A Look Back: Nerstrand-Big Woods State Park

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 Kat Kountry 105 YouTube channel and katkountry105.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, as well as other videos, on the Kat Kountry 105 YouTube channel. Subscribe and follow Kat Kountry 105 on YouTube to stay up-to-date on our newest shows!

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