what I found.

 The signs around it explained that this is a Yellowstone locomotive. Only 72 were ever made in the United States. Empty-- no coal or water -- it weighs 400 tons. It takes 26 tons of coal  and 25,000 gallons of water (94,600+ liters) to make it fully operational. The benefit of this engine is that is had tremendous powers at slow speeds. Its top speed is 45 mph, but to carry a similar load today would require 4 diesel engines. This retired engine has been prepared to stand the demands of outside weather.

Across the street was an even older engine.

We can only admire this one; I couldn't find any explanatory information.

My next instruction for this 10K walk was to find the path along a "cyclone fence." Well, this must a regional term. I don't know exactly what is a cyclone fence, but Mr. Google does. It's a chain link fence. Well, there was only fence so I could hardly go wrong. I was directed to follow this path along the lake shore towards the lighthouse and breakwater.

Here I found historical signs about Agate Bay, a town once right along the lakeshore, not set back about 2 kilometers as is the present day Two Harbors. The signage explained this town was full of trouble, whiskey, and loose living -- but went on to explain that this history comes from the railroad company documents, the railroad companies very much wanting the lake shore for their operations. In other words, history written by the victor, for what I saw is the ruins of huge coal storage yard, needed obviously when it took 25 tons to just get the steam up for a trip of transporting ore.

Later when at home I did a bit more research and found originally there was also a second town, Burlington. This town has also disappeared and the writer of this web site did not take it to the conclusion that I reached that Two Harbors is named to represent the  original Agate Bay and Burlington harbors and the towns associated with each.

I have always told myself that if I can see where I'm heading, it's not a long journey, but the way to the lighthouse and breakwater did look a bit far!

The weather was indeed more comfortable than the pictures may look. The temperature was around 70 degrees (21C), a lovely change from the recent time when I had to be out at 6 AM to avoid the excessive heat.

I walked about 5 minutes towards the light house, walking most of the time along the ruins of the coal storage yard. Indeed it had been an immense area, an area needed to feed the voracious steam engines.

On the way I passed a ship propeller. A nearby sign explained that this 10 ton bronze object belonged to the Eugene W. Pargny, a ship that called Two Harbors its home port. It sailed the Great Lakes between 1917-1984.

At last I was at the end of the breakwater, but I was not the only walker. There is a parking lot here and many got out of their cars to walk the breakwater. In addition there were quite a few fishermen trying their luck.The breakwater was about 6 feet across with a fence on the shore side. It was easy walking. My task was to walk to the end of the breakwater and see what words were written on the legs and door of the little lighthouse at the end. The answer:

Perhaps the picture is not totally clear. It says: "Danger, Intense Sound may occur at any time." In addition, under the small light house there was another sign that warned one not to walk any further. Indeed in about 20 more steps one would be walking off the end and falling into Lake Superior -- not a good thing.

Walking back I got a good view of the large light house.

This light house is no longer in service and is now operated as a bed and breakfast along with a gift shop.

Now the route map said to walk through the arch. All the time I had been walking towards the light house I had been searching for an arch. Couldn't see anything. Then the trail turned abruptly right between some trees and there I found this.

I had been expecting something far more grand. The trail now took me along Agate Bay.

It never ceases to amaze me that I can leave a large metropolitan area in southern Minnesota and in 2-3 hours of driving find myself in such a different environment.

The route map told me walk until I came to a Y in the trail. I kept doing that until I almost found myself walking off a ledge that would make me fall into the Burlington Bay. I noticed a small, lesser used trail winding through the trees. It seemed to be going north and west which were the directions I needed to head.

While walking through the forest I kept noticing some trees that looked like this:

 If any reader knows why, I'd surely like to know!

I walked about another 5 minutes through the trees and was glad to see buildings in the distance. Eventually I walked out of the forest and found a "paved trail heading to the right."

I followed the trail up a hill, getting a splendid view of a field.

 I had been noticing these yellow weed/wildflowers everywhere, but they were most splendid on this hillside.

Close up the blossom looks like this:

The took me eventually to back into the town and through a city park.

 On one side was a small forest, planted in honor of men who have died in American wars. On the other side was Burlington Bay.

With about another 10 minutes of hiking I found myself again crossing Highway 61 near a Holiday gas station. I was very glad to see there were tables and chairs inside. I was ready for a rest. I got a Magnum ice cream bar -- they're not just only in Poland -- and sat down to enjoy that and do some some reading.

Continuing on I walked along a golf course. I enjoyed the view of this pond.

 The remainder of the walk went through residential areas. I was amused at what someone had done to the garage.

I stopped at the McDonald's by the hotel, the hotel being the start/finish place for this walk. Lunch tasted good and I enjoyed putting my feet up.

This was indeed a great walk.

Betty's Pies

Betty's Pies is one of the iconic places along the North Shore (of Lake Superior). Often people from out of state who have vacationed in Minnesota will say, "Do you know about Betty's Pies?" I'm in Two Harbors, MN as I write and went out to Betty's Pies for supper tonight.

Here's the exterior of the restaurant at sunset, but on a cloudy, foggy night. When I see the basalt, such as is shown in front of the building, I know I've made it to the North Shore.

Inside it has a "diner" appearance.

Here's the pie menu.

For supper I had a Reuben sandwich.

I got to wondering why this is called a Reuben Sandwich. Wikipedia says it is named for Reuben Kulakofsky, a Lithuanian-born grocer in Omaha, NE, but the same article also provides other explanations for the name. This Reuben had lots of corned beef and a bit of sauerkraut. Sometimes Reuben sandwiches come with Thousand Island dressing, but this one didn't.

Now it's a Pie Shop, so where's the pie? I was full after the sandwich so asked for a piece of pie to take home with me and eat a couple hours later.

 I chose the orange-chocolate creme pie. I like that combination and have never had it before in a pie. This piece of pie surprised me because the filling is placed in a meringue shell, not a pastry crust. The night light challenged me in getting a good picture. I'm offering this only for readers in other countries who may wonder how American pie looks.

Walking in Rochester

On Sunday I woke up about 6 AM so with a head start on the day, it seemed like a good day to do the walk in Rochester. I must admit this is not on my list of favorite Minnesota cities and this walk didn't change that. I needed Rochester for the R spot in my Walking Minnesota Cities A-Z and also for the Olmsted in the Walking the Minnesota Counties.

I arrived in Rochester a bit after 8 AM and found the walk box in the Guest House Inn on 16th Avenue. The temperature was in the high 60s and the skies, unfortunately cloudy for much of this walk.

The walk first took me along the Cascade Creek, a pleasant area.

Even though the temperatures have been very hot, the plants of autumn are appearing.

Above is an example. A bit more walking brought me to a place where I walked across a bridge and then started walking on the opposite side of the creek and along a housing area.

I continued to walk along the creek for awhile but couldn't find the place to move to another part of the walk --and also Google Maps couldn't show me the street mentioned in the route map. I took off trying my best to get back on the route. This took me along a busy road and in a light industrial area. I finally found myself in Central Park, but the poor little park seemed dwarfed by the office towers surrounding it.

The Mayo Clinic is the obvious giant in this town, and in the years since I've visited Rochester it has gotten even larger. This presence is what I don't like about Rochester. It seems everything is associated with hospital and clinic services, or services that support the clinic.

At last I got on 2nd Street SE and started walking back to the start place.This street is very pleasant as well, but the support of health services continues.

Examples of what I mean:

The above is part of an outpatient housing area for persons who have or need transplants.

The above is the Ronald McDonald House.

My walk also took me by St. Mary's Hospital, one of the two hospitals in the city, the other being Rochester Methodist.

Above is the North Tower of this five building hospital complex.

I was glad when the route took me back to the Cascade Creek area. A Perkins restaurant is across the street from the start/finish for this walk. I stopped there for what might be called "second breakfast" in Poland. By 1:00 PM I was home and resting.

Later in the afternoon I attended the 4:30 PM service at my church. The second Sunday of September is traditionally the Merging of Waters service. This is one of my favorites. Members bring water from places they have been over the summer, whether it's from grandma's kitchen faucet just down the street or from hundreds or thousands of miles away. I brought water from Jamaica, Poland, the Netherlands, and Nebraska.

The gathered waters are filtered and boiled and then used during the baby dedication services as well are for anointing the sick.

A very busy Sunday.

Walking in Kansas City, Kansas

I had come to Kansas City KS to do a walk in order to fill in the K space in my Walking the USA A-Z book. As readers of previous posts may know the weather in the Midwest has been very, very hot. I had spent much of the previous day holed up in a hotel as going outdoors when the temperature was 101 (38C)  didn't sound like much fun. I was out the door a couple minutes before 6 AM in order to do the walk during cool temperatures.

I walked from the hotel to 10th Street, noticing murals along the way.

Here is a section of El Baile de la Vida. This mural was painted in 2004 and may look a bit strange because I took this photo still in darkness.

Sorry that I can't provide good information about the above three murals. What I found didn't match the written route material very well at all.

After seeing these murals I went across the street to McDonald's and had a coffee and sandwich.

Next I walked by the Seth Adams Clock.

 The route map says this clock was brought to Kansas City in 1914 by the Winkler Jewelers. When new the clock was silver and had to be hand wound. The city bought the clock in 1971, painted black, and changed to electric power. The clock said 11:00 at about 7 AM in the morning, so the electric power must not be working very well!

By now the sun had risen and I continued down the street a bit to the location of the Huron Cemetery. My idea about the Huron Indians is that they come from the far east of Kansas City. And that is correct. The first records of the Huron show them in Ontario, Canada. The information at the Huron Cemetery says they were pushed westward by the Iroquois Confederation. Then they received pressure from European settlers in the eastern states and finally decided to take their resources and buy land in what is now present day Kansas City, KS. Once there some of the group was further located to Oklahoma.

In the early 20th century, developers began to eye the Huron Cemetery. The Huron in Oklahoma said OK to a sale, but the Huron in Kansas City disagreed. Two women, the Conley sisters, moved into the cemetery in protest. Eventually one Elizabeth Burton Conley

argued some aspects of this dispute before the United State Supreme Court. She is considered to be the first American Indian woman to appear before the Court. Eventually the dispute was resolved and this area is protected.

Next the route design took me through a city park and down by a shell from the U.S. Maine.

This indeed is one of the more unusual things I've seen while doing a walk, and there was absolutely no explanation why this shell is in this city park in Kansas.

Now I headed for the place in which the Kaw and Missouri Rivers joined. I needed to somehow walk safely through an area that is a freeway cloverleaf, full of entrance and exit streets and ramps. I ended up totally on the wrong trail, but did see area of the river confluence in the distance.

On my way back to the hotel I walked under the Kansas City Arch.

This arch is to represent the past, present, and future of the city as well as the cultural diversity of the city.

Nearby an interesting kinetic sculpture.

Back at the hotel I enjoyed some cold water, then took a shower, and started on my way to Lincoln, NE. This trip took me through 4 states! I started out in Kansas, then the highway took me into Missouri for about 100 miles, then into Iowa for about 10 miles and then finally into Nebraska for about 40 miles. Not often that I've been in 4 states in one day!

Yesterday was the first football Saturday for 2013 in Nebraska. And there certainly may not be a place that enjoys and celebrates football as much as do Nebraskans.

Here's a view of just about 10 of the thousands who were tail-gating before the game.

And even the grocery stores are full of Big Red merchandise.

Now with J and K done, what's left is H, Q, T, U, and X. I have good plans for H and T! That will be part of future stories.