The Scenic Route
Building Minnesota's North Shore
Format:Hardback
Publisher:University of Minnesota Press
Publishing:30th Jun '25
£42.00
This title is due to be published on 30th June, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
A guide to the built environment and history of one of the Midwest’s most popular roads
Journey along Minnesota’s North Shore, the spectacular Lake Superior coastline between Duluth and the Canadian border, and travel through natural and cultural splendor. The North Shore Scenic Drive, the stretch of Minnesota Highway 61 that leads through tunnels and remarkable vistas, crosses rivers and streams and rocky divides as it makes its way through fishing villages, logging sites, tourist enclaves, Grand Portage National Monument, Superior National Forest, and numerous state parks that have made the North Shore a beloved destination for generations. This is the North Shore explored in The Scenic Route, a field guide to the cultural landscape that comprises one of the Midwest’s most famous byways.
The highway corridor and lakeshore offer evidence of human activities that began after the retreat of glacial ice, when the Anishinaabe people plied the waters of Lake Superior. Euro-American explorers and traders followed, and soon the footpaths established by the region’s first inhabitants were used by dogsleds, horse-drawn sleighs, and coaches-and then, in 1917, the rugged trails became the early motor road that would eventually be Minnesota Highway 61.
Arnold R. Alanen follows these denizens and visitors, exploring the material world they built along the way: cabins and resorts, docks and fish houses, farms and logging operations, as well as churches, cemeteries, streetscapes, bridges, schools, lighthouses, parks, waysides, and roadside attractions. Interwoven with his tour of the built environment are stories of the people who shaped the cultural heritage along Minnesota’s North Shore.
"Rich and informative, The Scenic Route tells a compelling story of the North Shore highway we experience today. Including thoughtful interactions with people who understand the area’s unique history, Arnold R. Alanen inspires a truly meaningful sense of place with his practiced eye and passion for deeper understanding. Like the remarkably beautiful North Shore natural and cultural landscape, this book merits revisiting and rediscovery time and again." - Steve C. Martens, architectural historian
"Arnold R. Alanen's The Scenic Route solves many mysteries and documents our human imprint on the North Shore in detail. From the early mailruns of John Beargrease to Mineral Center and the Outlaw Bridge, this book connects the people and places along the route to our shared, often complicated history." - Staci Lola Drouillard, author of Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe
"A superb exploration of the cultural history and built environment of the North Shore. Arnold R. Alanen shares how the Highway 61 corridor took shape as well as the stories of the many people who left an imprint with their houses, resorts, businesses, fisheries, churches, and beyond. And he thoroughly documents the succession of structures that once stood along this corridor. The Scenic Route is wonderfully illustrated, but the best part is that Alanen really likes his subject. His concern and appreciation for the cultural landscape of the North Shore shines throughout." - Timothy Cochrane, author of Making the Carry and Gichi Bitobig, Grand Marais
"Arnold R. Alanen has compiled a remarkable, detailed history of Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. From the southerly end in Duluth to the northernmost tip in Grand Portage at the Canadian border, he compiles past and present information mile by mile in such an interesting way. Anyone who has lived near, visited, or is interested in this unique stretch of shoreline will really enjoy this book." - David Salmela, architect
"Filled with maps and photos old and new, this book is for anyone headed to the great inland sea this summer. And it’s fun to read even if you are going in the opposite direction." - Pioneer Press
ISBN: 9780816641383
Dimensions: 254mm x 216mm x 37mm
Weight: 1134g
752 pages