When and What:  This is probably no later than 1905.  There were no automotive type roads as we would know them between Minneapolis and Mound. There were only the railroads, both steam and electric. The steam road went through Mound as it still does today (and probably won't very soon). The electric road went to Excelsior and then steam powered paddle wheelers or express boats would take people to points beyond, including to Mound. The electric road was a marvel of it's age because it was all lit up for mile after mile like a giant white snake in the absolute darkness of the rural night. Remember most people at that time lived in rural America and did not have electricity. One rarely ever saw man made lights outside, and almost never "electric" ones. The large yellow cars could be seen passing along the "Great White Way" and this all seemed to be a miraculous feat of technology to people who used horses to till their land. (actually it was miraculous that they could build such a system at that time and make it very profitable, and today we can't even afford to "think" about it, let alone actually DO it.)