"Two rows of pearls hung out on both sides of the street."

Travelers' Aid at Great Northern Depot, c. 1925.

"Min-ne-ap-o-lis! Minneapolis!" called the brakeman through the train. "Min-ne-ap-o-lis! Minneapolis!" Nils jumped up with such a start that his hat rolled way down the aisle.

Immediately a great noise and commotion began within the coach. Most of the passengers were getting off here. Nils, in a daze, stood there rubbing his eyes. Were they there already?

Per and Nils found themselves in the vast Great Northern Station, much bewildered. Even at this hour of the night the human current moving to and from the trains ran very swift.

Out on the sidewalk Nils paused. He had to look about and greet the place. The lights along Hennepin Avenue twinkled festively; they resembled two rows of pearls hung out on both sides of the street. Just a few steps below him ran the river; he knew its every bend as far the Washington Bridge. He felt at home there on the sidewalk, was a part of the metropolis which now lay in peaceful morning sleep. Something within it was his; he belonged here!

-Ole Rolvaag, The Boat of Longing, 1921