
Chapter 5: Dalrymple’s Bayfield Transfer Railroad
The second railroad built in Bayfield was the Bayfield Transfer which serviced the lumber industry on the peninsula from 1898 to 1924.
Bayfield Transfer Railroad bridge spanning the Bayfield waterfront.
Photo courtesy of Bayfield Heritage Association.
Photo ID: 215.2.24
Click image to enlarge.
Dalrymple came to Bayfield in 1882 believing that the town could become a major port city on Lake Superior. He had a grand scheme to provide for the cheap transportation of grain from his wheat farm in North Dakota by rail to Lake Superior where it could then be placed on ships that would dock at a massive wharf at Bayfield and sent on to the east coast.
William, Oliver, and three other men organized the Bayfield Transfer Railroad Company. They bought, rebuilt and extended the original Vaughn dock at the foot of Washington Ave., ran track starting at the Omaha depot on Manypenny Ave., obtained a right of way across the Red Cliff Reservation, and bought all of the waterfront property between Bayfield and Red Cliff including 100 acres at Roy’s Point, for a total of 1200 acres.
Dalrymple envisioned the creation of a town (named Dalrymple of course) between Bayfield and Red Cliff, as well as a harbor system that was designed to extend north out of Bayfield all along the coast with a solid line of slips, warehouses and docks for loading passengers and freight. The entire harbor system was to be serviced by a four-track main railroad that would run along the shoreline from Bayfield to Red Cliff and then inland through the Reservation to eventually connect to the St. Croix-Superior Railroad.
Sales Brochure for Dalrymple’s Bayfield Transfer Railroad, residential subdivision, docks and warehouses north of Bayfield. November 1892. Photo courtesy of Bayfield Heritage Association. Photo ID: 215.272.1
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There was an immediate economic impact resulting from the extension of the railway north out of Bayfield. The Red Cliff Lumber Company was established in 1897. This was the first industrial enterprise established on the Reservation employing 110 men at the mill and yards and additional men at a new store and boarding house. The company operated a sawmill and a planeing mill at the northern end of Buffalo Bay where the campground and casino are currently located.
Logging camps were set up in the surrounding areas. The mill not only provided jobs for the men on the Reservation but also attracted many other people who came to live in the “Swede Town” section of town, a community of about 15 -18 families. Thirty-five new homes were built on the Reservation, and the Catholic Church opened a school for forty children. Unfortunately the mill burned down in 1905. It was rebuilt in 1907 but burned down again in 1910 and was never restored.
Bayfield Transfer Railroad tracks running along the lake shoreline north from Bayfield to Red Cliff. Photo courtesy of Bayfield Heritage Association. Photo ID: 1980.41.29
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The first train ran on the Transfer line on April 25, 1898. Soon trains were making three round trips a day carrying passengers, freight, and mail. Once the Transfer was in operation it became so popular that Sunday trips to Buffalo Bay were added. During the summer, baseball games were played at Roy’s Point and the kids in Bayfield would walk out to the baseball field along the tracks knowing that the crew of the Transfer would give them a free ride back to town.
The train ended up carrying a negligible amount of passenger traffic and Dalrymple soon found it more profitable to lease the railroad for the transfer of lumber and logs from the lumber camps and sawmills on the peninsula to the Omaha Railroad tracks in downtown Bayfield.
Bayfield Transfer Railroad engine and shed. ca. 1918. Photo courtesy of Bayfield Heritage Association. Photo ID: 1980.1.427
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In 1914 the Wachsmuth Lumber Co. purchased the right-of-way for all of the railway lines and ran The Transfer as a private logging railroad, shuttling crews and lumber between the company’s logging camps, across Roy’s Point, and to its mill in Bayfield. The Transfer still existed as a common carrier to haul freight, but all passenger service between Red Cliff and Bayfield ceased at this time.
Bayfield panoramic about 1910, showing lumber piles at Bayfield to be shipped from the Wachsmuth mill. The mill closed in 1924. Photo courtesy of Bayfield Heritage Association. Photo ID: 1970.37.9
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The Brickyard Creek History Chronicles are being shared with you by Brickyard Creek community member, Mary E. Carlson.
She explains, “As we look out at Buffalo Bay and Basswood Island, we can’t help but think of those who came before us to this beautiful place.”
She started her historical quest in 2007 and is sharing her finds in this ten-part series below. Her book, On the Streets of Bayfield, is available at the Bayfield Heritage Center