Every town has a story. Ours happens to have a railroad in it twice — once above the ground and once below it.
The Rails (1893)
Goldenvale exists because the corridor rail line came through in 1893. The sawmill, the rail spur, and a small hydro-electric station at the lake and river junction followed, and the town grew up along the tracks. For ninety years, the trains ran through town and everything Goldenvale made or needed rode them.
The Hub Bet (1949)
In 1949 a politician decided Goldenvale was going to become the region’s freight hub. Two things came out of that year: the Goldenvale Power Station — four stories of dark brick on the industrial edge of town, built oversized for a future that never quite arrived, and today one of the oldest operational energy sites in Cass County, with a museum wing you can visit — and the Underground Service Railway.
The Tunnels (1949–1974)
Ask anyone in Goldenvale about the Underground Service Railway and you will get an opinion. The idea was to move freight and utilities underground, out of the snow — a scaled-down version of the big-city freight tunnels, connecting the power station, the plant, the warehouses, and downtown. Crews dug on and off for twenty-five years. Rail sections were laid. A vaulted station was built. No train ever entered the tunnels — the surface line carried everything the whole time, which tells you most of what you need to know about how the bet worked out.
In September 1974 a tunnel collapse took the lives of three workers. The project was abandoned that fall, and the town has never forgotten the men it lost. The tunnels were sealed off and are closed to the public — and yes, that means you.
The Last Train (1983)
The railroad abandoned the surface line in 1983, and the last train left town. The old rail grade is now Industrial Drive on the north end and a paved rail-trail through the rest — if you have biked to the lake, you have ridden the dead railway without thinking about it.
Goldenvale Today
We are a year-round town of 6,214 — schools, city services, small factories, storage, and local retail — that roughly doubles in spirit every summer when the cabins fill up. Winters are long, cold, and honestly kind of the point: the lake freezes for ice fishing, skating, and snowmobiles, and the plowed banks get tall enough that the kids name them. Spring is mud season. We do not sugarcoat mud season.
Landmarks
- Glowmere Lake — deep, cold, and ours. Public beach and dock near downtown.
- The water tower — recently repainted, visible from nearly everywhere, and the first thing you see coming in on 371.
- The Goldenvale Power Station — the 1949 dark-brick giant. The museum wing is open seasonal hours.
- Riverside Park — playgrounds, trails, and footbridges on both sides of the creek.
- Historic downtown — brick storefronts on S Main Street along the creek: the library, Town Hall, the Griddle & Grind, and the rest.
Getting Here
From the Twin Cities: north on US-10 to the junction near Little Falls, then north on Highway 371 through the lake towns. About three hours in decent weather, longer in February, and you should plan for February.