Rails to the North Star

\u201cRailroads were the country\u2019s first big business providing the nation\u2019s vital cardiovascular system, setting the tempo of life everywhere. All of it was reflected locally. . . . Rails to the North Star is a masterful catalog of data, a treasure-house of useful information, offering \u2018one-stop shopping\u2019 in a field central to Minnesota\u2019s history. All aboard!\u201d —Don L. Hofsommer┬áIn the 1960s, Richard S. Prosser prepared Rails to the North Star, the first work to trace the routes of Minnesota\u2019s railways. From the first land grants for the construction of railroads in Minnesota in 1857, to the height of the street railways of the 1920s, to the consolidation of railroad companies in the 1960s, the work captures all facets of Minnesota\u2019s railroad development.┬áMuch has changed since then, but rail lines still traverse Minnesota\u2019s landscape. Featuring a section of redrafted full-color maps, Rails to the North Star is a primary resource on the history of railroads in Minnesota.┬áRichard S. Prosser (1930–2005) was a railroad enthusiast who grew up near the Milwaukee Road in south Minneapolis. ┬áDon L. Hofsommer is professor of history at St. Cloud State University. He is the author of several books, including Minneapolis and the Age of Railways (Minnesota, 2005).