STILLWATER, Minn. — Stillwater is a great place to hang out in the summer... shops, bars and restaurants, and of course, the spectacular and pristine St. Croix River... but the community is no "Johnny come lately."
The latest installment of our summer drone series KARE in the Air takes us over what some consider the actual historic birthplace of Minnesota.
It was in Stillwater back in 1848 that the first territorial convention was held to establish Minnesota as a state.
Discover Stillwater says the lumber industry made the town famous, with its riverside mills filling thousands of rail cars with white and Norway pine. The sheer volume of the enterprise helped put Stillwater among the largest markets in the world.
The industry (and all the money it attracted) brought railroads, steamships and grand homes, many of which remain today in their original glory. And the iconic Stillwater Lift Bridge, built in 1931, is one of the few of its kind still operating, although now it serves only foot, bike and boat traffic.