Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Welcome to the Historic City of Marine on St. Croix!

Welcome to the official website for the City of Marine on St. Croix. Our city is located along the scenic St. Croix River, 12 miles north of Stillwater and 15 miles south of Taylors Falls.

The Village Hall, the community library, the Lutheran Church on the hill, the Stone House Museum, the Mill Site, the Fire Hall (built entirely by volunteer labor) are all sources of pride to the 700 or so residents of Marine.

Marine on St. Croix, founded as Marine Mills in 1839, was the site of the first commercial saw mill along the St. Croix River. The Mill Site is located behind and to the south of the Village Hall and has been declared a national historical site.

The ferry between Marine and the Wisconsin shore began operating in 1856 and continued until 1954. In 1870, the present General Store was built and has served the community ever since.

Crafts and articles from the daily life of early settlers are on display at the Stone House Museum which is staffed by members of the Marine Civic Club. The Stone House was built in 1872 and is an example of the stone architecture used by the early Swedish pioneers and was originally the town meeting house.

In 1888, the Village Hall was built. It continues to serve as the seat for community government and is the oldest village hall in the state still being used for governmental purposes. It is currently used for City Council and Planning Commission meetings, and houses the community library, which is also a branch of the Washington County Library system.

Once a busy river town with a population of 650 during the 1880's, Marine is now a community whose residents treasure the atmosphere of a friendly small town and county life with the advantages of being near a metropolitan area. In 1964, a group of residents established the Restoration Society to preserve the unique quality of this historical riverside town as it enjoys new growth and the advantages of both city and country living.

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