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Scandinavia's GB&W RR Depot
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| Our photographer stood on top of a boxcar to capture this interesting photo looking west toward Winona. Smokestacks on the boxcars of this I&N freight tell us they are loaded with potatoes. Local men were hired to tend the stoves inside the boxcars during their trip to the Chicago, Pittsburgh, even Washington D.C. markets. At one time Iola’s potato commerce rivaled Waupacas. During the 1904-1905 potato season 512 boxcars of spuds were shipped out of Iola. Each car holding approximately 550 bushels, or a total of 281,400 bushels for the season. World War II saw potatoes shipped in from the Red River Valley of Minnesota. In Iola they were graded, sorted, packaged and then shipped to various military installations across the United States. |
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