Chaska has been getting more and more absorbed into the Twin Cities metropolitan area every year. People rarely think of the Minnesota River these days, other than the news it makes for occasional flooding. However, in the early days of Chaska, the Minnesota River was its lifeline. Supplies and people traveled in steamboats up and down the Minnesota River.

The Chaska brickyards teamed up with people who built barges, and shipped quite a bit of Chaska brick to St. Paul via the Minnesota River. It was probably back-breaking work though, as the brick had to be transported from the brickyards to the river, where it could be loaded on to the barges.

With the advent of the railroads, railroad cars were loaded right at the brickyards, and the brick was shipped into both Minneapolis and St. Paul. There used to be an exclusive brick train that ran during the peak of the Chaska brick production in the late 1800’s. I have never seen a picture of a brick train. It would definitely be a neat thing to see.

Where are these railroads today? Both of the railroads that serviced the Chaska brickyards are now gone. I have walked along the recreational paths that have been built over these old railroad lines, and have found old railroad spikes and fragments of Chaska bricks. It is important to remember our history, even as the city expands and the area is redeveloped.