On Aug. 11, Pine Rivers historic train depot was moved from its original location. Photo by Kelly Virden

As with most of Minnesota's history, the history of Pine River is tied heavily to the logging trade that once brought a booming economy to the cold of the north.

When the need was present, trading posts or logging camps would often form.

Though some of these gathering places didn't amount to a hill of beans, some would steadily grow in population and permanent structures until they reached the status of towns, and later, cities.

Early trailblazers

This is certainly true of Pine River.

In 1873 George Angus Barclay and Dennis McNannie purchased property along the Pine River near Norway Lake.

Together, these two trailblazers built a trading post. At the time the area was just beginning a long history of logging. It was those loggers that Barclay intended to target with his wares.

In the beginning no train tracks passed through the trading post, only log sleds drawn by beasts of burden. Early loggers depended on the natural landscape to assist in transporting their valuable lumber; they depended on the Pine River.

A logging accident

Norway Lake was once the starting point for the transit of hundreds and hundreds of logs that would eventually be led down river, through the Whitefish Chain (where they were likely loaded onto train), and then eventually emptied into the Mississippi where the logs would float until they reached a lumber mill.

Today logs of virgin lumber can still be found on the bottom of Norway Lake from when a storm blew through the lake around the turn of the century causing the hundreds of logs to break the "boom" chain that kept them from drifting out of the holding area. In the two years that it took for the loggers to round up the loose logs many became waterlogged and sank to the bottom where they still rest. This blunder, caused by contractor T.E. Davis' attempt at saving money by incorporating a weak gauge of chain for a boom, resulted in Davis' ruin.

As time went on and the railroad expanded further north the logs would spend less time floating down river before being loaded onto railroad cars. The tracks continued to grow, and in the summer of 1893 the Spider Lake Line was started. Originally this line was installed as the state's only narrow-gauge track, however, by 1892 the narrow gauge was converted into standard gauge due to the decreasing use of narrow-gauge tracks nationwide.

A twist of fate

For a time the Brainerd & Northern Minnesota railroad company considered extending this spur to connect with a track from Leech Lake. The logging trail would have bypassed the Pine River and Backus area completely, possibly making towns out of Lake Hubert, where the Spider Lake line began, or logging camps such as Blacklist and Colburn located in the Foothills State Forest. According to the Northern Trackers Railroad Club historian Cyril Durenberger, this was a very real danger. According to former senior archeologist from the Institute for Minnesota Archeology Douglas Birk, the city of Pine River, as well as those also located along the railway, "Never would have developed," if the Spider Lake Line had extended.

Luckily for Pine River, the proposed line was abandoned in favor of a more direct route to Leech Lake in 1894, which led through today's Pequot Lakes, Jenkins, Pine River, and Backus. The needs of the loggers and train operators, as well as the clearing of farming lands and incorporation of travel into the area, ensured the future of Pine River and other area towns. The train even temporarily gave lifeblood to a town called Mildred situated between Pine River and Backus.

A depot gets its start

Upon reaching Pine River, the railroad needed a depot or a station. In the beginning the train made use of a ranch building belonging to the Barclay family as its depot; however, construction on the current depot began soon after. In 1895 the building was completed. At the time Pine River was not actually a town, but instead it was still simply a ranch with a few businesses nearby, making the still-existent Pine River Depot older than the City of Pine River itself. Over the years the depot saw many trains and underwent additions. Since 1913 the depot has barely changed, however, as it was at that time that the depot saw the last of its major additions. In the early years the depot simply served as a building that marked the location where the train could stop to top off water supplies. Later it became much more than that.

Depot establishes its importance

The depot became what Birk calls the "Ellis Island of Pine River." This was because when the logging industry brought railroads to Minnesota it also brought the possibility of further development. Immigrants looking for a place to put down roots flocked in droves to Minnesota, and those that settled around Pine River likely stepped off the train at the depot. The land once settled by Barclay and loggers eventually gained enough of a population to warrant the development of city infrastructure. However, by this time a lot had changed. Barclay himself was shot through the window of his own hotel and killed. His widow eventually remarried and her husband was the new driving force behind the development of a town.

The buildings that eventually set Pine River apart from the ranch it once was are long gone. Many factors contributed to the demolition or overall destruction of the buildings that could have represented the history of Pine River. Multiple fires have claimed buildings that would have otherwise been historic in Pine River including many of the buildings that would have lined today's Highway 371. According to Birk, a proposed four-lane highway necessitated the destruction of many buildings along the same stretch in the early 1960s, including the three-story Spurrier Hotel. Needless to say, that four-lane never developed. Of all of Pine River's truly early buildings only the depot still stands.

Train service dwindles

The railway that ran through the Pine River area came into a state of disrepair. In the years preceding 1985 the trains passing through the area could only travel at a speed of 10 miles per hour due to track conditions, making the trip between Brainerd and Bemidji last 12 hours. Construction of State Highway 371 in 1931 - along the path of the Railway north of Brainerd - resulted in alternative routes for both products and people wishing to travel between the area communities. Freight trucks on 371 became the preferred method of transit for various products, thus marking the beginning of the end for the Pine River branch of the Burlington Northern Railway. On Thursday, Aug.15, 1985, the Burlington Northern Railway abandoned the line running through Pine River following the return trip from Bemidji to Brainerd of train No. 2035. This decision came years after the Burlington decided to close the Pine River Depot. A group called the Blue Water Line immediately began negotiating with Burlington Northern over the purchase of the tracks from Pine River to Brainerd in hopes of reestablish the operation of a passenger train. The Pine River Journal at the time quoted the group as saying "It will work." However, it did not, and the line was completely abandoned and eventually dismantled.

A new idea grows

Despite the Blue Water LineÕs failure, a plan that was destined to succeed was already in the works. Predicting the demise of the line through Pine River - following the Pine River Depot closure - a local real-estate broker named Terry McGaughey began researching the earlier transition of a railroad track into a recreational trail, which stretched from Walker to Park Rapids, called the Heartland Trail. McGaughey decided that a similar trail could be developed from the newly abandoned tracks in Pine River. The Pine River City Council quickly joined McGaughey's cause and McGaughey then followed the rails ushering support from the local communities. McGaughey eventually caught Sen. Jim Oberstar in his wake and brought the issue into the state spotlight.

City and county government meetings over the years resulted in support of the development of the abandoned railroad line into a recreational trail. Legislative approval and project funding were sought, and in 1994, the master plans for the Paul Bunyan Trail were completed. When completed, the trail will be more than 200 miles, typically following the rail bed once used by the Burlington Northern Railway from Brainerd to International Falls.

Depot's future uncertain

Though the rail was now gone and replaced by asphalt, the Pine River Depot remained where it always was. In 1989 the Pine River DepotÕs future seemed uncertain as rumors that it would soon be condemned and likely demolished were beginning to circulate. The unstable and uncertain future inspired a drawing by former Art Teacher Nancy Grunwald to commemorate the depot as it once was. The depotÕs white paint continued to peel and flake off as the debate over its future grew.

Rumors of condemnation spread for years until September of 2000 when the Pine River City Council demanded the absent depot property owners either move the building or fix it up to adhere to building codes. The city considered the structure to be dilapidated and dangerous, furthermore, future development of Highway 371 into a four-lane highway was again being considered.

In November of 2000 the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn/DOT) purchased the depot and prepared to declare the building condemned. Near panic, residents flocked to defend the building and seek its redemption as a historic location. However, Mn/DOT determined that the Pine River Depot held little or no historic significance.

In July of 2001 the State Historic Preservation Office determined that the state's findings were incorrect and that the depot was eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.

A new future for the depot

Today, the depot still stands, though on Monday the building was relocated to the other side of the Paul Bunyan trail and rotated 180 degrees. The next step is revitalizing the depot is the exterior restoration. Organizers of the local nonprofit Heritage Group North hope to turn the depot into a historical museum for Pine River.

The Pine River Depot's salvation came as a result of community action that mobilized faster than the equipment and legal proceedings necessary for its relocation or demolition. Without that united action, the debate over the building's future would likely never have carried the weight it did, and the building could have been long gone years ago. So it is necessary to ask, why this building?

The depot is nostalgic for some

Clearly the alarm that rose in defense of the depot came from a crowd holding fond memories and recollections of it. Pine RiverÕs Jeannette Silbaugh is among those who remember the smoke from the train's stacks and the rumble of the engines that once frequented Pine River.

Jeannette can still remember one particular train ride with her husband-to-be Walter Silbaugh in 1944. Walter had been granted a 10-day leave of absence from the military and decided to spend the time in Pine River with Jeannette and his family.

Though it was winter there was little or no snow on the ground. Jeannette and Walter met in St. Paul and boarded the train headed to Pine River. After doughnuts and a train switch in Brainerd, the couple arrived in Pine River and much to their surprise found that Walter's parents were not waiting for them. It was 5:30 a.m.; Jeannette was wearing high heels; both had heavy luggage and a long walk ahead of them to Chickamaw Beach.

Jeannette describes that Walter claimed, "Well, you know, it's not very far."

After depositing their luggage in the Spurrier Hotel lounge, Jeannette and Walter began the hike, only to turn around after some distance so Jeannette could change shoes. Finally arriving at Walter's home they found that his parents had met every bus and train for days awaiting their arrival before giving up.

On Day 8 of the 10-day leave, Walter and Jeannette went before a judge, said their vows, and were pronounced man and wife. Jeannette had married the man her father hired to pick corn five years before. Shortly after, as with many soldiers at the time, a long train ride marked the end of Walter's leave.

A life influenced by the track

It was on this year that Clara Weiss also rode the train from Pine River with her husband, who was reporting to Fort Snelling for military service. However, Clara was far more familiar with the train as a way of keeping track of time.

"The train woke us up and put us to bed," Clara said.

Clara's family lived alongside the railroad tracks for many years. She remembers her children and her grandchildren eating lunch by the train tracks. The children wanted to see the engineers and wave to the brakeman in the caboose. Clara and her family sometimes even shared lunches with the engineers and were rewarded for their kindness as her kids were always treated kindly.

Clara also remembers the gritty details involved with the train. It was on this track that her son Richard Weiss was struck in his Saab and carried down the rail in 1972. It was his senior year and he was on his way to on-the-job training at a gas station. Luckily, Richard received only a minor shoulder injury, as the train at that time was not permitted to travel the rails at very high speeds.

In addition, Clara recalls that for passengers on the train there was the ever-present threat of soot from the smokestack.

"You didn't dare put your hand on the window sill because it was so dirty," Clara said.

Clara also recalls that when the railroad transitioned to diesel engines she and her family could no longer sleep through the sound of the passing trains, though they had no problem doing so with coal-fired engines.

These stories are a sign of the nostalgia and history that the Pine River represents to some people. To many the depot is seen as the last remaining historical place in Pine River. And, in fact, it is the oldest standing commercial structure in the city. It was also Pine River's connection to what Archeologist Birk describes as the largest and most productive logging railroad in North America.

The reason the depot is so important to the community historically is simply because it is still there. Not all history is lucky enough to receive the second life being given to the depot; and this may be made more obvious by time.