at Lake Superior Railroad Museum.

Text on plaque reads:
"St. Paul and Pacific
William Crooks 1861

The St. Paul & Pacific was the first railroad in Minnesota and the William Crooks was the first steam locomotive to run in the state. Eventually the St. Paul and Pacific became the St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba in 1789 and in 1890 part of the Great Northern Railway.
The locomotive was constructed by New Jersey Locomotive and Machine Co. of Paterson N.J. and is named for William Crooks, Chief Mechanical Engineer of the St. Paul and Pacific, and Colonel of the Sixth Regiment, Minnesota volunteers, in the Civil War.
The William Crooks arrived in St. Paul by steamboat on Sept 9, 1861. On June 28, 1862, the locomotive hauled the historic first trainload of passengers in Minnesota, a distance of 10 miles between St. Paul and St. Anthony, now Minneapolis. Regular service between St. Paul and St. Anthony began on July 2, 1862.
One of the few remaining locomotives of the Civil War period, the Crooks was retired from active service around the turn of the century. In its heyday, the locomotive handled "Empire Builder" James J. Hill's private trains as well as regular passenger trains of the period.
The engine weighs 28 tons (51 tons with tender) and is 50'-8¼" in length. The Crooks was built as a wood burner. In recent times the Crooks traveled under its own steam to the Chicago and New York Worlds Fairs. Its last trip under steam was to the railroad fair in Chicago during 1948.
The locomotive was donated to Minnesota Historical Society by the Great Northern Railway and was later moved to Duluth in May of 1975."