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46-631: The 125-foot (38 m)-tall column has a 164-step spiral staircase ascending to an exterior observation deck at the top. The tower was built in 1926 with financing by the Great Northern Railway and Vincent Astor , the great-grandson of John Jacob Astor , in commemoration of the city's role in the family's business history. Patterned after the Trajan Column in Rome (and Place Vendôme Column in Paris ),

92-515: A charter to the Minnesota and Pacific Railroad to build a standard gauge railway from Stillwater in the east to St. Paul in the west. From St. Paul, the main line would extend to Breckenridge in the west (the state's border with the Dakota Territory), while a branch line would extend to St. Cloud , Crow Wing , and St. Vincent . As the state's first active railroad (though not necessarily

138-576: A massive multi-piered stone arch bridge just below the Saint Anthony Falls . The bridge ceased to be used as a railroad bridge in 1978, becoming a pedestrian river crossing with excellent views of the falls and of the lock system. The mainline headed northwest from the Twin Cities, across North Dakota and eastern Montana. The line then crossed the Rocky Mountains at Marias Pass. It then followed

184-925: A route to California that rivaled the Southern Pacific Railroad 's route between Oregon and California. The GN route was further inland than the SP route and ran south from the Columbia River in Oregon. The GN connected with the Western Pacific at Bieber, California ; the Western Pacific connected with the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe in Stockton, California , and together the three railroads (GN, WP, and ATSF) competed with Southern Pacific for traffic between California and

230-736: A superior alternative to both services offered by GNR. The Great Northern energetically promoted settlement along its lines in North Dakota and Montana, especially by Germans and Scandinavians from Europe. The Great Northern bought its lands from the federal government – it received no land grants – and resold them to farmers one by one. It operated agencies in Germany and Scandinavia that promoted its lands, and brought families over at low cost, building special colonist cars to transport immigrant families. The rapidly increasing settlement in North Dakota's Red River Valley along

276-561: A tourist attraction. GN constructed stations at East Glacier and West Glacier entries to the park, stone and timber lodges at the entries, and other inns and lodges throughout the Park. Many of the structures have been listed on the National Register of Historic Places due to unique construction, location, and the beauty of the surrounding regions. In 1931, the GN also developed the "Inside Gateway",

322-546: Is mentioned in the song "Jack Straw," written by Bob Weir and Robert Hunter and originally performed by The Grateful Dead. St. Paul and Pacific Railroad The Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad (also known as the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad and the SP&;P ) was a shortline railroad in the state of Minnesota in the United States which existed from 1857 to 1879. Founded as

368-511: The Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway . The Great Northern was built in stages, slowly creating profitable lines, before extending the road further into undeveloped Western territories. In a series of the earliest public relations campaigns, contests were held to promote interest in the railroad and the ranchlands along its route. Fred J. Adams used promotional incentives such as feed and seed donations to farmers getting started along

414-575: The Empire Builder today, running it over the old Great Northern's Northern Transcon north of St. Paul. The GN had commuter service in the Minneapolis area running between Great Northern Depot and Hutchinson. In 1951 the company owned 844 locomotives, including 568 steam, 261 diesel-electric and 15 all-electric, as well 822 passenger-train cars and 43.897 freight-train cars. The Great Northern had numerous paint scheme variations and color changes over

460-465: The Flathead River and then Kootenai River to Bonners Ferry, Idaho , south to Sandpoint, Idaho , west to Newport, Washington , and then to Spokane, Washington . The company town and extensive railroad facility of Hillyard, Washington was named after James J. Hill and briefly manufactured the R Class 2-8-8-2 around 1927 which was the largest steam locomotive in the world at the time. From there

506-600: The Hudson's Bay Company ), and George Stephen (Smith's cousin and a wealthy railroad executive) to invest $ 5.5 million in purchasing the railroad. On March 13, 1878, the Dutch formally signed an agreement transferring their bonds to the investors group and giving them control of the railroad. To finance construction of the SP&;P, the road issued bonds that allowed the bearer to receive up to $ 10,000 per mile of track completed, but only if

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552-558: The Lewis and Clark Expedition . The frieze starts with the "pristine forest" and concludes with the arrival of the railway in Astoria. Constructed of concrete, its foundation is twelve feet (3.7 m) deep. Built at a cost of $ 27,134 (equivalent to $ 466,990 in 2023), the tower has 164 steps to the top, where there is a replica of the State Seal of Oregon . A plaque near the column commemorates

598-679: The Libby Dam on the Kootenai River in the late 1960s. The United States Army Corps of Engineers built a new route through the Salish Mountains, including the 7-mile-long (11 km) Flathead Tunnel , second-longest in the United States, to relocate the tracks away from the Kootenai River. This route opened in 1970. The surviving portions of the older routes (from Columbia Falls to Kalispell and Stryker to Eureka), were operated by Watco as

644-625: The Mission Mountain Railroad until April 1, 2020, when BNSF (GN's modern successor) took back control of the Kalispell to Columbia Falls section. The Great Northern mainline crossed the continental divide through Marias Pass, the lowest crossing of the Rockies south of the Canada–US border. Here, the mainline forms the southern border of Glacier National Park , which the GN promoted heavily as

690-670: The Pacific Northwest . With a terminus at Superior, Wisconsin, the Great Northern was able to provide transportation from the Pacific to the Atlantic by taking advantage of the shorter distance to Duluth from the ocean, as compared to Chicago. Between 1891 and 1917 GNR built a number of railway branch lines across the border with Canada. These lines were built to provide service to the city of New Westminster, Victoria (via ferry connection) and

736-723: The Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway , merged to form the Burlington Northern Railroad . The BN operated until 1996 when it merged with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to form the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway. GN operated various passenger trains, but the Empire Builder was their premier passenger train. It was named in honor of James J. Hill, known as the "Empire Builder." Amtrak still operates

782-571: The William Crooks would be the first locomotive of the Great Northern Railway. J.J. Hill convinced New York banker John S. Kennedy , Norman Kittson (a wealthy fur trader friend), Donald Smith (a Hudson's Bay Company executive), George Stephen (Smith's cousin and president of the Bank of Montreal ), and others to invest $ 5.5 million in purchasing the railroad. On March 13, 1878,

828-564: The 732nd Railroad Operating Battalion (ROB). They were one of two spearhead ROBs. The 732nd operated in support of the Patton's 3rd Armored Division crossing into Germany with them. The Officers of the 732nd were all previous employees of the Great Northern. On March 2, 1970, the Great Northern, together with the Northern Pacific Railway , the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad and

874-638: The Astoria Column was dedicated on July 22, 1926. Maintenance work was done in 1936. In 1974, the column was listed in the National Register of Historic Places . The murals that make up the column were refurbished in 1995 and a granite plaza was added in 2004. The column was one of a series of monuments erected by Great Northern between 1925 and 1926. The 125-foot-tall (38 m) column stands atop 600-foot (180 m) Coxcomb Hill and includes an interior spiral staircase that leads to an observation deck at

920-655: The Cascade Mountains, set railroad construction standards in the Mesabi Range, and supervised the construction of the Oregon Trunk Line. He then became the chief engineer of the Panama Canal . The logo of the railroad, a Rocky Mountain goat , was based on a goat William Kenney , one of the railroad's presidents, had used to haul newspapers as a boy. Locomotives and passenger cars were repaired and overhauled at

966-648: The Mesabi Iron Range in Minnesota and its rail lines. The Great Northern began large-scale shipment of ore to the steel mills of the Midwest. The railroad's best-known engineer was John Frank Stevens , who served from 1889 to 1903. Stevens was acclaimed for his 1889 exploration of Marias Pass in Montana and determined its practicability for a railroad. Stevens was an efficient administrator with remarkable technical skills and imagination. He discovered Stevens Pass through

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1012-463: The Minnesota and Pacific Railroad, it was the state's first active railroad. It went bankrupt, and the state changed its name to the Saint Paul and Pacific Railroad. The SP&P went bankrupt as well. It was taken over by James Jerome Hill and others, who used the railroad as the basis for building the Great Northern Railway . In 1857, the territorial legislature of the state of Minnesota issued

1058-492: The Minnesota border between 1871 and 1890 was a major example of large-scale "bonanza" farming. During World War II, the Army moved its Military Railway Service (MRS) headquarters to Fort Snelling , Minnesota. The MRS worked collaboratively with commercial railroading in the U.S. The Great Northern sponsored the 704th Grand Railroad Division. It was the second Grand Division that the Army stood up. The Great Northern also sponsored

1104-506: The StPM&;M, Montana Central Railway , and other rail lines to the Great Northern. The Great Northern had branches that ran north to the Canada–US border in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana. It also had branches that ran to Superior, Wisconsin , and Butte, Montana , connecting with the iron range of Minnesota and copper mines of Montana. In 1898 Hill purchased control of large parts of

1150-560: The assets of the SP&P. It did so in June 1879, bringing an end to the existence of the St. Paul and Pacific. On September 18, 1889, Hill changed the name of the Minneapolis and St. Cloud Railway (a railroad which existed primarily on paper, but which held extensive land grants throughout the Midwest and Pacific Northwest) to the Great Northern Railway. On February 1, 1890, he transferred ownership of

1196-556: The column was closed for safety reasons in November 2007. It was reopened to the public in time for the Regatta in August 2009. [REDACTED] Media related to Astoria Column at Wikimedia Commons Great Northern Railway (U.S.) The Great Northern Railway ( reporting mark GN ) was an American Class I railroad . Running from Saint Paul, Minnesota , to Seattle , Washington , it

1242-519: The line was finished. In February 1879, the group bought out the Litchfields with cash and bonds in the new company. The SP&P showed a $ 500,000 profit for 1878, and in March 1879 two different courts finally approved the company's emergence from bankruptcy. On May 23, 1879, the key investors in the railroad formed a new company, the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway (StPM&M), to take over

1288-476: The line. Contests were all-inclusive, from the largest farm animals to the largest freight carload capacity, and were promoted heavily to immigrants and newcomers from the East. The very first predecessor railroad to the company was the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad owned by William Crooks . He had gone bankrupt running a small line between St. Paul and Minneapolis . He named the locomotive he ran for himself and

1334-561: The mainline crossed the Cascade Mountains through the Cascade Tunnel under Stevens Pass , reaching Seattle, Washington , in 1893, with the driving of the last spike at Scenic, Washington, on January 6, 1893. The Great Northern electrified Steven's Pass and briefly owned the electric Spokane and Inland Empire Railway . The deadliest avalanche in US history swept two Great Northern trains off

1380-441: The nascent railroad's profits, overcharged it for supplies, and sold off some of its assets. It went bankrupt in 1860, and the new state legislature purchased all of its assets for a mere $ 1,000. In 1862, the state legislature reorganized the bankrupt railroad as the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. That same year, 10 miles (16 km) of track between St. Paul and St. Anthony finally opened. Egbert E. Litchfield bought most of

1426-471: The new city of Vancouver. The first line was built between 1891 and 1893 providing a connection between Seattle and New Westminster. This line crossed at Blaine, passed through Cloverdale and terminated in Brownsville. In 1903 GNR constructed a line running from Cloverdale to Port Guichon (Present day Ladner, BC ). A ferry service from the port provided service to Victoria and Vancouver Island. In 1909 this line

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1472-515: The pioneering Community Antenna Television (CATV) system built by local resident Leroy E. "Ed" Parsons , initially at the Hotel Astoria , in which twin-lead transmission wires redistributed the signal of KRSC-TV (now KING-TV ) in Seattle , Washington to area homes. Former Astoria resident Byron Roman was also involved in early cable invention and distribution. The cast-iron spiral staircase inside

1518-506: The railroad right-of-way. In Kalispell, Montana the original Great Northern grade from 1892 has been converted into a trail. The trail starts in Kila, MT, and goes to Kalispell Montana, travelling through downtown, right past the Kalispell Depot. The section of rails from Kila to West Kalispell was taken out in the early 1900s, while the section from downtown to where the current end of rail is,

1564-595: The resulting dirt to fill in the east end of False Creek. In 1915, on this infill, the GNR opened Union Station, the terminus of its rail line in Vancouver. Its service to Vancouver and Victoria experienced competition from a partnership between Northern Pacific and Canadian Pacific. This competing service terminated at Pacific Station in Downtown Vancouver and from there offered direct steamship service to Victoria, thus offering

1610-444: The road's creditors formally signed an agreement transferring their bonds and control of the railroad to J.J. Hill's investment group. On September 18, 1889, Hill changed the name of the Minneapolis and St. Cloud Railway (a railroad which existed primarily on paper, but which held very extensive land grants throughout the Midwest and Pacific Northwest) to the Great Northern Railway. On February 1, 1890, he consolidated his ownership of

1656-460: The road's stock, and while the branch line reached Sauk Rapids by 1867 (financed mostly by bonds sold in the Netherlands ) little was accomplished on the main line. Only 210 miles (340 km) of track had been laid as of 1865. The railroad built almost no more track between 1867 and 1871. Nonetheless, it heavily promoted the construction of towns every 8 miles (13 km) along its length, and

1702-529: The shops in St. Paul, Minnesota , while the shops at nearby St. Cloud were dedicated to freight cars beginning in 1890. In 1892, a new shop site was established five miles west of Spokane , Washington in Hillyard (named after James Hill) to serve the western half of the GN system. The mainline began at Saint Paul, Minnesota, heading west along the Mississippi River bluffs, crossing the river to Minneapolis on

1748-417: The state's first railroad), the Minnesota and Pacific received a grant of 2,460,000 acres (1,000,000 ha) of land from the territorial legislature. This was the seventh largest land grant of the 75 given to railroads nationwide between 1850 and 1871. Construction began in the autumn of 1856, and in 1857 the state backed a $ 5 million bond issue to support the new rail system. But speculators manipulated

1794-529: The top. The spiral sgraffito frieze on the exterior of the structure has a width of nearly seven feet (2.1 m) and a length of 525 feet (160 m). Projected by Electus D. Litchfield and painted by Attilio Pusterla , the mural shows 14 significant events in the early history of Oregon, as well as 18 scenes from the history of the region, including Captain Gray's discovery of the Columbia River in 1792 and

1840-474: The tracks at Wellington, Washington by the Cascade Tunnel killing 96 people. The mainline west of Marias Pass has been relocated twice. The original route over Haskell Pass , via Kalispell and Marion , Montana, was replaced in 1904 by a more circuitous but flatter route via Whitefish and Eureka , joining the Kootenai River at Rexford, Montana . A further reroute was necessitated by the construction of

1886-582: The years, but Rocky the goat was consistently featured. In addition to the Stone Arch Bridge, parts of the railway have been turned into pedestrian and bicycle trails. In Minnesota, the Cedar Lake Trail is built in areas that were formerly railroad yards for the Great Northern Railway and the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway . Also in Minnesota, the Dakota Rail Trail is built on 26.5 miles of

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1932-399: Was done by the receiver. But James J. Hill, who ran steamboats on the Red River , knew that the SP&P owned very valuable land grants and saw the potential of the railroad. Hill convinced John S. Kennedy (a New York City banker who had represented the Dutch bondholders), Norman Kittson (Hill's friend and a wealthy fur trader), Donald Smith (a Montreal banker and executive with

1978-442: Was extended from Cloverdale to Huntingdon. Service from Blaine to New Westminster was redirected in 1909 over a new line past White Rock, across Mud Bay, through Annieville and on to Brownsville. After a new railway bridge was completed across the Fraser River from Brownsville to New Westminster the GNR extended its railway line to Vancouver. Between 1910 and 1913 GNR excavated the Grandview Cut to give it access to False Creek and used

2024-444: Was taken out in 2021. Further west, the Iron Goat Trail in Washington follows the late 19th-century route of the Great Northern Railway through the Cascades and gets its name from the railway's logo. The Spokane and Inland Empire Railroad that James J. Hill purchased in 1929 became a bicycle path between Spokane, Wa and Coeur d'Alene, Id. and Spokane, Wa. and Pullman, Wa. Appearances in popular culture: The Great Northern

2070-422: Was the creation of 19th-century railroad entrepreneur James J. Hill and was developed from the Saint Paul & Pacific Railroad . The Great Northern's route was the northernmost transcontinental railroad route in the U.S. In 1970, the Great Northern Railway merged with three other railroads to form the Burlington Northern Railroad , which merged in 1996 with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway to form

2116-435: Was the leading railroad helping to "colonize" Minnesota. In December 1870, the Northern Pacific Railway purchased the SP&P. But the Northern Pacific went bankrupt in the Panic of 1873 , and E. Darwin Litchfield (Egbert's brother) bought the SP&P back from the bigger road. Dutch investors held most of the road's stock, and forced Litchfield to allow a receiver to manage the system. For three more years, little

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