Seventh St., Westbound
Saturday, 9:30 PM
I started my walk rather late into the evening with my roommate, Ben. I wanted to go at a later time to focus this experience less on simply looking at things, but feeling what its like be there. We entered the block on the corner of 7th and Water St, immediately taking note of the River Park Mall, the largest plot on the block that dominates the space.
However, if you take a look at the plat map of Northfield from 1915,You can see that this block was evenly subdivided into 15 plots.
But the map also reveals a change in the shape of the east bank of the river, and also an island too?
From the Carleton Digital Collection
In the new map the Island is mysteriously gone.
Considering this we made way to the river, passing by the only residential plot on the blocks small multiplex apartment not hewn to the Riverside Park.
Apple Maps, Oct. 2025
Riverside City Park, Northbound
Saturday, 9:39 PM
View of Downtown Northfield from swinging bench
As we approached the river bank, we were passed by a cyclist heading north along the Mill Towns State Trail, a portion of which runs through this neighborhood and out to Dundas. Along this trail was a small swinging bench next to the a clearing for a boat launch. The view was a great place to watch cars drive down the highway and watch the city lights ripple in the water.
A flock of geese was honking off in the distance in front of us, but naturally they were obscured by the darkness.
As we stepped closer to the river’s edge to try get a better look at the geese, we were greeted by a friendly guest.
What likely is Wood Frog, Lithobates Sylvatica
I had never seen a frog in Northfield before, so this was a welcome surprise.
According to a field guide produced by Carleton’s Arb Office (see pg 5), this is a Common Wood Frog, one of 8 species of amphibians found in the Arb
(and apparently in Northfield too)
Notably, this species of frog is listed as Rana Sylvatica in the guide, but a quick search on the internet reveals the taxonomic classification was changed in 2011.
The guide was linked to a blog post from the Arb in 2018, meaning the arb likely published an outdated guide!
Leaving our new friend behind, we passed by a garden feature with a flower trellis, and a bench labeled bench.
Wait this is kinda giving Coraline
My roommate thinks they should’ve spray-painted ‘bench‘ on the bench in braile
Further along the trail we began to encounter other people, as the honking of geese turned into the sounds of a busy evening on an outdoor patio.
5th and Water St., Southbound
Saturday,
Views of Family Hair from 5th St (left) and Water St (center); View of Just Food Co-op from Water St (right)
As we rounded the corner at the northern end of the block, we passed by illuminated, yet empty businesses. The only one with someone in it was the Co-op, where a worker was sweeping around the registers. Before ultimately calling it a night, my roommate and I decided to step into Carbone’s Pizza to see what all the excitement was about.
Once we entered we walked to the bar and asked for a pitcher of water from a bartender (Her colleague was busy scrambling up the box of raffle tickets) and we took seats in the corner
Most of the energy in the bar that night was coming from the football team who were singing their rendition of Dixeland Delight and cheering each other on
Nonchalance.
As we were leaving, we noticed a purple party bus sitting in the lot in front of Carbone’s
Poor guy
Behind the wheel, was a beleaguered bus driver who looked like he just wanted to go home. To honor him, we did just that and concluded our walk
–Andrew
