Population (2010)
194
Introduction
Diamond Bluff is a quiet residential community that is about a mile long but only a few blocks wide sandwiched between the railroad tracks and the river.
Visitor Information
Contact Pierce County Partners in Tourism (715.273.7799).
History
A French guy lived here from 1799 until he died in 1824. His name might have been Monte Diamond, or he might have called the area Monte-Diamond. I haven’t been able to reconcile different sources on that one, yet. In 1852, JW Hoyt moved up from Tennessee and bought 1200 acres. His brother, CF Hoyt platted 50 of those acres as a town site and named it Diamond Bluff. The village enjoyed a few prosperous years as a center for shipping wheat but didn’t attract many settlers. Its steamboat landing was busy enough for a while that some townsfolk did well selling cordwood (for fuel) to passing boats. There was also an active boat yard where the ill-fated Sea Wing was built.
Close to town is an archaeological gold mine known as the Diamond Bluff (or Mero) Site, a mile long area that has evidence of several villages, plus hundreds of oval mounds framed by a bird effigy to the south and a panther effigy to the north. This site was occupied continuously for 350 years beginning about 1,000 years ago; residents had considerable contact with the Mississippian culture from Cahokia (Illinois). This site is not open to the public, but there is a display at the Goodhue County History Center in Red Wing.
Exploring the Area
Parks Along the Mississippi River
Sea Wing Park (290th Ave.) is a small village park that has a beach and a few places to picnic next to the river named for the ill-fated boat.
**Looking for more places to visit along the Mississippi River? Check out Road Tripping Along the Great River Road, Vol. 1. Click the link above for more. Disclosure: This website may be compensated for linking to other sites or for sales of products we link to.
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©Dean Klinkenberg, 2011,2017
