Minnesota State Highway 4 (MN 4) is a

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

in southwest and west-central

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, which runs from

Iowa Highway 4 Iowa Highway 4 (Iowa 4) is a state highway which runs from north to south across the state of Iowa. It is long, beginning at an intersection with Iowa Highway 44 in Panora and ending at the Minnesota state line north of Estherville. It cont ...

at the

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

state line (near Dunnell, MN and

Estherville, IA Estherville is a city in Emmet County, Iowa, United States. The population was 5,904 in the 2020 census, a decline from 6,656 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Emmet County. History Emmet County was initially created by an act of th ...

), and continues north to its northern terminus at its interchange with Interstate Highway 94 near Sauk Centre and Melrose.

Route description

State Highway 4 serves as a north–south route between Sherburn, Saint James, Sleepy Eye, Fairfax,

Hector In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

, Paynesville, and Meire Grove in southwest and west-central Minnesota. Highway 4 parallels

U.S. Highway 71 U.S. Route 71 or U.S. Highway 71 (US 71) is a major north–south United States highway that extends for over 1500 miles (2500 km) in the central United States. This original 1926 route has remained largely unchanged by encroaching Interstat ...

and State Highway 15 throughout its route. Fort Ridgely State Park is located on Highway 4 in Nicollet County on the

Minnesota River The Minnesota River ( dak, Mnísota Wakpá) is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km) long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa. It ris ...

. The park is located south of Fairfax and northwest of New Ulm.Minnesota DNR website for Fort Ridgely State Park - Link
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History

The segment of Highway 4 between Paynesville and Interstate 94 is part of Minnesota Constitutional Route 4, established in 1920; the remainder of Highway 4 was authorized in 1933. Between Saint James and the Iowa border, Highway 4 followed very closely the former Minneapolis & St Louis Railway the remains of which are clearly visible on the west side of the highway between Minnesota Highway 60 and Sherburn, Minnesota. Grain elevators in

Echols Echols may refer to: *Echols (surname) *Echols County, Georgia, a county in Georgia *Echols, Kentucky, a community *Echols, Minnesota, a community {{Disambiguation, geo ...

, Ormsby, Trimont, and Sherburn are aligned with the former M&StL route through each of these towns. The route was completely paved by 1961.

Major intersections

References

{{reflist 004 Transportation in Stearns County, Minnesota Transportation in Kandiyohi County, Minnesota Transportation in Meeker County, Minnesota Transportation in Renville County, Minnesota Transportation in Brown County, Minnesota Transportation in Watonwan County, Minnesota Transportation in Martin County, Minnesota Transportation in Nicollet County, Minnesota