History

1916 – PARK TRANSFER COMPANY OFFICIALLY INCORPORATED

Park Transfer Company was officially incorporated on December 1, 1916. The company’s general nature was to “transport personal property for hire also to care for, keep and store personal property” principally in Minneapolis. Walter, Gorham, and Alvin officially formed the corporation.

1920 – EXPANSION TO FREIGHT HAULING AND EXCAVATING

During the years following World War I, brothers Bennett and Charles Carlson quickly expanded the business to general freight hauling and later made their services available to the excavating business. That move marked the first step in the evolution of Park Construction Company into the company we know today. The brothers had a vow to keep to their father Walter to keep his company alive. They were starting to create something far bigger than Walter could have ever imagined.

1935 – GREAT DEPRESSION SURVIVAL

Despite the developments in machinery during the 1920s and 1930s, the Great Depression took its toll on Park’s bottom line. In the early 1930s, the company filed for bankruptcy reorganization. It was by no means alone. Hundreds of Minnesota companies suffered the same fate during the 1930s.

1941 – PARK JOINS THE WAR EFFORT

Having endured bankruptcy and the effects of the Depression, Park Construction soon became part of the war effort. Park Construction Company joined hundreds of subcontractors to help build a new ordinance plant for the U.S Army. Running alongside what is now Interstate 35W, about 11 miles north of downtown Minneapolis in Arden Hills, the plant was part of the government-owned, contractor-operated (GOCO) war materials production program and accompanied other Herculean efforts to gear up for the war.

1956 – THE START OF MAJOR HIGHWAY WORK FOR PARK

Designed to bypass Minneapolis and St. Paul, I-694 would become the main street for the northern suburbs of the Twin Cities. Park Construction worked on the first section of the highway, which was completed in 1961 between U.S. Highway 10 at Arden Hills and the interchange with I-35E at Little Canada. This project was the start of Park’s long history of highway construction projects.