The arrival of the railroad in 1883 to Washburn (south of Bayfield, WI) stimulated quarrying and logging activities. There was three quarries located in the area known as Houghton Point and the railway carried the brownstone building material to Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Paul and Cincinnati.

The Houghton Point quarry opened in 1892 but the brownstone industry quickly ended by 1903 as the stone was replaced by concrete and other building materials. And eventually, the rail service was discontinued and abandoned. The old railway cuts through the Houghton Falls State Natural Area and the old railway culverts over the creek still exists, although I wouldn’t want to have derailed by the deep ravine as the creek drops sixty feet as it makes it way into Lake Superior.

Old Railway Over Plunging Creek