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Southeast Minnesota has regularly felt the wrath of nature.

In 1890, a driving straight-line wind on Lake Pepin overturned the Sea Wing, killing ninety-eight people within minutes in the worst marine tragedy in Minnesota history. In 1940, a raging blizzard trapped duck hunters on islands in the Mississippi River and left motorists stranded across the region, leaving dozens injured or dead. Then, in 1965, flood waters of the Mississippi River and its vast network of tributaries kept area residents in fear for two months, shattering records for high water marks and destroying buildings and farmlands before receding and leaving behind damage that took years to rebuild.

Local author Steve Gardiner examines these powerful natural disasters and their ramifications on the people of Southeast Minnesota.

At the turn of 20th century, University Avenue emerged as a major transportation corridor, connecting Minneapolis and St. Paul. At the center of the corridor, the Midway district became one the Twin Cities' most prominent industrial hubs. And all along the 13-mile roadway, businesses serving the adjacent neighborhoods clustered around key intersections. But University Avenue fell into decline starting in the 1960s when a new interstate freeway, I-94, provided a speedier and more convenient way of moving between the two cities. I-94's economic blow was offset, at least in part, when new arrivals to Minnesota, many from Southeast Asia, injected fresh entrepreneurial energy into this aging transportation corridor. Today, University Avenue's historic role has been restored now that it serves as the route of a light-rail transit line connecting the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Minnesota is often called the Land of 10,000 Lakes, but it could also be called the Land of 20,000 Bridges. /

During the early days of the state, the Mississippi River and its many tributaries barred and disrupted transportation and commerce. To span these obstacles, communities battled to build and maintain bridges. Their efforts created a variety of bridge designs and purposes—from small hiking and biking bridges to concrete beams across rural rivers. Across the area, one can behold wonders like the beautiful Stone Arch Bridge, the La Crescent Swing Bridge, the Point Douglas Drawbridge, the elegant Winona Main Channel Bridge as well as other massive structures crossing the Mississippi.

Studying and photographing these amazing structures, local author Steve Gardiner celebrates the innovation and determination of Southeast Minnesota./      

Winona County, located in the Driftless Area of southeastern Minnesota, was organized in 1854 by an act of the territorial legislature. Following treaties with the local Native Americans, many eastern farmers came to the frontier to settle on a rich land obtained through a system of land transfers called patents. As the area opened to the settlers, railroads were provided with land on which to lay track across the county to bring farm products to market and carry supplies to the interior. In addition to the railroads, roadways were established and villages sprang up at regular intervals where businessmen settled to provide goods and services locally. Scattered throughout the county, churches and cemeteries were established, and one-room schoolhouses were built. As the county entered the 20th century, a system of commerce had been well established, and goods and services easily flowed about the area. However, the 20th century was also a time of change; new technologies were developed, some farms grew while other disappeared, some villages died, and the old ways were cast aside. Winona County uses rarely viewed images from the collections of the Winona County Historical Society.

The author of Lost Rochester explores more Med City history beyond the medicine.

Stories surrounding the establishment of Rochester as a medical mecca are well documented and often showcased, but countless other tales haven't received as much attention. William Costley, son of the first slave freed by Abraham Lincoln, lived his last few months at Rochester State Hospital. Beloved citizen Reinhold Bach sailed aboard the doomed ocean liner the Empress of Ireland. The life of Minnie Bowron, hired as the city's first policewoman in 1917, offers an intriguing story, and teenager Lottie Schermerhorn awed crowds during the Roaring Twenties with daredevil aerial stunts.

Join historian Amy Jo Hahn on an engaging narrative journey, a revelation of fascinating characters who made their mark on Rochester.

Stillwater is located 20 miles east of St. Paul on the banks of the scenic St. Croix River and the Wisconsin border. Settled in 1843, Stillwater became the center of the lumber industry in the upper Midwest for the next 75 years. During the late 1880s and early 1890s, more logs passed down the St. Croix River than any other place in the world, and the lumber produced in Stillwater was used to build the central part of the United States. One of the first institutions authorized by the Territory of Minnesota, the prison, was located in Stillwater. Three of the most notorious convicts were the Younger brothers--Cole, Jim, and Bob--who, along with Frank and Jesse James, tried to rob the bank in Northfield in 1876. The Jameses eluded capture, but the Youngers served 25 years behind the stone walls of the Stillwater Prison.

At 3:30 a.m. on April 11, 1933, neighbors and firefighters arrived at the farmhouse of Albin and Alvira Johnson to find a smoldering heap where a seemingly happy home once stood. Beneath the ruins, investigators found the bodies of Alvira and her seven children, but Albin's remains were nowhere to be seen. The authorities determined that Alvira and the children were dead before the fire, and fingers immediately pointed to Albin. Hundreds of searchers, including the illustrious Pinkerton Agency, combed the area and even crossed into Canada in pursuit of Johnson, who was indicted in absentia for murder. But he was never found, dead or alive. What happened to the Johnson family and what part, if any, Albin played in the tragedy remain a mystery. Twin Cities journalist Brian Johnson tells the story that has beguiled the community for generations.

Adored for its tremendous beauty, the Hiawatha Valley also harbors a rich and varied history. Native Americans settled on the sandy shores of the Mississippi River and gave rise to the legend of Wee-no-nah. Later settlers arrived by steamboat and horse cart to tame the rugged hills and valleys and raise the finest of America's crops, industries and children. The "gandy dancer" of early railroading drove his spikes, and pickle makers fed the troops in early war efforts. All the while, the Mighty Mississippi beckoned to hardy explorers, Mark Twain among them. Join local author Kent Otto Stever as he blends historic events, places and people with personal reflections on everyday life in the valley.