List of evaluated roadside properties
Redwood Falls Retaining Wall
SHPO number: RW-RFC-032
The Redwood Falls Retaining Wall Roadside Development Project is located at the junction of Trunk Highway 19 and Trunk Highway 71 in Redwood County. Located just east of a bridge over the Redwood River and on the northern edge of downtown Redwood Falls, the development was designed to move traffic safely and efficiently through the intersection of the major thoroughfares and creates a pedestrian plaza at the terminus of the main road, S. Mill St. (CR 67 and US 71). Built between 1934 and 1936, the Redwood Falls Retaining Wall Roadside Development Project was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2012.
Significant historic elements and status
Evaluated under the Multiple Property Documentation Form entitled “Federal Relief Construction in Minnesota, 1933-1941,” the Redwood Falls Retaining Wall Roadside Development Project is significant as one of the earliest roadside development properties built by the Minnesota Highway Department. Developed to improve highway safety and aesthetics, the property is also an example of the partnership between the Highway Department and federal relief agencies during the Great Depression. Construction labor was provided by unemployed Redwood County men hired under the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and by Woodrich Construction Company of Minneapolis, a private contractor paid with funds from the Public Works Administration.
Although the Redwood Falls Retaining Wall Roadside Development Project is not significant for design, it transformed a dangerous intersection and continues to serve as beautiful approach to the bridge, downtown, and Ramsey State Park on the western side of the bridge. Unlike many other projects of the period, the Redwood Falls Retaining Wall Roadside Development Project did not include a pull-off, overlook, or wayside rest area. But it did include pedestrian facilities including benches, ornamental railing creating an overlook, a flagpole and plaque which provide a terminus for the end of the main north-south street through town, and stairs to the lower perpendicular roadway. It is really an Overlook in this respect. The project was designed in the National Park Service Rustic Style by consulting landscape architect Arthur R. Nichols and engineer Harold E. Olson, both of whom worked for the Minnesota Department of Highways. Four houses were removed to clear the space for the intersection, along with two gas stations that were moved to the edges of the intersection and integrated into the overall design. The primary stone retaining wall is built of randomly laid, roughly cut pieces of locally quarried gray and pink granite. Originally 420 feet long, a 95-foot section was removed in the 1980s although its foundation is still visible. A second 90-foot-long wall is located on the northwestern corner. Centered on the S. Mill St. terminus, there is a concrete pedestrian plaza with a flagpole and granite plaque stating, “Post 38 Donated to the city 1938”. Recently, precast concrete flower pots are also placed on the plaza and maintained with annual plants. Several ornamental trees are planted on the grass slope below the wall. A large concrete stair, with granite masonry cheek walls and ornamental railing extends down to the road below (E Bridge St. CR 19) near the west end of the wall.
Features that contribute to and help convey the significance of the Redwood Falls Retaining Wall Roadside Development Project include: the property’s location at two major highways; a flowing pattern of streets and landscape parcels that safely channel traffic through the intersection; the overall spatial organization, circulation, and vegetation, including the turf grass, trees, and shrubs; and two granite retaining walls, one of which has an ornamental iron railing and integrated staircase.