Brainerd, 115 miles from Duluth, the capital of Crow Wing County, is favorably situated on the east bank of the Mississippi, 1200 feet above the Gulf of Mexico, on a beautiful elevation, 50 or 60 feet above the river. It contains a court-house and jail, 1 bank, 3 churches, 6 hotels or taverns, 12 stores, 1 printing-office, 2 steam saw-mills, 1 planing-mill, 1 iron foundry, 1 sash, door and blind factory, a brewery and brick-yard, a portable house manufactory, and an extensive machine shop and roundhouse, belonging to the Northern Pacific Railroad. Here is also a reception house for emigrants and a hospital, erected by the above Company. The railroad bridge at this place is a substantial structure 600 feet in length. The river is navigable for a small class of steamers for 200 miles above to the Pokegema Falls, and 30 miles below to the Little Falls, and 30 miles below to the Little Falls, passing Crow Wing and Fort Ripley.
A Branch Railroad is being constructed to extend from Sauk Rapids to this place, running on the east side of the Mississippi River, forming a direct railroad line between St. Paul and Brainerd, making it an important railroad station, where passengers now stop daily to dine when going east or west on the trains.
Source:
Sailing on the Great Lakes and Rivers of America
J. Disturnell
J. Disturnell, Philadelphia, PA, 1874
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