MNDOT Historic Roadside Development Structures Inventory, Pine Bend Historical Marker
Dublin Core
Title
MNDOT Historic Roadside Development Structures Inventory, Pine Bend Historical Marker
Description
A Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) assessment of the Pine Bend Historical Marker constructed by the National Youth Administration (NYA) in 1939-1940.
Creator
Gemini Research
Source
http://www.dot.state.mn.us/roadsides/historic/files/iforms/DK-IVG-023.pdf
Publisher
Minnesota Department of Transportation
Date
1998-12
Format
PDF
Language
English
Type
Historical Property Assessment
Identifier
MnDOT Historical Roadside Development Structures Inventory DK-IVG-023, CS 1907, Pine Bend Historical Marker
Text Item Type Metadata
Text
BRIEF
The Pine Bend Historical Marker is located on the eastern side of T.H. 52/T.H. 55 (formerly
T.H. 52/T.H.53) at the southeastern corner of the intersection of T.H.52/T.H.55 and 117th
Street. It stands on a .1-acre site just within the southern city limits of the City of Inver
Grove Heights.
STANDING STRUCTURES
Stone Marker. Built 1939-1940 by the NYA. The principal feature on this site is a stone
marker that is basically rectangular in shape and measures approximately 12' wide and about
15' deep. It is built of tan, random ashlar, roughly-cut limestone with contrasting dark red
brick trim (specified as vitrified brick on the plan). The stones were carefully selected and
the masonry carefully executed.
The marker consists of a rectangular shaft that rises above a flagstone terrace and is flanked
by low sidewalls. The shaft supports a bronze plaque that is set within a rectangular niche
that is topped by a keystone. The niche is framed in red brick. Red brick was also used
to create a herringbone-patterned panel beneath the niche. The sidewalls of the marker,
flanking the shaft, have caps of red brick. In front of the shaft is a wide curving limestone
step (specified as herringbone-patterned brick in the plan) that allows visitors to step up to
the plaque. The marker's terrace has two wide steps on its front edge. Beneath these
steps, a lower level of flagstone creates a plaza that is about 2'6" wide. There is a small
plaque on the front edge of the marker (near its northern end) that reads "NYA Constructed
by National Youth Administration Cooperating with the Minnesota Department of Highways
1939."
The marker constitutes only the central section of a more extensive, 34'-wide marker that
was drawn in the original plan. In the plan, the existing marker is flanked by two slightly
lower wings that extend north and south and then curve several feet forward. The flagstone
terrace in the plan is much wider (filling width of the entire marker), and the plan shows
two benches with stone legs and concrete slab seats that were shaped to fit within the
curves of the wings. Finally, the lowest level of flagstone is shown on the plan as a larger
flagstone plaza, and the stone steps were to have been flanked by low stone piers with brick
caps.
The text of the marker's plaque commemorates the site of a former Sioux village and the
abandoned St. Paul and Southern Railway. The seals of the State of Minnesota Department
of Highways and the Minnesota Historical Society are cast near the bottom. (See marker
text at the end of this document.)
Stone Curbing. Built 1939-1940 by the NYA. There is a stone curb, partially covered or
missing, along the eastern side of the pull-off drive.
Stone Flagpole. Built 1943 by the MHD and the Pine Bend 4-H Club. About 60' north of
the stone marker is a stone flagpole base that is built of gray, random ashlar, roughly-cut
limestone on a stone footing. The base is 3' square and about 3' tall and steps inward as
it rises. The original plan for the flagpole shows a flagstone walkway approaching the
structure that does not exist today and perhaps was not built.
MNDOT HISTORIC ROADSIDE DEVELOPMENT
STRUCTURES INVENTORY
DK-IVG-023
CS 1907
Pine Bend Historical Marker
3
OTHER LANDSCAPE FEATURES AND PLANTINGS
The Pine Bend Historical Marker is a small, .1-acre, shallow, rectangular site that has a curved
gravel pull-off drive that forms a narrow island between the pull-off drive and T.H. 52/T.H.
55. The topography of the site is flat. Most of the site was originally planted with grass
that is now overgrown. There is one mature evergreen near the northern end of the site
and a mature deciduous tree both north and south of the marker.
No original planting plan has been located but a drawing of the site on the construction plan
shows tall evergreens and shrubs serving as a backdrop to the marker and low spreading
junipers flanking the front edge. A 1943 plan of the site (drawn when the flagpole was
added) shows similar plantings near the marker, shade trees along the eastern side of the
site, and shrubs planted at the northern and southern ends of the pull-off drive, along the
curve of the pull-off, and on each end of the island.
SETTING
The site is located on the eastern side of a very busy highway in an agricultural area whose
farm fields are being joined by light commercial and industrial suburban development. The
site is bounded on the north by 117th Street, on the west by T.H. 52/T.H. 55, and on the
east and south by a plowed field edged with a chainlink fence. To the north across 117th
Street is a feed plant and a commercial complex. Across the highway to the west are
plowed fields.
INTEGRITY
Alterations
The site was not constructed according to the historic plan on file at Mn/DOT. (See marker
description above.)
The marker's flagstone has been crudely remortared. Much of the site's original stone curb
is missing. The island has been reduced in size to a narrow patch of weeds. The site is
otherwise intact.
In general, the site retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling,
and association. Its integrity of setting and feeling have been compromised somewhat by
increased highway traffic and encroaching commercial development.
Notes on Condition
The marker is in fair to poor condition and needs maintenance and repair. Some bricks have
been broken and the flagstone terraces have been crudely remortared. The site is overgrown
and appears abandoned.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
MNDOT HISTORIC ROADSIDE DEVELOPMENT
STRUCTURES INVENTORY
DK-IVG-023
CS 1907
Pine Bend Historical Marker
4
Prior to the construction of this wayside rest, there was a 3' by 5' steel sign on this site.
The sign was white with black lettering and was located close to the highway shoulder.
The text of the steel marker was identical to the text on the current stone marker, with the
exception of the last line of the stone marker's plaque, which did not appear on the steel
marker. The steel sign was one of the markers erected during the first cooperative marking
program of the MHD and the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS), which was established in
1929.
This stretch of T.H. 55 was formerly numbered T.H. 53.
The wayside rest and its stone marker were constructed in 1939 and 1940 by the National
Youth Administration (NYA), in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Highways.
The plan was drawn in November 1939. A 1939 highway department report stated:
Pine Bend is located at the site of an old Indian village. Here an historic marker of
limestone masonry with a bronze plaque and safe turnout is being erected to perpetuate
the legend of the site. It is contemplated that this project will be completed in 1940.
Fill material for the construction of the driveway is being obtained by flattening the
backslopes of an old railroad grade along the edge of the right of way, thereby
obliterating old construction scars while obtaining fill material (Annual Report 1939:22).
The site was probably designed by Arthur R. Nichols of the firm Morell and Nichols. Nichols
served as Consulting Landscape Architect for the Minnesota Department of Highways in the
1930s and early 1940s and designed most roadside development sites built during this period.
Nichols was one of Minnesota's most prominent landscape architects and his career spanned
many decades.
The flagpole was added to the site in 1943 by the Pine Bend 4-H Club in cooperation with
the highway department. The plan for the flagpole was approved by H. E. Chard (District
Engineer) on July 28, 1943.
PREVIOUS SHPO REVIEWS
There apparently have been no previous SHPO cultural resource reviews of the property.
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The Pine Bend Historical Marker was built in 1939-1940 by the MHD and the NYA. It is
one of 18 stone, free-standing, shrine-type historic markers recorded in this inventory. It is
one of 19 sites in the inventory on which the NYA worked. Pine Bend is one of more than
60 sites in the inventory that were designed by, or whose design is attributed to, Arthur R.
Nichols.
This property has been evaluated within the historic context "Roadside Development on
Minnesota Trunk Highways, 1920-1960." It is recommended that the Pine Bend Historical
Marker is ELIGIBLE for the National Register under this historic context because it meets the
following registration requirements:
Significant to the History of Roadside Development. The Pine Bend Historical Marker is among
MNDOT HISTORIC ROADSIDE DEVELOPMENT
STRUCTURES INVENTORY
DK-IVG-023
CS 1907
Pine Bend Historical Marker
5
the 68 Depression-era properties in the inventory that represent the MHD's first large-scale
effort to construct roadside development facilities in the state. The site is important as a
well-preserved example of the accomplishments of the NYA working with the MHD. The
property is an example of the distinctive and well-constructed public facilities, built by the
MHD in partnership with federal relief agencies, that met the objectives of roadside development
while providing essential work and job training to the nation's unemployed during the Depression.
(National Register Criterion A.)
Design Significance. The Pine Bend Historical Marker is a well-preserved example of the MHD
Roadside Development Division's small pull-off style roadside parking areas with shrine-type
historic markers. The site is a relatively intact example of the application of the "National
Park Service Rustic Style" to a roadside development facility. It has stonework of excellent
quality, and displays the special labor-intensive construction techniques and distinctive use of
indigenous materials that characterize both the Rustic style and federal relief construction in
Minnesota. Furthermore, the Pine Bend Historical Marker is an important example of the
roadside development work of prominent landscape architect A. R. Nichols, to whom its design
is attributed. (National Register Criterion C.)
The site may also be associated with the "Federal Relief Construction, 1933-1943" and
"Tourism and Recreation in the Lake Regions, 1870-1945" historic contexts.
OTHER COMMENTS
This property may require further evaluation for potential archaeological resources.
The site is located on a very busy stretch of highway and the marker is very close to the
shoulder. It is dangerous to turn into the site and the traffic noise and movement are
obtrusive.
It is recommended that the site interpretation be updated for cultural sensitivity.
The text of the historic marker is associated with an occupation site and with an abandoned
railroad bed. It is not specifically associated with the site of the wayside rest.
REFERENCES
Annual Report of the Accomplishments of Roadside Development Along the Trunk Highways
in Minnesota. State of Minnesota Department of Highways. 1939.
Final Report National Youth Administration for the State of Minnesota: Sept. 1935 to July
1943. U.S. National Youth Administration, Minnesota. 1943.
Guide to Historic Markers Erected by the State Highway Department, Cooperating with the
Minnesota Historical Society. Prepared by the Minnesota Historic Records Survey, Division of
Professional and Service Projects, Works Projects Administration. St. Paul: May 1940.
Reiman, Richard A. The New Deal and American Youth. Athens, Georgia: University of
Georgia Press, 1992.
Site Plans. Minnesota Department of Transportation, St. Paul.
MNDOT HISTORIC ROADSIDE DEVELOPMENT
STRUCTURES INVENTORY
DK-IVG-023
CS 1907
Pine Bend Historical Marker
6
Thiel, George A. and Carl E. Dutton. The Architectural, Structural, and Monumental Stones
of Minnesota. Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press, 1935.
Tweton, Jerome D. The New Deal at the Grass Roots. Programs for the People in Otter
Tail County, Minnesota. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1988.
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND MARKER TEXT
The stone for this site may have been obtained from a quarry near Red Wing. Outcroppings
of Shakopee and St. Lawrence limestone are located in the bluffs along the Mississippi River
Valley and were quarried in Red Wing as early as 1865.
Prior to 1852, Pine Bend was the site of a Dakota village whose leader in the mid-19th
century was Medicine Bottle. The area was named by Euro-Americans for the pine trees
that lined the Mississippi River banks and for the large bend or turn in the river a few miles
east of the site. During the 1850s and 1860s, it was also the site of a St. Paul and
Southern Railway station and a short-lived Euro-American village.
Text of Metal Plaque on Stone Marker
"Pine Bend Village. The cornfields and village of the Sioux chief, Medicine Bottle, occupied
the land between this point and the river from 1838 to 1852.
"This friendly chief, uncle of the Medicine Bottle executed in 1865, with his band moved to
the Redwood Agency after the Mendota Treaty of 1851 and died before the Sioux Outbreak
of 1862. This marker also stands on the abandoned roadbed of the St. Paul and Southern
railway." [Seals of the Minnesota Historical Society and the State of Minnesota Department of Highways]
The Pine Bend Historical Marker is located on the eastern side of T.H. 52/T.H. 55 (formerly
T.H. 52/T.H.53) at the southeastern corner of the intersection of T.H.52/T.H.55 and 117th
Street. It stands on a .1-acre site just within the southern city limits of the City of Inver
Grove Heights.
STANDING STRUCTURES
Stone Marker. Built 1939-1940 by the NYA. The principal feature on this site is a stone
marker that is basically rectangular in shape and measures approximately 12' wide and about
15' deep. It is built of tan, random ashlar, roughly-cut limestone with contrasting dark red
brick trim (specified as vitrified brick on the plan). The stones were carefully selected and
the masonry carefully executed.
The marker consists of a rectangular shaft that rises above a flagstone terrace and is flanked
by low sidewalls. The shaft supports a bronze plaque that is set within a rectangular niche
that is topped by a keystone. The niche is framed in red brick. Red brick was also used
to create a herringbone-patterned panel beneath the niche. The sidewalls of the marker,
flanking the shaft, have caps of red brick. In front of the shaft is a wide curving limestone
step (specified as herringbone-patterned brick in the plan) that allows visitors to step up to
the plaque. The marker's terrace has two wide steps on its front edge. Beneath these
steps, a lower level of flagstone creates a plaza that is about 2'6" wide. There is a small
plaque on the front edge of the marker (near its northern end) that reads "NYA Constructed
by National Youth Administration Cooperating with the Minnesota Department of Highways
1939."
The marker constitutes only the central section of a more extensive, 34'-wide marker that
was drawn in the original plan. In the plan, the existing marker is flanked by two slightly
lower wings that extend north and south and then curve several feet forward. The flagstone
terrace in the plan is much wider (filling width of the entire marker), and the plan shows
two benches with stone legs and concrete slab seats that were shaped to fit within the
curves of the wings. Finally, the lowest level of flagstone is shown on the plan as a larger
flagstone plaza, and the stone steps were to have been flanked by low stone piers with brick
caps.
The text of the marker's plaque commemorates the site of a former Sioux village and the
abandoned St. Paul and Southern Railway. The seals of the State of Minnesota Department
of Highways and the Minnesota Historical Society are cast near the bottom. (See marker
text at the end of this document.)
Stone Curbing. Built 1939-1940 by the NYA. There is a stone curb, partially covered or
missing, along the eastern side of the pull-off drive.
Stone Flagpole. Built 1943 by the MHD and the Pine Bend 4-H Club. About 60' north of
the stone marker is a stone flagpole base that is built of gray, random ashlar, roughly-cut
limestone on a stone footing. The base is 3' square and about 3' tall and steps inward as
it rises. The original plan for the flagpole shows a flagstone walkway approaching the
structure that does not exist today and perhaps was not built.
MNDOT HISTORIC ROADSIDE DEVELOPMENT
STRUCTURES INVENTORY
DK-IVG-023
CS 1907
Pine Bend Historical Marker
3
OTHER LANDSCAPE FEATURES AND PLANTINGS
The Pine Bend Historical Marker is a small, .1-acre, shallow, rectangular site that has a curved
gravel pull-off drive that forms a narrow island between the pull-off drive and T.H. 52/T.H.
55. The topography of the site is flat. Most of the site was originally planted with grass
that is now overgrown. There is one mature evergreen near the northern end of the site
and a mature deciduous tree both north and south of the marker.
No original planting plan has been located but a drawing of the site on the construction plan
shows tall evergreens and shrubs serving as a backdrop to the marker and low spreading
junipers flanking the front edge. A 1943 plan of the site (drawn when the flagpole was
added) shows similar plantings near the marker, shade trees along the eastern side of the
site, and shrubs planted at the northern and southern ends of the pull-off drive, along the
curve of the pull-off, and on each end of the island.
SETTING
The site is located on the eastern side of a very busy highway in an agricultural area whose
farm fields are being joined by light commercial and industrial suburban development. The
site is bounded on the north by 117th Street, on the west by T.H. 52/T.H. 55, and on the
east and south by a plowed field edged with a chainlink fence. To the north across 117th
Street is a feed plant and a commercial complex. Across the highway to the west are
plowed fields.
INTEGRITY
Alterations
The site was not constructed according to the historic plan on file at Mn/DOT. (See marker
description above.)
The marker's flagstone has been crudely remortared. Much of the site's original stone curb
is missing. The island has been reduced in size to a narrow patch of weeds. The site is
otherwise intact.
In general, the site retains integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling,
and association. Its integrity of setting and feeling have been compromised somewhat by
increased highway traffic and encroaching commercial development.
Notes on Condition
The marker is in fair to poor condition and needs maintenance and repair. Some bricks have
been broken and the flagstone terraces have been crudely remortared. The site is overgrown
and appears abandoned.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
MNDOT HISTORIC ROADSIDE DEVELOPMENT
STRUCTURES INVENTORY
DK-IVG-023
CS 1907
Pine Bend Historical Marker
4
Prior to the construction of this wayside rest, there was a 3' by 5' steel sign on this site.
The sign was white with black lettering and was located close to the highway shoulder.
The text of the steel marker was identical to the text on the current stone marker, with the
exception of the last line of the stone marker's plaque, which did not appear on the steel
marker. The steel sign was one of the markers erected during the first cooperative marking
program of the MHD and the Minnesota Historical Society (MHS), which was established in
1929.
This stretch of T.H. 55 was formerly numbered T.H. 53.
The wayside rest and its stone marker were constructed in 1939 and 1940 by the National
Youth Administration (NYA), in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Highways.
The plan was drawn in November 1939. A 1939 highway department report stated:
Pine Bend is located at the site of an old Indian village. Here an historic marker of
limestone masonry with a bronze plaque and safe turnout is being erected to perpetuate
the legend of the site. It is contemplated that this project will be completed in 1940.
Fill material for the construction of the driveway is being obtained by flattening the
backslopes of an old railroad grade along the edge of the right of way, thereby
obliterating old construction scars while obtaining fill material (Annual Report 1939:22).
The site was probably designed by Arthur R. Nichols of the firm Morell and Nichols. Nichols
served as Consulting Landscape Architect for the Minnesota Department of Highways in the
1930s and early 1940s and designed most roadside development sites built during this period.
Nichols was one of Minnesota's most prominent landscape architects and his career spanned
many decades.
The flagpole was added to the site in 1943 by the Pine Bend 4-H Club in cooperation with
the highway department. The plan for the flagpole was approved by H. E. Chard (District
Engineer) on July 28, 1943.
PREVIOUS SHPO REVIEWS
There apparently have been no previous SHPO cultural resource reviews of the property.
STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE
The Pine Bend Historical Marker was built in 1939-1940 by the MHD and the NYA. It is
one of 18 stone, free-standing, shrine-type historic markers recorded in this inventory. It is
one of 19 sites in the inventory on which the NYA worked. Pine Bend is one of more than
60 sites in the inventory that were designed by, or whose design is attributed to, Arthur R.
Nichols.
This property has been evaluated within the historic context "Roadside Development on
Minnesota Trunk Highways, 1920-1960." It is recommended that the Pine Bend Historical
Marker is ELIGIBLE for the National Register under this historic context because it meets the
following registration requirements:
Significant to the History of Roadside Development. The Pine Bend Historical Marker is among
MNDOT HISTORIC ROADSIDE DEVELOPMENT
STRUCTURES INVENTORY
DK-IVG-023
CS 1907
Pine Bend Historical Marker
5
the 68 Depression-era properties in the inventory that represent the MHD's first large-scale
effort to construct roadside development facilities in the state. The site is important as a
well-preserved example of the accomplishments of the NYA working with the MHD. The
property is an example of the distinctive and well-constructed public facilities, built by the
MHD in partnership with federal relief agencies, that met the objectives of roadside development
while providing essential work and job training to the nation's unemployed during the Depression.
(National Register Criterion A.)
Design Significance. The Pine Bend Historical Marker is a well-preserved example of the MHD
Roadside Development Division's small pull-off style roadside parking areas with shrine-type
historic markers. The site is a relatively intact example of the application of the "National
Park Service Rustic Style" to a roadside development facility. It has stonework of excellent
quality, and displays the special labor-intensive construction techniques and distinctive use of
indigenous materials that characterize both the Rustic style and federal relief construction in
Minnesota. Furthermore, the Pine Bend Historical Marker is an important example of the
roadside development work of prominent landscape architect A. R. Nichols, to whom its design
is attributed. (National Register Criterion C.)
The site may also be associated with the "Federal Relief Construction, 1933-1943" and
"Tourism and Recreation in the Lake Regions, 1870-1945" historic contexts.
OTHER COMMENTS
This property may require further evaluation for potential archaeological resources.
The site is located on a very busy stretch of highway and the marker is very close to the
shoulder. It is dangerous to turn into the site and the traffic noise and movement are
obtrusive.
It is recommended that the site interpretation be updated for cultural sensitivity.
The text of the historic marker is associated with an occupation site and with an abandoned
railroad bed. It is not specifically associated with the site of the wayside rest.
REFERENCES
Annual Report of the Accomplishments of Roadside Development Along the Trunk Highways
in Minnesota. State of Minnesota Department of Highways. 1939.
Final Report National Youth Administration for the State of Minnesota: Sept. 1935 to July
1943. U.S. National Youth Administration, Minnesota. 1943.
Guide to Historic Markers Erected by the State Highway Department, Cooperating with the
Minnesota Historical Society. Prepared by the Minnesota Historic Records Survey, Division of
Professional and Service Projects, Works Projects Administration. St. Paul: May 1940.
Reiman, Richard A. The New Deal and American Youth. Athens, Georgia: University of
Georgia Press, 1992.
Site Plans. Minnesota Department of Transportation, St. Paul.
MNDOT HISTORIC ROADSIDE DEVELOPMENT
STRUCTURES INVENTORY
DK-IVG-023
CS 1907
Pine Bend Historical Marker
6
Thiel, George A. and Carl E. Dutton. The Architectural, Structural, and Monumental Stones
of Minnesota. Minneapolis: The University of Minnesota Press, 1935.
Tweton, Jerome D. The New Deal at the Grass Roots. Programs for the People in Otter
Tail County, Minnesota. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1988.
ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION AND MARKER TEXT
The stone for this site may have been obtained from a quarry near Red Wing. Outcroppings
of Shakopee and St. Lawrence limestone are located in the bluffs along the Mississippi River
Valley and were quarried in Red Wing as early as 1865.
Prior to 1852, Pine Bend was the site of a Dakota village whose leader in the mid-19th
century was Medicine Bottle. The area was named by Euro-Americans for the pine trees
that lined the Mississippi River banks and for the large bend or turn in the river a few miles
east of the site. During the 1850s and 1860s, it was also the site of a St. Paul and
Southern Railway station and a short-lived Euro-American village.
Text of Metal Plaque on Stone Marker
"Pine Bend Village. The cornfields and village of the Sioux chief, Medicine Bottle, occupied
the land between this point and the river from 1838 to 1852.
"This friendly chief, uncle of the Medicine Bottle executed in 1865, with his band moved to
the Redwood Agency after the Mendota Treaty of 1851 and died before the Sioux Outbreak
of 1862. This marker also stands on the abandoned roadbed of the St. Paul and Southern
railway." [Seals of the Minnesota Historical Society and the State of Minnesota Department of Highways]
Original Format
Paper
Files
Collection
Citation
Gemini Research, “MNDOT Historic Roadside Development Structures Inventory, Pine Bend Historical Marker,” Inver Grove History, accessed November 21, 2024, https://invergrovehistory.org/items/show/8.