| has gloss | eng: Sugar Loaf is a rocky pinnacle overlooking eastern Winona, Minnesota, in Winona County, Minnesota, United States, above the junction of Highways 61 and 43. It towers 500 feet over Lake Winona (former part of the Mississippi River main channel) and more than 85 feet above the remainder of the bluff. It resulted from the quarrying through most of the 1880s of the limestone which was then used for Winona’s sidewalks and brick buildings. The mining was done by two brothers, John and Stephen O'Dea. The use of limestone (Oneota dolomite - a sedimentary limestone composed mainly of calcium carbonate and magnesium) began with the need to improve city sidewalks, most of which were made of wood and burned in the 1862 fire that destroyed 90 percent of the downtown district. Many miles of this limestone were installed before the turn of the 20th Century and met with such success that a city ordinance was passed in late 1890 specifying stone only for sidewalks. Buildings in the area also began to utilize the stone because of its texture. Quarry operations were shut down in 1887. |
