General

1878-03-02

March 1, 2019 By

On this date in 1878, the City of Anoka is incorporated. Situated along the east bank of the Mississippi River at its confluence with the Rum River, Anoka has a total area of 7.21 square miles. The area that Anoka now occupies was first visited by Father Louis Hennepin in 1680. The first permanent settlers […]

1855-02-20

February 20, 2019 By

On this date in 1855, Carver County is established along with eleven other counties in the Territory of Minnesota. Carver County was named after Captain Jonathan Carver, the Connecticut explorer, mapmaker and author who visited Minnesota in the middle of the eighteenth century. Carver was one of the first white men to explore and […]

1902-02-19

February 19, 2019 By

On this date in 1902, the Minnesota State Legislature adopts the Showy Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium reginae) as the state flower. This was not Minnesota’s first state flower however. In 1893, Minnesota Senator W. B. Dean sponsored a resolution naming the wild Lady’s Slipper Orchid (Cypripedium calceolus) the official state flower. It was passed by the […]

1868-02-18

February 18, 2019 By

On this date in 1868, the Minnesota Legislature passes an act to organize the University of Minnesota. The 1868 act established the University’s mission, an academic framework, and the governance and duties of University leadership. The act divided the school into five departments: a Department of Elementary Instruction; a College of Science, Literature and Arts; […]

1874-01-04

January 4, 2019 By

On this date in 1874, the Catholic Industrial School is established on a farm just outside St. Paul. The school opened under the supervision of the Franciscan Brothers in a building erected on the shores of Lake Menith (now drained) and the site of the present day University of St. Thomas campus. The school operated […]

On this date in 1886, the cornerstone is laid in St. Paul for the first ever ice palace built in the United States. The structure was erected in St. Paul's Central Park and when completed, it measured 140 feet long by 120 feet wide and rose 100 feet in the air. It required more than 20,000 blocks of ice for its construction. The ice palace was part of the first St. Paul Winter Carnival which opened on February 1st of that year.

1886 St. Paul Winter Carnival Ice Palace (MHS)

Armour Gates

December 12, 2019 By htc

On an empty, overgrown lot located at the corner of Armour and Hardman Avenues in South St. Paul sits the only remaining vestige of what was once the largest livestock operation in the world. Developed on 260 acres along the Mississippi River, five miles south of downtown St. Paul, the stockyards employed over 6,000 people […]

Highland Park Water Tower

April 3, 2019 By htc

Sitting in the shadows of two modern, sky-blue water towers in St. Paul’s Highland Park neighborhood is the most visible symbol of the city’s water utility. The Highland Park Water Tower has been a fixture in the neighborhood since 1928 when the city constructed the 134-foot structure to supply water to nearby residents. [Go to […]

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial

January 28, 2019 By htc

Shortly after news of Fort Sumter’s fall reached Washington D.C. on April 14, 1861, Minnesota Governor Alexander Ramsey, who had been visiting the nation’s capitol to address conflicts within the Minnesota Republican party, immediately offered 1000 men to the Secretary of War on behalf of the State of Minnesota. With this commitment, Ramsey became the […]

Hiawatha and Minnehaha

November 30, 2018 By htc

Just above the falls of Minnehaha Creek in Minneapolis, perched on the southwest side of its rushing waters, sits an unassuming symbol of the area’s original inhabitants. The sculpture of Hiawatha and Minnehaha has been a fixture in Minnehaha Park for over 106 years greeting visitors as they make their way to the falls. Its […]

New York Life Eagle

July 31, 2018 By htc

Perched atop the bluffs of the Summit Hill neighborhood overlooking the Mississippi River in St. Paul is an imposing bronze sculpture of an eagle clutching a rock with its wings spread as she watches over her young. One might imagine the sculpture was originally created and installed in this location to symbolize a guardian keeping […]

Witch’s Hat Water Tower

July 31, 2018 By htc

Rising above the treetops of the Prospect Park neighborhood in Minneapolis is a structure that one might expect to find in medieval times rather than in modern day Minneapolis. The Prospect Park Water Tower, also referred to as the Witch’s Hat, was designed by Norwegian born architect Frederick William Cappelen in 20th Century Revival style, […]