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
Nestled in a corner, away from the more high profile Division Street and retirement homes, is a little greentriangular slice of East Northfield; it sits between the highway (Dahomey Avenue), and within South Linden Street and West Nineth Street. I walked and recorded the sights and sites! Path A : Where I Started I began along the Mill Towns State Trail, an ongoing project to “connect the cities of Faribault,
As the city of Northfield and the community contemplate removal of the Ames Mill Dam, questions are swirling about how we should preserve the dam and mill’s history and meaningfully engage with the Cannon River. Public art projects, particularly around the Bridge Square Riverwalk area, have the potential to be critical avenues for visitors and residents alike to engage with the Cannon River and the milling history of the city.
We used drones, cameras, and voice recorders to gather the media we included in our final map. Additionally, we researched ethical oral history before reaching out to interview people. The final map was created using Thinglink and a number of media and audio editors.
Almost all of our content for this project comes from field interviews and field research. Erin and I walked along the Cannon River a few times to better understand the setting we were talking about. Beginning with our own contacts and expanding to all Northfield residents, we took a number of interviews, learning about people’s different experiences. We paid particular attention to our own survey biases, both being Carleton students,
We recorded how people in Northfield see and perceive the Cannon River in the present day. Over the course of May 2023, we interviewed different Northfield residents and visitors, and took images and videos of the water as it moves downstream. The final map acts as a home to the collective experiences around the river in town. Below is our final project.
