Saint Peter, Minnesota
From Placeography
| Edit with form | |
| Saint Peter, Minnesota | |
|---|---|
| State | Minnesota |
| County- State/province: | Nicollet County, Minnesota |
| Year founded | 1853 |
| Year Incorporated | 1854 |
| Country: | United States |
| Population | 10,631 |
| Official web site: | http://www.ci.st-peter.mn.us/ |
In 1857 an attempt was made to move the capitol from St. Paul to St. Peter. Gov. Gorman owned the land on which the bill's sponsors wanted to build the new capitol building, and at one point had been heard saying, "If the capitol remains in Saint Paul, the territory is worth millions and I have nothing." At the time, St. Peter - a city in the central region of the territory - was seen as more accessible to the far-flung territorial legislators than St. Paul, which was in the extreme eastern portion of the territory, on the east bank of the Mississippi River. A bill was passed in both houses of the Territorial Legislature and was awaiting Governor Gorman's signature. A member of the Territorial Council (Senate) Joseph J. Rolette of Pembina (now in North Dakota), the son of a Canadian fur trapper and chairman of the enrollment committee, took the bill and hid in a St. Paul Hotel, drinking and playing cards with some friends as the City Police looked fruitlessly for him, until the end of the legislative session, too late for the bill to be signed. Rolette came into the chamber just as the session ended. One might say that the bill was an attempt to "rob Paul to pay Peter". Today, St. Paul is the second largest city in the state (second only to neighboring Minneapolis), while St. Peter is a relatively small rural town.
In 1851 the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux was signed between the Sioux (Dakota) and the U. S. Government just one mile (1.6 km) north of St. Peter. The Nicollet County Historical Society—Treaty Site History Center is located near the site of the treaty signing. The promises of the treaty were not kept. The Dakota became angered and the Dakota War of 1862 began in Cottonwood County. In August 1862 the Dakota attacked the German settlement of New Ulm. A company of volunteers from St. Peter, headed by Captain William B. Dodd, St. Peter's founder, went to the defense of New Ulm. Captain Dodd was killed on August 23, 1862, and was briefly buried in New Ulm. On November 11, 1862, Captain Dodd was buried with high military honors in St. Peter on the grounds of the Church of the Holy Communion (Episcopal), on land he donated to the church. Captain Dodd, his wife Harriet and two children are buried behind the present stone church built in 1869-70 at 118 North Minnesota Avenue.
In 1866 the Legislature established the first "Minnesota Asylum for the Insane" in St. Peter. Later it was known as the St. Peter State Hospital and now as St. Peter Regional Treatment Center.
From Wikipedia.
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Buildings in Saint Peter, Minnesota
| # | Street | Neighborhood | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hiram Jacoby Photography Studio, Minnesota Avenue, Saint Peter, Minnesota, (Razed) | Minnesota | Avenue | |||
| Nicollet County Courthouse, 501 South Minnesota Avenue, Saint Peter, Minnesota | 501501 | Minnesota | Street | S | |
| Saint Peter Public Library, 429 Minnesota Avenue South, Saint Peter, Minnesota | 429429 | Minnesota | Avenue | S |
Structures in Saint Peter, Minnesota
Sites in Saint Peter, Minnesota
| Neighborhood | |
|---|---|
| Saint Peter State Hospital, 2100 Sheppard Drive, Saint Peter, Minnesota | |
| Traverse des Sioux, Saint Peter, Nicollet County, Minnesota |
