The community of North Branch, Minnesota is built on a flat, sandy plain, the Anoka Sandplain. Both the sand and the lack of hills are a result of the work of glaciers that once covered Minnesota.

When the glaciers receded, 13,000 years ago, water carrying sand flowed from the melting ice and deposited it in east central Minnesota. The flowing streams became dammed, forming sheets of shallow water. Water currents in this glacial lake shifted and smoothed the sand. When the lake dried up, what remained was the flat, sandy plain.

People lived on the sandplain as long ago as 11,000 years. Not much is known about these early natives, but researchers think they hunted bison and moved from camp to camp, not building permanent settlements.

North Branch Municipal Map --- Mapquest Directions

North Branch, Minnesota is located 45 minutes north of the Twin Cities on Interstate 35 and is just 90 minutes south of Duluth and the North Shore of Lake Superior.