Introduction
1990 Population According to Age Group Vacant Land Development Capacity Median Home Values |
Introduction:
Introduction The Planning Inventory provides a condensed summary of
the historic development patterns and existing conditions
in the City of Marine on St. Croix. Attention is given to
demographics, land use, housing, development regulations,
transportation, community utilities and services. This
information is intended to represent a data base to be
utilized in the comprehensive planning process to
identify issues affecting the community and formulating
policies to address these issues to the benefit of the
City’s residents and long range planning goals.
Information has been taken from the Comprehensive Plan
completed in 1980 in instances where the data has not
changed. GEOGRAPHIC SETTING The City of Marine on St. Croix is located adjacent to
the St. Croix River between the City of Taylors Falls, 16
miles to the north, William O’Brien State Park,
immediately to the north, and the City of Stillwater, 12
miles to the south, all linked by Minnesota Highway 95.
Marine on St. Croix is approximately four square miles in
size (2,664 acres) with a 1995 estimated population of
611 people. The older, more developed part of the City is
located in the east central portion of the City, adjacent
to the St. Croix River and includes the Central Business
District. A number of residences are located on the river
bluffs and have a commanding view of the river and the
Wisconsin bluffs. The City is bounded on the south and
west by May Township, on the east by the St. Croix River,
and on the north by New Scandia Township. HISTORICAL FACTORS The Marine on St. Croix Historic District is
registered with the National Register of Historic Places
and reflects the City’s history as the earliest
settlement in the St. Croix River Valley and a lumber
milling river town. In 1839, the Marine Lumber Company
cut the first commercial lumber in the state from trees
felled in the rich white pine forests of the St. Croix
Valley. The mill was built by settlers from Marine,
Illinois, giving the town its name. The settlement grew
with the success of the mill. In the 1850s, the settlement began to spread away from
the immediate sawmill area. At this time, Marine received
a number of mostly Swedish emigrants arriving by
steamboat. Marine was one of only three good settlement
landings north of Stillwater on the St. Croix River. The
emigrants worked for the expanding logging company, and
as skilled craftsmen and farmers. The lumber mill had many successful years before
closing in 1885 due to a financial depression, a huge log
jam, and acts of nature. Although the lumber mill closed,
Marine continued to grow because of a growing
agricultural orientation with a rise in wheat and dairy
farming. Today, the stream that gave the lumber mill its
power and the land surrounding it is a park that runs
through the heart to the City, connecting it to its
history and to the St. Croix River. HISTORICAL SITE The mill site is owned by the Minnesota Historical
Society and preserves the site of the sawmill next to the
St. Croix River. The Minnesota Historical Society has
said that they will be conducting a site inventory during
1999 and will use this inventory as a basis for planning
their development (or non-development) of the site.
Marine on St Croix
Planning Commission This web page designed by Hugh Heimdahl |
