The Memorable Sounds of Your Town Can Ring a Bell

We always heard trucks going by our house on East Seventh Street. That’s because it was also Highway 61 until rerouted along He Mni Can-Barn Bluff.

That’s just one of those long-forgotten external sounds that comes back when something triggers it. You could argue that truck noise is the same everywhere. But it is not. With the windows open in warm weather, we knew they were coming from downtown by the shifting of gears. They were noisy at the corners of Bluff and Plum streets. We even knew their location when they hit specific bumps in the street.

If you’ve lived in a place for awhile, you learn to recognize specific local sounds. And you can recall them years later. From a certain dog bark to a sonic boom, we remember them. I remember the sound of a steam-powered horn at Foot Tannery announcing the start of the morning shift.

The distant sounds we hear can vary greatly based on your location in the bluffs. If you live in a flat city, sounds are less impeded so they stay more the same everywhere except for volume which changes by distance.

I think the Episcopal Church carillon provides a sound everyone around here recognizes. It doesn’t carry far beneath the bluffs. But the bluffs create unique acoustics for those downtown where you might not be able tell where it’s coming from. From home we could hear it only when the wind helped it.

The Loud Siren

There was a time when the fire department siren was tested at noon on Saturdays. Only Saturdays. Not like almost every other town around here that does it at noon every day. I think Red Wing had just one siren when I was young. But it was loud and really echoed through the bluffs. This was before all the neighborhood sirens were installed.

Sirens on vehicles can tell us much. Is it police, fire or ambulance? Is it getting nearer or further away? Are there a lot of sirens indicating a more involved event? Again, sometimes it’s hard to tell which way the siren is headed because of the bluffs and the wind.

Another sound that has unique local characteristics are trains. Wow, where do you begin? We have train traffic 24/7 and I’ve been able to hear them and the trains on the Wisconsin side of the river everywhere I’ve lived in town. The challenge is to figure its location and direction and your location is key. From our house on East End we heard the blast of passenger trains that suddenly appeared from behind the bluff, heading south.

It’s easy to recognize the difference between freight and Amtrak horns. Freights can be almost anything that sounds dissonant, even obnoxious. But, of course, that’s the intent, so you’ll pay attention. Amtrak plays a much more “Welcome aboard!” C6 cord that echoes throughout town.

Barge traffic is generally quiet. Usually the only time you know there is one nearby is from the distinctive sound of its horn. This can give you a definite start, especially if you’re in the fishing boat it’s honking at.

Plane Sounds

Air traffic sounds have increased over the years. I hear small jet aircraft and Mayo helicopters now. I notice a lot of small airplane sounds on weekends. Is that when plane owners have more time to fly them or is it flying lessons? Similarly, on a warm weekend you will likely hear a lot of motorcycles since we are on one of the most popular routes for them anywhere.

You can really hear the sounds of downtown Red Wing from the vistas on He Mni Can-Barn Bluff or Memorial Park. There’s always a constant hum of traffic and from the plant next to the high bridge. I always wondered what you’d hear if these sounds were suddenly eliminated.

You’d hear birds more. We know the signature sound of geese flying overhead. We don’t have to see their V-formation to know which direction they’re traveling. The seasons tell us that. We are fortunate to be part of the Mississippi Flyway migratory bird path which allows us to hear them often better than we can see them.

Locals probably recognize most of the same sounds around town. We’re so used to some of them that we ignore them.

But they are our sounds and are part of our story. A story that everyone can hear.