This is a postcard of an aerial view of Park Rapids taken a few years ago. This is an interesting area of town.
The Post Office is in the bottom left….one of the older buildings in town. Going right from the Post Office is the huge new Hugo’s Store that used to be Jeff and Bobs (local boys who sold out). A long time ago that was the school parking lot and skating rink with a warming house in the winter…along with a building on the corner that was the Ford Garage downstairs and a Roller Skating place upstairs. The red and green squares are the tennis courts. The building across the street from Hugo’s is the old High School where Far Guy and I went to High School. It is now apartments for low income people. The big red roof toward the center of the photo is a Pizza Hut. Spanning across Fishhook River is another bridge it is painted red …not to be confused with the REAL red bridge. The bridge that was painted red was removed last summer and a new bridge is in place…it is real ugly. Far Guys thinks someone should donate blue paint.
The park like area off to the center right is Heartland Park…that used to be the site of an old post mill and kids used to sled down the snow covered sawdust piles. It was also the spot where some kids would steal borrow posts and make rafts to float down the river…the kids would abandon the rafts which would end up busted up at the dam. It was reported to me that the water going under the highway bridge was quite shallow and a good place to disembark.
The church at the intersection was replaced by the Golden Arches. Calvary Lutheran got a new addition you can see the black shingles are darker on the new addition.
If you have a keen eye you can see a trail coming out of the woods near Heartland Park and heading over the water. That is the old Rail Road Bridge that is to be removed this summer. It has been deemed unsafe by some mucky mucks. I suggested we have a sit in to save the bridge…but the only people I know that care about the bridge are all older and would eventually have to leave to go potty.
Old Railroad Bridge October 2014
The Heartland Trail will be rerouted across the new ugly bridge that I haven’t taken a photo of yet.
If we are going to “town” this is usually the town we go to. It is fourteen miles away. It has a wally world and two grocery stores and many gas stations. It also has empty buildings…the newest empty building is the Eagles Club it is for sale …seems they haven’t paid their taxes for five years. There are only a few restaurants open during the winter and none are open past 8 PM.
Looks like a nice place to grow up. Don't know if I like "progress" or not as it usually means destroying what is old or ugly, even if it is historic.
ReplyDeleteIt must be wonderful to spend your entire life in one place and know it so intimately. I've only been living here in Bellingham for seven years, and I see lots of changes during that time. I was in Boulder for almost forty years but this seems much more like home to me already. Love the story of your own home town. :-)
ReplyDeleteThe "Safety Gestapo" (muckety mucks) will end up killing us all in tax dollars.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed that tour a lot. What a cool town and so fun to listen to the progression it has had over the years. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI visited this area about 10 years ago - lots of things to see and do.
ReplyDeleteWhat a beautiful city and scene for us today. I had to chuckle at the senior sit in on the bridge. I'm amazed at all the ancient structures in Europe, and it seems we can't wait to tear stuff down here in the States.
ReplyDeleteThe old railroad bridge is delightful. Would love to hear that a whole lot of older folks staged a sit-in! Might have to pitch in to rent a porta-potty, though. Park Rapids looks like a nice little town, in a really pretty setting.
ReplyDeleteToo bad about small towns---once great now just biding their time. Stanwood is no different--maybe smaller. I detest empty buildings and freeways.
ReplyDeleteMB
Og gosh! Where will the kids jump into the river when the bridge goes? My granddaughter and I were there in 2012 and watched some boys jump from the center, swim to the bank, the in jump again. The park has the best tree ever according to my granddaughter. the huge trunk is bent low to the ground and makes a nice place to sit. Great aerial photo. Really shows how towns grow up near waterways.
ReplyDeleteA lovely looking town to ! Our town also has a wollys world , a small mall , lots of family owned shops on main street as well as bakeries , and country restaurants , banks , grocery stores , hardware stores and a feed mill or two this town is a 25min drive from us and only 16 miles or 27.3 Kilometers eh? lol ! and has a population of only 14,000 . I love small towns the folk are friendly and every one knows of everyone from the area . . We also have another small town the opposite way from us that has some shops the same but also different ones and it is about the same distance and population . Thanks for sharing , Have a good day !
ReplyDeleteThat's a very scenic town. It's too bad that it seems to be going downhill.
ReplyDeleteAfternoon, love the aerial shot of the scenic little town, so charming.Blessings Francine.
ReplyDeleteSometime I sure wish we could stop time go back for one more (not worry and have fun day).
ReplyDeleteThings are so bad now our great grand children want be able to understand how innocent
and happy we were as children to rome all over town free as a bird. But we had better show up for supper before dark.
Great tour of Park Rapids. Maybe if they put a few porta potties at the end of the old bridge the seniors could take turns going and save the sit-in. :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat picture to take a look at - I believe I remember everything but the old mill and borrowing the posts for a raft (that is a bit out of my range) :) I remember roller skating and skating at the ice rink with the warming house ~ and when J&B (or the ol' boys store) was on Pleasant kinnycorner from MN Power.
ReplyDeleteLooking north on US 71. Not wide enough of a shot to show your museum.
ReplyDeleteI remember Deer Town. You must have some postcards...
Speaking of bridges long gone... Long Bridge was a real classic wooden fishing bridge.
ReplyDeletehttp://collections.mnhs.org/cms/largerimage.php?irn=10068637&catirn=10667787
Enjoyed the photos and info. All the things I treasure about where I grew up are long forgotten these days.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely setting for your hometown, that is still your town.
ReplyDeleteOnce I left my rural home and small town in Oregon, I found I could not go home again, to live. And yet many people are like you and live where they grew up.
What is wallys world? In the UK wally means fool or dafty.
ReplyDeleteSame thing better known as Walmart:)
DeleteWhat a nice visit and historical tour. Amazing how much places can change given half a century or so. I do love the idea of a red bridge, though, of course. ;)
ReplyDeleteI like the setting of the town with the trees and river bends.
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