Towns of the Original Route of U.S. 52, from Moorhead to St. Cloud, MN

Greetings from St. Cloud, Minnesota, this pretty Sunday evening:

The last two days, with the help of state and detailed county maps, local folks with wisdom and memories; as well as intuition, I have been traveling through the towns of the route of U.S. 52, before the coming of Interstate 94. The interstate now makes most of these towns a “travel stop” on the normal drive between the North Dakota/Minnesota state line and St. Cloud, MN.

Leaving Moorhead, I arrived at Sabin on, now, County Road 52. Coming into Sabin, I knew I was starting correctly when I found the “Old 52 General Store.” Talking with the owner gained me good info about my itinerary. She gave me info on county road numbers that would change, but yet remain the roadbeds of U.S. 52. A bonus to being in her store was the acquisition of packs of Beemans Gum (hard to find now). At Baker, a Presbyterian Church road sign led me to one of those “country churches” that looks like it should. After Barnesville and Lawndale, I found the city park in Rothsay to have a lunch break. It happened that the little kids of the town were being treated to fun on those inflated slides and bouncing rooms. Families were having a good time together on a Saturday afternoon. Nearby, in a pasture, a “cow family” was enjoying time together. Continuing on, traveling through Elizabeth, Fergus Falls, Dalton, Ashby, and Evansville. In Brandon, in the late afternoon sun, sitting off by the nearby Interstate 94 interchange, was a small motel. With the sun shining on its clean appearance and no cars in front of it, I was reminded of the “Cozy Cone Motel” of the movie CARS—a small lodging in a small town being bypassed by travelers on the Interstate, waiting until they get to the “big box motels” of the larger cities. Garfield was west of Alexandria and Osakis east. West Union was east of Osakis, and west of Saux Centre. I stopped for the night in Sauk Centre, the hometown of the author, Sinclair Lewis. This morning, I backtracked to Osakis (pronounced “O-say-kiss”) to attend worship at the First Presbyterian Church. The present building, built in 1964, replaced a building built in 1906 on the same spot. Yes, they were able to save and incorporate the original stained glass windows. After lunch, and with their knowledge and confirmation of the remainder of the route to St. Cloud, I traveled on east. But, first, I went back to Saux Centre, I stopped to visit the Sinclair Lewis Interpretive Center and find his boyhood home. Traveling through Melrose, I had a “find” in Freeport, “the City of Smiling Faces”—according to their billboard at town’s edge, and the smiley face on their water tower. Sacred Heart Church, build in 1905-06, with an amazingly tall steeple was open. I went in to view a beautiful sanctuary, with wonderful stained glass windows. There also was a school building built in 1913. This Sacred Heart Catholic Church rivaled Sacred Heart Church in Indianapolis. The difference is that the stated population of Freeport is only 565 people! Then, traveling on to the next town of Albany, I discovered the Seven Dolors Catholic Church almost the same size and beautiful inside. Avon, with its large Catholic Church that I was not able to view inside, played Westminster Chimes from its tower for me. Ending my journey were the larger, and adjoining towns to Saint Cloud were St. Joseph and Waite Park. I arrived in St. Cloud to have dinner at a local restaurant and find this McDonalds to use for wifi services. Tomorrow, I will continue on toward Minneapolis-St. Paul. Then, the current U.S. 52 leaves Interstate 94 and heads south toward Rochester and then the Iowa stateline.

I will come back to this post and add some accompanying pictures if this time in McDonald’s allows, but I wanted to get the text added first. I have discovered that, for me, doing the text in Microsoft Word first, then doing a “copy and paste” into the blog makes writing time easier.