The Big Middle
from Pionerd Hosted by Robert Thomas
Before St. Paul had a name, the Dakota called this stretch of the Mississippi the big middle. Then a one-eyed bootlegger showed up and nearly named a capital city after himself. On May 16, 1850, the first Protestant church in Minnesota burned to the ground. On May 16, 1938, the island still carrying that bootlegger's name became home to the first wastewater treatment facility on the entire Mississippi River. One place that has been at the center of something in every era it has passed through.
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This episode is 14 minutes long.
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This episode was published on May 16, 2026.
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