WOW!! That is the only way I can start this month's brick structure of the month. Here is one place that a true brick building lover will thoroughly enjoy. When you are driving into the old downtown of Brainerd, you will quickly spot some large smokestacks in the skyline (Figure 1). This tells you where the Northern Pacific shops are located. Although it does not appear that either of these smokestacks was made out of brick, they are quite tall.
Even though you spot the smokestacks from afar, you actually enter the NP complex from the west side. At this point, there are signs that tell you that the old NP shop complex is now under private ownership. The current owners rent out space in the myriad of old brick buildings that dot the NP complex. Most of the buildings are large and long (Figure 2).
To give a brief bit of the history behind this complex, you first need to know a little about the railroad itself. The Northern Pacific Railroad was the first northern transcontinental railroad in the United States. It was built from near Duluth, Minnesota, to Brainerd, and then to Fargo, North Dakota. From Fargo it pushed west to Bismarck and then to the west coast. Brainerd became a large center on the NP for repair and maintenance. Most of the old shops were used for repairing engines and other railroad cars. When you look at the sides of these long shops you can almost picture the old engines sitting around (Figure 3).
However, most of the tracks are long gone and you can see by Figure 3 that the bricks are crumbling in places too. There are about 6 to 10 of these large buildings still on the NP complex, and it appears that many of them are still being used. To the north of the old NP complex is where the current railroad (Burlington Northern - Santa Fe) shops are located. So this area is still being used, but on a much scaled down version. I made a stop at the Crow Wing County Historical Society, where I found out these shops employed up to a thousand men in the early 1900s. The NP also owned its own hospital, because it had so many people working for them. At the NP complex, there was also an administration building, which still displays the NP logo (Figure 4).
For people who appreciate brick and fancy brick work, this is a really cool place. The brick for the buildings were made in Brainerd. I am not positive all the buildings were made of Brainerd brick, but I have found sources which say they were. Some of the buildings have really ornate designs on them (Figure 5).
Good luck trying the estimate how many bricks it took to make just one of these giant buildings! I imagine it was a good contract to get, because it kept the local brickmaker busy for a long time.
Since so many years have passed since its peak, it is a bit hard to imagine what the complex once looked like. However, if you look closely, you can still see some of the clues. Figure 6 shows where the old roundhouse was.
You have to look closely and use your imagination. The site was located between the parking lot in the front and the power station in the back left. There is a line of old concrete that runs in a circle around the edges, which is the giveaway.
The city of Brainerd has many ties to the railroad and brickmaking. I have learned quite a few new things about both and hope to add them to my site in the future. Let me put in a plug for this beautiful area once again. Many people flock the area in the summer for the lakes and summer fun, but there is a lot of history in the area that is worth a closer look!