Kleis Revives St. Cloud Trolley History Tours for America’s 250th

(KNSI) – Former St. Cloud Mayor Dave Kleis is bringing back his popular trolley history tours next month, timing their return to the nation’s 250th birthday.

Kleis made the announcement during an appearance on KNSI. The 90-minute rides start at the St. Cloud Public Library and wind through the city’s past. He ran the tours regularly during his 20 years in office, the longest tenure of any mayor in St. Cloud’s history. In the 18 months since he left office, he says riders kept asking him to bring them back. The first tour, set for July 16th, filled up within a day of its announcement, prompting Kleis to add a second date. July 15th has been added with tours running at 10:00 a.m. and noon.

Kleis, who majored in history at St. Cloud State University, said the strong response doesn’t surprise him. “There’s a lot of fascinating history in St. Cloud over, you know, the last 168 years as a city. And prior to that, as a territory.”

He described what riders can expect once the trolley pulls away from the library. “You know, we start downtown, you know, at the library, and I kind of go in different periods of time. I focus a lot on those early years. I mean, St. Cloud back in, you know, 1856, there was three little hamlets, upper, middle and lower town. And, you know, very different communities.”

He says one hamlet was heavily German and Catholic. Another drew Protestant settlers from the Northeast, including abolitionists. The third, settled by Sylvanus B. Lowry, who would become the city’s first mayor, was made up of Southerners, among them slave owners. Those competing philosophies were stitched into a single city.

Kleis said one chapter of that early history catches people off guard. “St. Cloud became a city in 1856. What happened a decade later? The Civil War broke out.” Kleis said some of the Southerners from one of the three hamlets left St. Cloud and went back down to the South, and that several figures prominent in Civil War history came from the city.
He pointed to one downtown building with a presidential connection. “That D.B. Searles building, you know, D.B. Searle was in Ford’s Theater when Abraham Lincoln was killed. He was a friend of Abraham Lincoln.”

The tours are a joint effort between the American Legion and Metrobus. Kleis, who serves as commander of American Legion Post 76 and chairs the Metrobus board, said Metrobus CEO Ryan Daniels will drive the trolley.

The rides are free, but registration is required because trolley seating is limited. To reserve a spot, call Metrobus at 320-257-4581. Kleis said more dates could be added if demand keeps up.

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