Page:History of Goodhue County, Minnesota.djvu/742

 646 HISTORY OF GOODHUE COUNTY Better yet, its people do consider themselves fortunate, in- deed, in being dwellers in so goodly a town. They believe with all their hearts that Red Wing is what it is widely called — "The De- sirable City." There is a reason for it. It is disclosed in the facts and fig- ures which are herewith given. Even these are not prosaic and dull, but if you note them — and we will make them as concise as possible — you will sec that they fairly bristle with business energy and throb with a life characteristic of a people committed to a love of the beautiful and a desire for the true and an ambi- tion to "get on in the world."' Red Wing is the county scat of "old Goodhue" — one of the most fertile and thriving counties within the commonwealth of .Minnesota. It is situated on the west bank of the Mississippi river. In all its windings, from Itasca to the Gulf, through the heart of the ureal continent, nowhere is the old Father of Waters more majestic or picturesque than at this point. Broad stretches of islands and river channels are environed by banks on which are towering bluffs, like lofty citadels, commanding the situation and adding grandeur to the scene. Red Wing lias a population of 1'2. <•(> and is steadily growing. The territory from which trade is drawn is a wealthy agricultural district and in this area dwell one hundred thousand people. Goodhue county, Minnesota, if which Red Wing is the shire town, has a population approaching 40,000, while Pierce county. Wisconsin, directly across the .Mississippi river, numbers more than 30,000 son Is. Red Wing has an excellent city government. The city owns its own waterworks and is now instituting a pure water supply from artesian wells; its paid fire department is one of the best equipped and mosl efficient in the Northwest; a gas and electric company, with 16 miles of mains; a handsome city hall. The city is divided into four wards, has a mayor, nine aldermen, a hoard of public works, under whose direction many public improve- ments are made, and other hoards care for the water, fire de- partment, cemetery, auditorium and public library. Red Wing is notable as a manufacturing center. Outside of Minneapolis, St. Paul and Duluth, it is the largest manufacturing town in the Northwest. Its record as a shipping point is sig- nificant, both by railroad and waterway. Red Wing's railroad freightage amounts to 30,000 carloads a year, said to be the heaviest amount for a manufacturing city of its size in the United States. Over thirty manufacturing institutions are located here. employing a capital of $3,000,000. having 1.500 men on a payroll which annually amounts to $600,000. and the value <ft whose prod- ucts exceed $7,500,000. Among the most important of these in-