Winona - Minnesota's River Town

New Orleans, Memphis, Winona. Minnesota's river town doesn't come to mind as often as other cities, but it was founded in 1851 by a steamboat captain. By1900 Winona had more millionaires per capita than any place in the United States thanks to river traffic and booming wheat and lumber industries. Likewise, visitors can often overlook the limestone river bluffs that line the drive down highway 61. Those bluffs along with a unique environment of prairie, oak savanna, and wetlands create a rare habitat for everything from eagles to deer to coyotes.

Our friends at the Minnesota Land Trust have been hard at work since 2009 protecting 457 acres of land in the Winona bluff lands region of southeastern Minnesota to protect habitat values. They've secured easements through agreements with local farmers and landowners and purchased lands to create a zone free of incongruous development and changes in agricultural practices. Today this area is still full of diverse species of birds, reptiles, and mollusks that could have been threatened in the near future. Trout Unlimited has also worked to restore habitat and stream banks to enhance fish populations on Pine Creek in Houston and Winona counties, part of a larger project affecting five miles of habitat on three other streams in adjacent counties.

The funds for this work came from the Outdoor Heritage Fund of the Legacy Amendment. The same Legacy Amendment that's also helped support Winona's Great River Shakespeare Festival, the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, and the Frozen River Film Festival-all big features of this year's Winona Legacy Destination Weekend.

Visitors can also check out scale-models of paddle wheel boats that chugged up and down the Mississippi and docked at Winona one hundred years ago. Each replica is about as big as a Labrador and accurate down to the slipknot on the anchors on the bow. They're on display at the Winona County History Center. Those who prefer to sail the waters on their own power can borrow kayaks and canoes for free at the Winona Lodge on Lake Winona courtesy of the City of Winona Parks during Legacy Weekend.