On the Line

Iowisota (a portmanteau of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota) is close to several lines. In this edition, I’m going to focus on the history of a few places that are really “on the line” and reflect on what that means for us today.

When I drive 6 miles north from Iowisota on highway 26, I cross the Iowa/Minnesota border line right on the edge of New Albin. About 1.3 miles farther up the road, an old stone “barn” stands on the east side of the highway, along the backwaters of the Mississippi River. This privately owned structure is the last building remaining of the town of Jefferson. It was built in 1868 as the Jefferson Grain Warehouse. Back in that era, the Mississippi River was still free flowing as a braided stream, with shifting channels that wove back and forth across the floodplain; treacherous for riverboats, but a dynamic system. One of those channels apparently flowed by the little town of Jefferson, and this building enabled steamboats to load bags of wheat along the river side of the building. Wheat was the main crop of the region in that period, from about 1849-1870, and the railroad had not yet been built. The railroad came through around 1872, and by 1881 the abandoned Jefferson Grain Warehouse and surrounding parcels were sold for back taxes. The town of Jefferson had a peak population of around 100 people and 6-7 homes, plus a lumberyard, school and store, but by 1925 most of the people had moved elsewhere. Any remaining buildings were removed in the 1940s to make room for improvements to Highway 26. So why did Jefferson not thrive and survive? Probably because the railroad chose to make its station at New Albin, a couple of miles to the south.

New Albin is literally on the line; part of the sawmill is in Minnesota, and part is in Iowa! When the railroad came through the area in 1872, they chose New Albin for the station because there was more room to expand, where the valley was broader. So New Albin’s being “on the [rail] line” was the death knell for Jefferson. But bits of Jefferson survived in the lives, homes, and family names of New Albin and the rural landscape around the area. Much more history of Jefferson has been captured in the 2013 book “A Creek Runs Through Me” by Barbara Scottston and Terry Atherton; if you’re curious, you can find this book in the New Albin public library.

Iowa became a State in 1846, necessitating the establishment of State lines. A Principal Monument was placed in 1849 from a point of observation on the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River. The entire border line was marked in the Spring of 1852. There is a small highway turn-out at the Iowa/Minnesota State line, with information about the original survey; the original Principal Monument is a few hundred feet away, near the lumber yard. Over 150 years later, school attendance, representation, and a host of other things are determined by which side of this line you live on.

Winnebago Creek is also on the line; this little watershed is mostly on the Minnesota side of the State line, but the lower wetlands spill over to Iowa. In early July 2026, heavy rainfall led to extensive flooding along Winnebago Creek and even closed Highway 26 as water spilled across the road near the State Line. On google maps, the main channel appears to meander down into Iowa, but the labeled trough heads east to the Mississippi River without crossing the border. I haven’t wandered those wetlands to see where most of the water flows, but this does remind me that water changes course. Even the big line to the east… the main channel of the Mississippi River, the line that determines exactly where Minnesota/Iowa ends and Wisconsin begins… used to be fluid. But the channel has been “locked in place” since the 1930s, when the lock and dam system changed the River from an ever-shifting river system to a stepped series of pools. However even now, the River changes as sedimentation tries to fill up the basins.

I guess the point… the bottom line… is that life is dynamic, and things change throughout the course of history. Much hinges on events and choices that are made at different points in time. We can grieve the past; we can celebrate the past; but we don’t get to change the past. We can make the best choices with the resources and situations we are experiencing now. It is often complicated to understand and discern what those best choices might be, but there is no better time to consider this carefully than now, because there is a lot “on the line”!

Upcoming events:

During the Northeast Iowa Artist’ Studio Tour in early October I enjoyed welcoming many people to Iowisota to see my studio and pottery, and to talk about enjoying the inspiration of nature to create things. We also had a lovely October “Women’s Walk” to the top of the south bluff. We are offering a series of 3 mini-workshops related to nuts and trees on November 6-8: “Nutcracker Sweet” (crack black walnuts and make maple-candied walnuts) on Friday evening from 6:00-8:00 pm; “Acorns” (make acorn flour and crackers) on Saturday morning from 9:00-11:30 am; and “Barking up the Right Tree” (nature hike about tree identification without leaves) Saturday afternoon from 1:30-4:00.  We will repeat the “Nutcracker Sweet” workshop on Sunday afternoon from 2:00-4:00 pm. Come stay at Iowisota for the entire weekend or select a single workshop of interest. On Saturday November 14^th, I’m offering another opportunity to make a custom stoneware charcuterie board. The ideal class size for this up to 5 people; I can schedule additional offerings of this if you want to come with a friend or two or three. Reach out to iowisota@gmail.com if you want to find a time for a private or family retreat, or schedule a charcuterie board workshop, or do custom hike.

Autumn has been full and busy; Perhaps by November I will have had time to sit and relax by the the fireplace. I'll look forward to sharing another post with you then!