There must be a theme here. Piquadinaw is what the Ojibway called the area. That roughly translates as "it is hilly." European settlers saw the wisdom in that name and in 1910 Hill City was...

"Wells to go Dry" is a headline that could have happened. In 1913, seven years before the United States government enacted national prohibition, a local election prohibited consumption of alcoholic be...

Perham Municipal Airport is located just northwest of the city between the old and new versions of US Highway 10. In the "good old days" there was a popular drive-in movie theater on the old highway...

Once upon a time pilots training for their instrument ratings regularly practiced approaches at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. It's true, that really happened. MSP had the only...

Before the arrival of Europeans, the Dakota and Ojibwa frequently disputed who got to use the area around what is now the City of Benson in Swift County. A particularly gruesome chapter in that...

Henry Sibley was having a bad day. He was supposed to recommend a name for the town that was to be the "division point" for the St. Paul and Sioux City Railroad to his fellow directors. General...

Grygla is "The Biggest Town of Its Size." It must be true, the slogan is on the city website and letterhead. It's also true of the Grygla Municipal Airport. Between the small-town ambiance and the...

When Hadrian was Emperor of Rome, a rather rowdy group lived north of the province of Britannia. Called the Caledonii, they were such a pain that Hadrian had a wall built across the island to keep...

Golf and airplanes go together very nicely. Aviation makes many more golf courses available and in a much greater variety. In most cases, ground transportation is needed from the airport to the club...

It's not fertile in Fertile. Well, that's not exactly true. The surrounding area is probably the best farm land in North America, but the town is built on a geological anomaly called the "Sand Hills."...

Fairmont got its name because the original townsite was higher than the surrounding terrain. Before you pack your skis and head out, remember this is southern Minnesota. The mountain might be a little...

By some standards, there's not much to Bowstring. It's officially an "unincorporated" place, meaning there's an identifiable community, but without a formal city charter. The population is about 120...

Interstate Highway 90 connects Boston to Seattle. It's the longest road in the United States. Like the first transcontinental railroad, I-90 was constructed from both ends toward the middle. When the...

In 1858, Minnesota became the 32nd State of the Union. The new state's most populous county had about 13,000 residents, but it wasn't named after Louis Hennepin or Alexander Ramsey. That honor went...

Starbuck, what a great name for a great town! The City wasn't named after the first mate in "Moby Dick," or the fighter pilot in "Battlestar Galactica." The consensus is it got that unusual name from...

Litchfield has some great history. The City is named for E. Darwin Litchfield, whose brother was Egbert E. Litchfield, founded the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. Darwin was a major investor in the...

Waseca (wasecha) is a Dakota word. The first Europeans to visit the area interpreted it to mean "rich" but the Native Americans who inhabited the Great Plains at the time had no concept of monetary...

M*A*S*H was a movie and TV series about the Korean War (aka "Police Action").The setting is the 4077th Mobil Army Surgical Hospital between 1950 and 1953. In the opening scenes of both the movie and...

Minnesota is blessed with two great streams called Pine River. One originates in a chain of lakes in east central Minnesota, then flows north and east to join the Kettle River near Sandstone. The...

Aviation's golden age might have been the 1930s, but flying back then wasn't all that reliable. Equipment failures were common and many airlines used airplanes with only one motor. Emergency landing...

East Gull Lake is a modest size town in central Minnesota. It was incorporated in 1947, but the community was there long before it became an actual city. About 2,000 people are full time residents....

"A Solid Foundation" is the Dodge Center City motto. That's appropriate since the largest employer in town is Oshkosh Corporation, owner of the former McNeilus Truck factory. It's one of the largest...

Even if you went to school 50 years ago in some exotic place like New York, there's a good chance your ring or year book came from Owatonna. Jostens (aka, Newell Brands) is probably the country's...

Hector, Minnesota is named after a legendary warrior from Greek mythology. Hector, a prince of Troy, figures prominently in the story of the siege precipitated by the famous love affair between Helen...

Backus Municipal Airport could easily be confused with an exotic wilderness retreat. The turf runway is 3,600 feet long and lighted. There are lots of tie downs.Hangar rentals are available for long...