The durable , pink-colored sandstone exposed by the river was an ideal construction material , and in 1892 quarrying began after the St. Paul and Duluth Railroad laid a spur to the outcrop . The 1894 Great Hinckley Fire was a major setback , but quarrying bounced back quickly , and two years later a town arose just outside the quarry . It was named Banning after the president of the railroad , whose tracks allowed the stones to be shipped to St. Paul , Duluth , and beyond . The quarrying frenzy was over by 1905 , a victim of local and national factors . Within the quarry most of the easily extractable high-quality sandstone was gone , and there was a nationwide architectural move away from stone to structural steel . An asphalt company lingered on until 1912 , but when it closed so too did the town of Banning . The railroad company removed its tracks later that decade
Great Hinckley Fire
Great Hinckley Fire
Banning State Park