Saint Croix State Park - Cultural History

Cultural History

Evidence of Native American occupation in the park and the St. Croix River Valley has been found dating back 5,000 years. The region was inhabited by the Dakota people by the late 17th Century, when French traders began exploring the region. However the Dakota were soon displaced by the Ojibwe.

Fur traders became more numerous, and a trading post was established within what is now St. Croix State Park. Following an 1837 treaty with the Ojibwe the region was opened up to logging, although harvesting in the park did not begin until later in the 19th Century. From 1894 to 1898 the Empire Lumber Company operated a rail line, the Flemming Railroad, to transport logs cut farther inland to the St. Croix River. The line ended at Yellowbanks where the logs were rolled down the steep bluffs and floated to sawmills downriver. St. John's Landing, at the northeast end of the park, is named for Ed St. John, who opened a popular boarding house there for lumbermen.

The area was logged out by 1915 and farmers were attracted to the newly cleared land. However the sandy soil was poor and not productive enough to make a living. Most settlers moved away and much of the land was tax-forfeited. Pine County had the most tax delinquent property in Minnesota and suffered abject environmental degradation from cultivation and wildfires like the Great Hinckley Fire.

In 1934 the area was selected for a Recreational Demonstration Area, a New Deal program that provided jobs, paid farmers for poor cropland, and created outdoor recreation opportunities near urban areas (the site is midway between Minneapolis–St. Paul and Duluth). An initial 18,000 acres (7,300 ha) of land were transferred to the U.S. Department of the Interior, as the National Park Service would direct the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA). A CCC camp was constructed at Yellowbanks, populated first by Company #2762 and later #2706. Crews built the main park road, following the old Flemming Railroad route, and another 25 miles (40 km) of road. Trails and scenic overlooks were established while farm buildings were demolished. From Camp Yellowbanks the crews used sandstone and lumber from within the park to develop five separate areas for visitors. First was park headquarters, second Riverview Campground and a lodge which is now the interpretive center. The other three were group centers constructed by WPA crews: Norway Point for boys, St. John's Landing for girls, and Head of the Rapids for handicapped children. Some crews planted pine, spruce, and hardwood trees to begin reforestation while others conducted wildlife and fire protection work. A CCC crew built a fire tower in 1937. As additional properties were added, St. Croix Recreational Demonstration Area grew to 30,000 acres (120 km2), only slightly smaller than the country's largest RDA at Custer State Park in South Dakota.

As planned following federal development, St. Croix Recreational Demonstration Area was transferred to the state to became St. Croix State Park in 1943. The fire tower was staffed during fire season until 1981, when aerial surveys became the preferred spotting method. St. John's Landing Group Center is now a camp for the Minnesota Conservation Corps.