In this week's episode of A Look Back, Sue Garwood, director of the Rice County Historical Society, tells us how the Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park came into existence. The process spanned 1890-1944, and continued to evolve through the present day. As Nerstrand was settled, the wood lots were parceled out in small pieces. The jumble of small parcels created a nightmare for future developers, and was generally left alone. The U.S. Forest Service began buying land in the 1930s, and continued through the 1940s and '50s, leading to the creating of Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park.

New episodes featuring Rice and Steele county history are posted to the KDHL YouTube channel and kdhlradio.com each Sunday at noon, with information courtesy of the Rice and Steele county historical societies. You also can find previous episodes of A Look Back and AM Minnesota, as well as other videos, on the KDHL YouTube channel. Subscribe and follow KDHL on YouTube to stay up-to-date on our newest shows!

If you have a topic you'd like to know more about, let us know! Email tamara.gruhot@townsquaremedia.com and we'll pass your requests to the historical societies to consider for presentation.

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