Every Lake
Minnesota
Where the Mississippi starts — and a surveyor's error left a piece of the state above the border.
Minnesota in relief
The land itself, cut in six steps of birch from the lowlands to the high ground — the cities starred, the summit and rise on the title block. No counties, no roads: just the shape of Minnesota.
About Minnesota
Minnesota is where three great watersheds part: water leaving the state can reach the Gulf of Mexico, Hudson Bay or the Atlantic by way of the Great Lakes. The Mississippi begins at Lake Itasca and runs south through the middle; Lake Superior fills the northeast corner below the Iron Range and the Boundary Waters canoe country. The west is flat as a floor — the bed of glacial Lake Agassiz, drained by the north-flowing Red River. At the top, the Northwest Angle hangs above the 49th parallel, a leftover of a treaty drawn from a bad map, and is the northernmost point in the lower 48. Eighty-seven counties.
Minnesota entered on May 11, 1858 as the 32nd state. Saint Paul grew at the practical spot — the head of steamboat navigation on the Mississippi, just below the falls at St. Anthony that powered the flour mills in Minneapolis across the river. The board is worth hanging for the north shore drive on Superior, the ten thousand lakes actually numbering far more, and I-35 splitting into east and west legs through the Twin Cities before running on to Duluth.
- Six layers of birch — the land in elevation steps
- The summit and total rise on the title block
- The major cities, starred and named
- Title block with the admission date and capital
- A double rule engraved around the edge
- Every county line and the state border
- The interstates with their shields — 8 on this board
- The major cities, starred and named
- Title block with the admission date and capital
- A mile ruler engraved around the frame
