Minnesota Field Trip

Below: A car dealership, founded in the late railroad era, celebrates over 50 years of business in Anoka.

At the end of the railroad era, wheat and potato production centers moved to more rural regions. The sandy soil proved to be unable to support commercial wheat production, and rail expansion and eventually the development of a highway systems opened markets to farmers located farther from the central Twin Cities. These transportation advances also brought new opportunities for industrial and residential development within the suburbs. Over the course of the late railroad era and subsequent auto eras, the demand for land would eventually price-out agricultural use. When wheat production declined in the region, mills shipped in wheat, raising transportation costs and cutting into profits. As profit margins declined, Anoka's wheat milling industries either closed or moved out of Anoka to more profitable locations. Wasburn's Lincoln Mill, the largest of the Anoka mills, remained in operation until 1930.

Dairy products became the largest source of income for area farmers because of the proximity to the large urban populations of Minneapolis/St. Paul. A product which can be difficult to keep fresh, such as dairy, must be produced close to its market. Potatoes could also be grown in the Red River valley in Minnesota and in other northern rural areas. It was more profitable to use the land close to the city for dairy. Once the study area and the urban center were connected by efficient transportation routes, dairy surpassed potatoes in production.