Point Douglas, Minnesota facts for kids
Point Douglas is a special place in Minnesota. It's known as a ghost town. This means it was once a busy community, but now very few people live there. It sits right where two big rivers meet: the St. Croix River and the famous Mississippi River. You can find Point Douglas in Denmark Township, Washington County, Minnesota, United States. It's also just across the St. Croix River from a town called Prescott, Wisconsin.
A Look Back at Point Douglas
Point Douglas was officially planned and laid out on August 18, 1849. It was named after a famous politician, Stephen A. Douglas. He was an important person in American history.
The town was quite important early on. It had the very first post office in the whole county! A post office is where letters and packages are sent and received. The first postmaster, Levi Hurtsell, helped set it up. This post office moved from Wisconsin Territory when Minnesota Territory was created. However, the post office eventually closed down in 1903.
By 1856, Point Douglas was a busy trading spot. It had a gristmill, which is a mill for grinding grain into flour. There were also several warehouses to store goods. A lime kiln was also present, used for making lime. The town even had a station for the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad. This made it easy to transport goods and people.
Today, most of Point Douglas is gone. All that remains is a small group of homes along U.S. Route 10. It serves as a reminder of a once-thriving community at the meeting of two important rivers.
