Yesterday and Today in Belle Plaine

Downtown Belle Plaine

Downtown Belle Plaine has been around since the late 1800’s and has continued to change and develop. There are many historic buildings, local businesses and restaurants to enjoy in downtown today, but the area took on a big change in 2005, when an apartment building caught fire. The fire spread and burned roughly five buildings to the ground. The buildings were rebuilt and murals were put up to encapsulate the beauty of Belle Plaine.

Elsie’s Klothes Patch

At the corner of Meridian St in Belle Plaine sits Ms. Elsie Wolff’s sewing shop. Ms. Wolff bought the shop in the early 80’s but prior to that it was Micky’s bar. For a majority of her life, Ms. Wolff worked long hours, providing beautifully tailored dresses and suits. Things weren’t always easy. Ms. Wolff fought colon cancer as she was preparing wedding dresses for people. Luckily, she made a full recovery. Next, in 2005 a massive fire broke out in the town burning Elsie’s Klothes Patch to the ground, as you can see in the first photo. It took roughly a year to rebuild, but Ms. Wolff is back to her passion while spending time with her loving family.

Belle Plaine Train Station

Choo choo! The train whistles as it arrives at the Belle Plaine Railroad Depot. The Belle Plaine Railroad Depot was built in 1901, with the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railroad lines coming through it on a regular basis. The historic photo displays passengers getting on to be brought to their destination, but the tracks were also used for transporting goods. Today the Depot no longer stands but trains still run every day on these tracks.