2025 SHPO Success Stories
Afton HPC Updates Walking Tour
Platted in 1855, Afton (pop. 9,221) lies on a small bay on the St. Croix River along eastern Minnesota’s border. The community’s history includes themes related to the lumbering industry, fruit truck farming, and, more recently, maritime resources. Afton’s Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC) received a Certified Local Government grant to update and digitize the community’s Old Village Walking Tour, making it accessible via QR codes. The HPC worked with the Afton Historical Society to research and write succinct building descriptions and enhanced historical narratives for the village’s ten locally designated landmarks. Each property now includes at least one attention-grabbing story and photo. Online links are listed so that users can access the primary sources from their phones, and citations are provided for curious viewers interested in viewing documents. Contextual history is included via online links for access to scholarly sites. Additional information about village origins; the merging of Afton Township and the village of Afton; church and business histories including businesses owned by women; Afton and Saint Paul gang history; and changes to the early schools in the Old Village were added or expanded with an eye to a general audience or first-time visitor.
Along with the ten Old Village locally designated landmarks, information and photos were added about several popular and familiar historic buildings, including Lerk's Bar, the Afton Academy, the Bolles roadside marker, and other sites that appear in the walking tour brochure. These are well-liked properties in local memories but are not historically designated sites. A separate section was created to detail Afton’s African-Ojibwe-Swedish family, the Bonga-Fahlstroms, who lived in the Valley Creek area on what is now called "Indian Trail." The extended family's history is documented in the PBS "Minnesota Experience" series, "North Star: Making Change." Matt Thueson, chair of the nearby Stillwater HPC, volunteered his time to take current photos of the ten designated properties, upload all the text, documents, and photos, and create the Afton History website.
Afton's QR codes were designed intentionally to look like other St. Croix Valley History Spot campaigns. Signs were placed in nine locations throughout the city, with locations chosen based on where people walk, park, and gather, to maximize the awareness of the online walking tour and city history. Window clings were also created and handed out to local businesses so that customers can view the walking tour while they relax or shop locally.
Lake Bronson Dam Replacement: Balancing Safety and Historic Preservation Outcomes in Section 106 Review
The Lake Bronson Dam in Kittson County, a historic structure listed in the National Register of Historic Places as part of the Lake Bronson State Park WPA/Rustic Style Historic Resources District, has stood since its construction in 1936–1937 by the Works Projects Administration (WPA). This dam created Lake Bronson, a beloved recreational destination.
After decades of use, the dam was classified by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a high-hazard structure in poor condition, prompting the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to take action to protect public safety. The solution: replace the aging dam with a modern structure. Because the project occurred in waters of the United States, it required Section 106 consultation under the National Historic Preservation Act to address potential impacts on historic resources. Through consultation with the Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office and other consulting parties, the project team determined that replacing the dam would have an adverse effect on the historic property. To resolve this, a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) was executed, outlining mitigation measures and a monitoring plan for the lake drawdown necessary to construct the new dam.
This drawdown revealed a previously known but poorly documented archaeological site linked to the original WPA crew. Archaeologists seized this opportunity to learn more about the dam’s construction and the workers who built it—adding valuable historical insights while keeping the project on schedule. The success of this undertaking hinged on proactive planning, the effective collaboration, and a structured review process outlined in the MOA and monitoring plan. Thanks to these efforts, the DNR reports that the lake drawdown is complete, and construction is progressing on schedule. This project exemplifies how safety, historic preservation, and collaboration can come together to achieve outstanding results.
Timely Mobilization and Partnership Leads to Archaeological Site Recovery and National Register Listing along the Minnesota River
In October 2024, SHPO responded to a public report of freshwater mussel shells exposed by flooding and low water on the Minnesota River. The shells were confirmed as ancient, part of a shell midden within an archaeological site containing pottery, flaked stone, pipestone, fire-cracked rock, and animal bones including bison, deer, fish, and muskrat.
With winter approaching and rising water imminent, a coalition of archaeologists and tribal cultural resource managers from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, Minnesota Historical Society, Department of Natural Resources, Hamline University, and SHPO mobilized quickly. Over a month-long investigation, exposed artifacts were mapped and recovered, revealing the site extended below the cut surface to an unknown depth.
Malacologists identified 26 freshwater mussel species gathered by Dakota ancestors about 1,000 years ago. Evidence showed mussels were steamed open using heated rocks, with scorched shells and carbonized plant material preserved beneath. Hearths were visible nearby, and pottery and bison bones were found farther down the bank, along with stone tool fragments, pipestone, and smaller animal bones.
This was Minnesota’s first intensively studied shell midden. Its significance and integrity prompted SHPO to nominate the site for the National Register of Historic Places, aided by a 2012 Multiple Property Documentation Form on “The Woodland Tradition in Minnesota.” The nomination was approved in May 2025, and the Tukihasaŋ Oyaŋke/Winter Shell site was listed in August 2025—just nine months after recovery, setting a record for shortest time from discovery to designation of an archaeological site.
The Dakota name, provided by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, means “Mussel Shell Site.” The English name honors the individual who reported the find, without whom this remarkable site might never have been discovered.