Rattlesnake Curve

Following the failure of an ill-fated locally owned streetcar system, the Twin Cities Rapid Transit Company (TCRT) obtained a franchise to expand into Stillwater in 1899. Unlike the previous system, the TCRT would operate local streetcars as well as "interurban" cars connecting Stillwater to Saint Paul by way of the streetcar company's Wildwood Amusement Park on the southern shore of White Bear Lake. Between Stillwater's city limits and Wildwood Park, the streetcars traveled at an average speed of 28 miles per hour.^[1]

A notable part of the journey from Stillwater to Wildwood was "Rattlesnake Curve", a serpentine stretch of track southwest of McKusick lake. The curve was sufficiently interesting to be printed as a souvenir postcard in the early 1900s.

It might have been inevitable that this stretch would lead to an accident. On Sunday, June 1, 1924, two streetcars collided head-on at Rattlesnake Curve. The cars' operators engaged breaks and reversed engines, but were unable to prevent the collision. Fortunately, the operators warned passengers soon enough for many to escape. Twenty passengers were injured, six seriously. The crash could be heard a half mile away in Stillwater.^[2]

The last interurban streetcar left Stillwater on August 11, 1932. Local streetcar service within Stillwater ended about a month later.^[3]

Today, a portion of the old Rattlesnake Curve streetcar line is a paved trail on the south short of Lake McKusick. Portions of Eagle Ridge Trail, Kallie Court, and Meadowlark Drive are also on portions of this route. The postcard photo above was taken from approximately the intersection of Green Twig Way and Kallie Court.

— Matt Thueson

Matt Thueson is a member of the Stillwater Heritage Preservation Commission.