South St. Paul, Awarded Membership in Union Pacific’s Train Town USA Registry

Image Courtesy of Union Pacific

South St. Paul, Minnesota, has been awarded membership in Union Pacific’s Train Town USA Registry as part of Union Pacific’s ongoing efforts to highlight cities with a historical connection to the railroad. The city received an official Train Town USA resolution signed by Union Pacific Chairman Jack Koraleski during a presentation onboard Union Pacific’s special passenger train that was parked at St. Paul Union Depot. Union Pacific launched its Train Town USA Registry as part of the railroad’s 150th anniversary celebration in 2012.

“We are proud to recognize South St. Paul as we celebrate our growing up together,” said Wes Lujan, Union Pacific’s assistant vice president, Public Affairs for Minnesota and Wisconsin. “Union Pacific was founded to help connect the nation from east to west. Our shared heritage with South St. Paul is a source of pride as we remember our past while delivering the goods American businesses and families use every day.”

Union Pacific’s rail line in the location of the South St. Paul rail yard was built by the Rock Island in 1901, though parts of the line feeding into the rail yard were built by the Minnesota & North Western in 1884. These lines later became part of the Chicago & Great Western.

Around 1885, Alpheus Beede Stickney bought land along the Mississippi River to establish the South St. Paul stockyards. About the same time, on the bluffs overlooking the river, real estate entrepreneur Charles Clark was attracting industries and people to the new town south of St. Paul.

Freight railroad tracks were extended to the stockyards, allowing direct shipments to and from the site.

The Chicago and North Western acquired the Twin Cities to Kansas City corridor from the bankrupt Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad in 1983. The C&NW was merged into the Union Pacific in 1995.

Union Pacific serves nearly 7,300 communities in 23 states, covering 32,000 miles.