The Lake City and Rochester Stage Road was an early road between Lake City and

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota, the city is the home and birthplace of the renowned Mayo Clinic. Acco ...

, United States. It was blazed in 1858 to carry

stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

traffic between the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

port and a major inland town in

southeast Minnesota Southeast Minnesota comprises the corner of the U.S. state of Minnesota south of the Twin Cities metropolitan area extending east, and part of the multi-state area known as the Driftless Area. Rochester is the largest city in the area; other majo ...

History

Construction of the Lake City and Rochester Stage Road was funded by a group of property owners in Lake City, Minnesota, who hoped to funnel trade from the interior through their river port community. They also subsidized a stagecoach line operated by the Northwestern Express Company, which became the Minnesota Stage Company the following year. Work on the route began in spring 1858 and the stagecoach company was completing daily runs by mid-May. The route was advertised as the shortest between Rochester and the Mississippi River, and superior in condition to all alternatives. In 1859 the U.S. government requested bids from private contractors to deliver mail along the route and received 22, making it one of the most sought-after mail routes in the state. The Lake City and Rochester Stage Road was blazed near the end of a six-year frenzy of road building in southeast Minnesota. These new transportation connections spurred the region's development. The stage road to Lake City was effective in helping the river port flourish. Southeast Minnesota's stage roads diminished in importance in 1867 when a railroad line opened between Waseca and

Winona Winona, Wynona or Wynonna may refer to: Places Canada * Winona, Ontario United States * Winona, Arizona * Winona, Indiana * Winona Lake, Indiana * Winona, Kansas * Winona, Michigan * Winona County, Minnesota ** Winona, Minnesota, the seat of Wi ...

, becoming the preferred route to the Mississippi. The route of the Lake City and Rochester Stage Road was eventually straightened and became a leg of

U.S. Route 63 U.S. Route 63 (US 63) is a , north–south United States Highway primarily in the Midwestern and Southern United States. The southern terminus of the route is at Interstate 20 (I-20) in Ruston, Louisiana; the northern terminus is at US ...

Mount Pleasant Section

When the Lake City and Rochester Stage Road was straightened and incorporated into the modern highway system, a curving was abandoned and remains much as it appeared in the mid-19th century. Known as the Mount Pleasant Section for its location within Mount Pleasant Township, it stands on the northwest side of Route 63 about southwest of Lake City. It comprises a dirt path curving through undeveloped woods. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1991 as the Lake City and Rochester Stage Road-Mount Pleasant Section for its state-level significance in the theme of transportation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lake City And Rochester Stage Road 1858 establishments in Minnesota Historic trails and roads in Minnesota Transport infrastructure completed in 1858 Transportation in Olmsted County, Minnesota Transportation in Wabasha County, Minnesota