Minnesota
End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum packs big history into small-town Minnesota
City parks are all across Minnesota. But a town in Murray County has one that’s gone off its rails.
Currie, Minnesota, is truly small-town America. The population hovers at just over 200. But on the northern outskirts, you’ll happen upon a place with plenty of bells and whistles: End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum.
“It’s like a little village from way back when. You have your church. You’ve got a school,” said visitor Larry Diedrich.
You’ve also got railroad relics, up and down the tracks.
“1901 was when the first line was put in here,” said Jake Halverson, site manager for End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum.
Halverson said Currie was once a thriving railroad town. In fact, it was the end of the line for steam engines heading west. If you wanted to go east, Currie was your gateway to the rest of the world. The first stop was Bigham Lake.
“From Bigham Lake they could go to Minneapolis, from Minneapolis to Chicago, from Chicago to New York,” said Halverson.
But by mid-century the last train had left the station. No sooner did that happen than teenagers from the local 4H club began to clean up the abandoned turntable.
The platform was used to turn 400,000-pound steam engines around when they hit the end of the line. Thanks to the 4Hers, it still works today.
The club also bought the train depot for $1 from the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad Company and moved it closer to the turntable.
“That is really the beginning of maybe bringing more attention to the history of the railroad here,” said Halverson.
It’s history that comes in all shapes and sizes, including a model railroad that’s a replica of a time that was.
“It was built to look like what Currie was 100 years ago,” said Halverson.
Much of what you see at the park and museum is original, including a 125-year-old water tower that was moved to the site from Walnut Grove.
The caboose nearby originally came from South Dakota. The locomotive once ran in Georgia.
The rail business may have left Currie, but the love for trains never did. It’s a chance to celebrate big history in a small town.
“Wherever there have been trains, there have been people who are fascinated by them,” said Halverson. “I think this is an opportunity for individuals to learn about not only this part of Minnesota but to know where this part of Minnesota fits in with the rest of the world.”
The End-O-Line Railroad Park and Museum is open from Wednesday through Sunday from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day.
A Minnesota college professor on Tuesday pleaded guilty to stealing gun parts and ammunition from a Twin Cities store.
Aaron Banks, 52, entered a guilty plea to one count of theft as part of a plea deal, according to court records. Under the agreement, which a judge still needs to approve, a count of possession of burglary or theft tools would be dismissed and Banks would receive a stay of imposition at sentencing.
According to a criminal complaint, Banks stole from a Scheels in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, on multiple occasions, taking two triggers, a rifle accessory and multiple boxes of ammunition totaling more than $750.
Gustavus Adolphus College placed Banks on leave when he was charged in March. WCCO has reached out to the school for an update on his employment status.
Banks’ sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 26.
Gustavus Adolphus is in St. Peter, about 68 miles southwest of Minneapolis.
Maury’s Stories: Stone Arch Bridge
A longstanding fixture in Minneapolis, this Maury’s Stories goes in-depth on the history of the Stone Arch Bridge, a popular attraction to this day.
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) – It’s a big weekend in Minnesota, with barrel racing, block parties, brewery anniversaries, a bookish festival, outdoor markets, and live music stretching from Shakopee to Minneapolis.
Battle of the Barrels
- June 19, 7 p.m.
- Canterbury Park, Shakopee
- Tickets available at Canterbury Park’s website
Watch the region’s top cowgirls race against the clock in a high-stakes barrel racing competition where every turn counts. Come early for a pre-party featuring live music, a Busch Light Happy Hour, vendor sip and shop, and games. Stick around after for more live music and a Pure Adrenaline FMX show.
Pryes Block Party 2026
Pryes Block Party kicks off its two-day run with a Friday night concert at the Pryes Side Lot featuring Soul Asylum, Agnes Uncaged and LAAMAR. The taproom and patio are open to the public all weekend, but a ticket gets you into the heart of the party.
Midwest Bookish Fest 2026
- June 19–21
- DoubleTree by Hilton Bloomington Minneapolis South, Minneapolis
- Tickets required; ages 10 and under are free, ages 11–17 must have a ticket and be accompanied by an adult
A two-and-a-half-day celebration of books, authors, and all things literary, featuring authors and bookish vendors from around the world. Expect a masquerade, author brunch, panels, trivia, and more across the full weekend.
Unmapped Brewing’s 9th Trip Around the Sun Outdoor Party
- June 20, 11 a.m.–11 p.m.
- Unmapped Brewing, 14625 Excelsior Blvd, Minnetonka
- Free entry; limited edition anniversary T-shirts and giveaways available on-site
Unmapped Brewing celebrates nine years with an all-day outdoor party packed with live music from Teacher Party, The Southern Resident Killer Whales, The Changeups, and Static Jones. Food trucks, yard games, free face painting, beer sampling, and a tote bag giveaway round out a full day of fun for the whole family.
Stone Arch Bridge Festival – Vintage & Vinyl Market
- June 21, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
- Stone Arch Bridge, Minneapolis
- Free entry; no tickets needed
The Minneapolis Vintage Market takes over the Stone Arch Bridge Festival, the Twin Cities’ third-largest festival, drawing an average of 75,000 visitors over two days. Browse more than 200 artist and vendor booths spanning fine art, vintage goods, classic cars, food, and drink along the Minneapolis riverfront behind the Guthrie Theater.
Trump administration ends Minnesota immigration operation
Border Czar Tom Homan announced the end of Minnesota’s immigration operation after fatal shootings heightened tension and community backlash.
At a press conference in Minneapolis on Tuesday, June 16, the Justice Department announced criminal charges against 15 people for allegedly conspiring to impede or injure an officer during the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement immigration crackdown in Minnesota from about January to June of 2026.
Minnesota U.S. Attorney Daniel Rosen said the alleged conspiracy related to efforts by two Minneapolis-based antifa groups that violently opposed law enforcement. “Antifa” is a collective term for an assortment of groups in an anti-fascist movement, which President Donald Trump in September designated as a major terrorist organization.
“These defendants have been charged not for what they said, but for what they did,” Rosen said.
“They all joined an agreement, a conspiracy, to interfere with lawful immigration enforcement operations,” he added. “The conspiracy was not to interfere by their voice, but to do it by force.”
Lawyers for the defendants weren’t immediately identifiable.
An indictment unsealed June 16 alleges the defendants tried to halt immigration enforcement operations with “hard blockades” such as wood, leaf blowers and vehicles to impede officer movement, and with “soft blockades” such as homemade shields to resist and wedge between officers.
One defendant, Kyle Wagner, is also charged with soliciting another person to commit a crime of violence. During the June 16 press conference, Rosen played a video that he said was of Wagner.
“My name is Kyle, I’m antifa, and there’s so much rage in me that I’ve had to record this, like, 15 times, trying to get the message out,” the man in the video said.
“Not talking about peaceful protests anymore. We’re not talking about having polite conversations anymore,” the man said in the video, adding that he was speaking specifically to his followers.
“Get your f—— guns and stop these f—— people,” the man added.
Charges follow immigration crackdown and mass protests
In December, the Trump administration began a surge of thousands of federal agents to Minnesota as part of an immigration crackdown. That sparked heightened tensions in the state, with some locals organizing against the crackdown, including by using whistles to alert others to approaching immigration agents.
Interactions between federal immigration enforcement agents and protesters turned increasingly heated and even violent in January, after federal law enforcement shot and killed Minneapolis mother Renee Nicole Good while she was driving a car, and later shot and killed Minneapolis nurse Alex Pretti, after tackling him and discovering a gun that, in videos of the incident, appeared to be secured in his waistband.
On Jan. 16, FBI Director Kash Patel posted on social media that the FBI was working around the clock to crack down on “violent rioters.”
In February, the Trump administration announced an end to the surge.
Since then, the Justice Department has brought charges against dozens of defendants for allegedly interfering with or assaulting federal agents during the surge, but about a third of those cases have been dismissed, according to an analysis by The Minnesota Star Tribune.
Asked about cases that have been dismissed or failed in some way at the June 16 press conference, U.S. Attorney Rosen stood by the cases his office has brought.
“I don’t think any cases have failed in any way, but I will tell you, read the indictment and you’ll understand the full magnitude of this case,” Rosen said.
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