Here are some answers I got:Is anyone still interested in this thread?
(SPUI)
From 1940: http://reflections.mndigital.org/cdm/ref/collection/p16022coll2/id/30722
It was decided to call the group "The Cross-State Highway Association"
and membership cards will be issued at a later date. Memberships will be sold at $1 to provide funds to carry on the work. The sole object of this group of public spirited men is to have the state highway department take over this designated route and build a state highway from Duluth to Fergus Falls. This route will carry traffic through Pine River, Nimrod, Sebeka, Perham and on to Fergus Falls. A number of maps of the route have been made and may be secured from Arvid Lundin by anyone interested.
Bushnell was supposedly part of this association.
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=0AwhAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UXMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4582%2C324393
There is in fact an Inter-County Highway D signed from MN 64 east through Pine River and Emily to the county line. Bushnell's portion was farther east, but I can't determine exactly where. The land he owned may have been along the county line, see the parcels labeled Steven Bushnell and R. Bushnell. A local with a day to waste might be able to find records of the easements.
(froggie)
Assuming the "highway" is adjacent to the Bushnell's land (and there's three of them showing up on that Haugen Township plat), the likely suspect would be the equivalent of 490th St...1 mile north of Aitkin CSAH 32. Problem is, as best as I can tell from aerial imagery, that "road" is only about 4 miles long, while the AP article from 1979 says he had built about 9 miles. It also mentioned that he had to travel along "dirt washboard roads, avoiding potholes and sand pockets" in order to reach his highway.
The guess I made at the time of the MTR post, which I still think is the more likely suspect, is this road west of Floodwood, though we can't rule out "490th St" either
Sysop: | Keyop |
---|---|
Location: | Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, UK |
Users: | 399 |
Nodes: | 16 (2 / 14) |
Uptime: | 102:10:41 |
Calls: | 8,363 |
Calls today: | 2 |
Files: | 13,165 |
Messages: | 5,898,011 |