Map of the Land Grants of the Winona and St. Peters R.R. in Minnesota and Dakota

Land for sale along the Winona and St. Peter Railroad!

This uncommon broadside presents about 125 miles of line of the Winona and St. Peter Railroad, running between Burns, Minnesota (lower right), to Watertown, Dakota Territory (upper left). Parcels of land, highlighted in red, reflect prime real estate adjacent to the line and available for sale. Townships are named and sections numbered to facilitate easy identification of property. Various features that would be encouraging to prospective property owners are labeled throughout – post offices, waterways, roads, other railroads, and more. The southern border of the Little Traverse Reservation is outlined in the upper left.

The Winona and St. Peter Railroad was established in 1861 in Winona, Minnesota, and was a crucial part of the state’s early railway development (though controlling interest was acquired by the Chicago and North Western Railway in 1867). To fund its construction, the company received federal and state land grants, which provided it with a significant amount of land along its route. The railroad used this land as a valuable asset, selling it to settlers and using it as collateral for loans to finance its expansion westward.

The map was published in Chicago in 1883 by Shober & Carqueville on behalf of the Winona and St. Peter Railroad. According to various listings in WorldCat, several iterations of the map were issued (by different authors) on a semi-annual basis in the late 1870s and early 1880s. This example is uncommon, with only five holdings, mostly in Midwestern institutions.

Sources: OCLC# 175291091; Yale University