The River

Title: Map of Goodhue County
Type: Map
Date: 1888
Source: Minnesota Historical Society

Description: This map was published in 1888 in the book Geology of Minnesota.

Activities:

1. This map shows a dark green area near the center right of Goodhue County. The key in the upper left says that the area is "Cretaceous." What do you think this could mean?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: This is the area of the clay pits in Goodhue County. These were formed during the Cretaceous geologic period and were used by Red Wing Stoneware to make pottery.
2. Look at the Mississippi River on the map. Why do you think Red Wing was a good location for a town on this river? (Red Wing is located beneath the "W" in the word "Wisconsin" on this map.)
   
   
   
   
   Answer: Red Wing is located near the connection of the Cannon River and the Mississippi River. The closeness of the city to both rivers makes it a good place for transporting people and goods throughout the area.
3. There are some black lines on this map that intersect near Red Wing. These lines show another form of transportation that was used at this time. What kind of transportation might this be?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: The lines on the map show the railroad tracks that were in use at this time.
4. The map of the county is divided up into smaller square-shaped sections that are named. What do you think these squares represent?
   
   
   
   
   Answer: The smaller named squares in the map are for townships. Since there were not as many towns in the area at the time, people often identified their home by naming the township they lived in. Townships are also broken into even smaller squares of 640 acres that were called sections.