The Minnesota Town That Lasted Only 15 Years

Once larger than it's neighbor to the south, Northfield, the only remaining piece of the bustling town of Lewiston is the building that encapsulates Sciota township hall which was an 1860 schoolhouse.

The town was set near the Cannon River, and Alta Avenue, aka County Road 59, was home to many Minnesotan politicians, such as Edward J. Thye, Minnesota's governor; Pierce Butler became a United States supreme court justice, and Loren W. Collins was a Minnesota supreme court justice.

Lewiston flourished with a horseracing track and a hotel. From 1851 to 1866 a magnificent town stood where just farmland is today. The town on the Cannon River that burst onto the scene in 1851 and fizzled just 15 years later, was featured by the Star Tribune in 2009 after a former mailman's manuscript, was published by the Dakota County Historical Society in the Over the Years history magazine.

The map above shows you where the post office was located when the town was at it's peak. Just think that where this grove of trees is, used to be a busy building with mail and telegraphs arriving daily by rail.

Here is the old school house turned into a town hall, taught those famous Minnesota politicians.

It should be a good weekend to get out and maybe explore the site of the forgotten town of Lewiston, MN.