Glimpse of the Past: Recent Minneopa hillside work reveals 1909 stabilization project – Mankato Free Press

The Free Press

MANKATO A lot of work had to be done over the past two years on a hillside on the waterfalls side of Minneopa State Park. Rain and more rain saturated the soil and caused the hillside to slump in the area above Union Pacific railroad tracks and below Minneopa Cemetery.

In March 2019, mud slid over a retaining wall of the hill and stopped near the railroad tracks. Union Pacific called in a geohazard mitigation crew that stabilized the hillside.

Tim Pulis, editor of the Minneopa Messenger, described the history of the affected area in the July issue of the newsletter for Minneopa State Park:

The problem with the hillside began 115 years ago, in 1905. But lets start the story in 1869. That was the year the railroad started being built west of Mankato, heading toward Lake Crystal and beyond.

In those days, the railroad often took the path of least resistance and this happened near Minneopa Park. The track curved around a huge hill.

This lasted for more than 30 years. Since trains had to slow down to make the curve and since time equals money, the decision to straighten the tracks was made.

Two things had to be done to accomplish this. One was to build a new stone tunnel for Minneopa Creek to flow through so the train could pass over it. The second was to cut back the hill below the cemetery. Both of these projects would be time consuming and expensive.

In 1905, work on the large arch tunnel over Minneopa Creek began. The arch is 450 feet in length and 40 feet high. James McClure, of St. Paul, was in charge. The stone was quarried in Mankato.

If you have ever been inside this tunnel, you marvel at its construction. The arch keystone on the north side has the date 1905 engraved on it.

To give some historical context, this was the year that Minneopa became a state park. Lots of dignitaries, including the governor, came to check out the area.

Much of Pulis research took place at Blue Earth County Historical Society. Heres what he found in the societys archives:

While the arch was being constructed, work was being done to remove dirt from the hillside below the cemetery. At that time, the hill likely went all the way south past current Blue Earth County Road 69.

An estimated 175,000 cubic yards of dirt were removed. This work was being done by Winston Brothers, who set up a railroad camp at Minneopa Park to accommodate the workers.

One tragic story regarding the project was published in a local newspaper in 1906 the gruesome death of Gust Anderson.

After the stone arch was completed, dirt was needed to back fill over it and bring it up to the level of the railroad tracks. Dirt from the cemetery dig was loaded on railroad dump cars. Large elevating graders were used to move the dirt to a conveyor belt.

As Anderson helped back the train of dump cars a few hundred feet east to the dumpsite, he grabbed for the iron brake on the front car. His hand slipped and he fell in front of the train. Two loaded cars passed over his body.

When the construction crews work was done, they broke camp and left for the Twin Cities.

A November 1906 newspaper article said the new, better-aligned track was being used by trains running from St. Peter to Minneopa and beyond.

The track was busy. Passenger trains arrived at Minneopa daily at 7:55 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 12:15 p.m. and 8 p.m. from the Mankato station. Trains left Minneopa for Mankato at 6:42 a.m., 12:22 p.m., 4:33 p.m. and 6:50 p.m. daily.

1908 proved to be an amazingly wet and was dubbed The Year of the Frog. So many frogs gathered on the railroad tracks near Lake Crystal that trains were unable to gain traction and had to stop until tracks were cleared.

The amount of water flowing over Minneopa Falls was more than most people of that time could recall seeing in the creek.

As for the hillside below the cemetery, there had been only one season for vegetation to grow there and help stabilize the ground. A massive amount of dirt came down on the railroad tracks, as well as some headstones from the cemetery.

A large force of men again set up camp at Minneopa and, with the aid of a large steam shovel, worked to remove the earth that had slid down over the tracks at the cemetery cut.

It would take weeks for crews to clear the tracks and build a retaining wall.

The recent stabilization project made apparent how extensive that 1908 project had been. When overgrowth was removed from the hillside in 2019, several retaining walls and a huge amount of rip-rap were revealed.

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Glimpse of the Past: Recent Minneopa hillside work reveals 1909 stabilization project - Mankato Free Press