Editing Sauk Rapids, Minnesota (section)

==History==
[[File:BNSF Railroad and Railway Avenue - Sauk Rapids, Minnesota - Winter (23894354550).jpg|thumb|right|[[BNSF Railway]] in Sauk Rapids]]

Sauk Rapids was originally little more than a forest of [[oak]], [[maple]] and [[basswood]] trees along the [[Mississippi River]] until the first home was constructed there in 1851, a large mansion named Lynden Terrace erected by W.H. Wood. Soon other settlers followed and the town was named Sauk Rapids after the [[rapids]] just below the Sauk River's mouth on the Mississippi. The new settlement was along the [[Red River Trails]].<ref>{{cite book
 | last = Gilman
 | first = Rhoda R.
 | author2 = Carolyn Gilman |author3=Deborah M. Stultz
 | year = 1979
 | title = The Red River Trails: Oxcart Routes Between St. Paul and the Selkirk Settlement, 1820–1870
 | publisher = Minnesota Historical Society Press
 | location = St. Paul
 | pages = 55–68; 71–75
 | isbn = 0-87351-133-6
}}</ref>

Soon a general store was built, then a hotel, and a large jail. The first settlers organized a church that was soon followed by a [[Methodist]], an [[Episcopal Church in the United States of America|Episcopalian]] and a [[Lutheran]] church. The first paper outside of [[Saint Paul, Minnesota|St. Paul]] was the ''Sauk Rapids Frontiersman'', founded in 1854.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://98country.com/tags/sauk-rapids-frontiersman/|title=Sauk Rapids Frontiersman - 98.1 - Minnesota's New Country|website=98.1 - Minnesota's New Country|access-date=April 22, 2018}}</ref>

A flour mill was erected in 1875, but was destroyed in 1886. The first bridge was built in 1876, was destroyed later in 1876, and was rebuilt in 1879. The first school was built in 1886.

In 1874, Sauk Rapids was the end of the line for the new railroad. Settlers from as far away as the [[Red River Valley]] brought their produce there to ship it. A six-horse [[stage coach]] made biweekly trips between [[St. Cloud, Minnesota|St. Cloud]] and Crow Wing.

In 1856, the county seat moved to [[Watab]], then returned to Sauk Rapids in 1859. A new courthouse was built, but in 1897 the seat moved to [[Foley, Minnesota|Foley]], where it remains. In 1917 the courthouse burned down.

Sauk Rapids was one of Minnesota's most important cities until 1886, when, on April 14 at approximately 4:00&nbsp;p.m., [[1886 Sauk Rapids tornado|a tornado]] struck the town. It swept through the center of the city, destroying all the stores. In Sauk Rapids, 44 people were killed and several hundred were injured.

The [[Sauk Rapids Regional Bridge]] was completed in 2007.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.johnweeks.com/river_mississippi/pages03/newsaukrapids.html|title=Sauk Rapids Bridge, Sauk Rapids, MN|website=www.johnweeks.com|access-date=April 22, 2018}}</ref> The new bridge links to 2nd Street rather than 1st Street, as the original [[Sauk Rapids Bridge]] did. Several buildings had to be demolished during the construction process, and some were rebuilt. Some sidewalks were repaved with [[cobblestone]] and the medians were filled with granite blocks.