The Oldest Building In Minnesota Was A Part Of A Historic Fort That's Now The Centerpiece Of A State Park
By Trent Jonas|Published July 05, 2023
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Trent Jonas
Author
Trent Jonas came to Minnesota to attend college - and never left. He's a Twin Cities-based writer with a BA in English and a MFA in creative writing, a Minnesota Master Naturalist, and the proud father of two adult children. With more than a decade of freelance writing experience under his belt, Trent is often out exploring his favorite topics: Minnesota's woods, lakes, and trails. Rhubarb pie is his weakness, so discovering new diners is also a passion.
Surrounded by a state park that bears its name, historic Fort Snelling is a controversial structure in the history of Minnesota and the Upper Midwest. Now operated by the Minnesota Historical Society, the fort is home to the oldest building in Minnesota – and it is intertwined with some of its darkest history.
Less than 20 years after the Louisiana Purchase, the United States sent an expeditionary force up the Mississippi River to establish a fort at the place where the river now known as the Minnesota flows into the Mississippi, just south of St. Anthony Falls.
Originally called Fort St. Anthony, the structure was to be built on land that Col. Zebulon Pike had obtained from the Dakota people - for whom the confluence known as Bdote was sacred - in 1805. The initial outpost was established in 1819. Colonel Josiah Snelling arrived in 1820 to oversee construction of the fort. Although the fort wouldn't be complete until 1824, its Round Tower was built before the end of 1820. The tower is now the oldest building in Minnesota that's still standing.
Notable figures to command the fort included Zachary Taylor in 1828 and soldier-artist Lieutenant Colonel Seth Eastman.
Fort Snelling and its Round Tower remained popular subjects for artists, and with the advent of photography, the tower began appearing on postcards and other widely-available publications.
During the first and second world wars, the fort was used as a conscription and training center. This 1934 photo shows some modern updates to the Round Tower during that period.
Now a historical site, since its decommissioning any interpretation of Fort Snelling has to take into consideration the part it played in the removal and conquest of the area's Native American peoples, in particular the Dakota.
It was the site of Native American internment and executions, and orders given during the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862 came from Fort Snelling. That conflict directly resulted in the largest mass execution in U.S. history, when 38 Dakota people were hanged at Mankato.
The Minnesota Historical Society now considers the history of the Dakota alongside its interpretation of the fort. And Fort Snelling State Park preserves several sites that are still used by the Dakota today.
You can take a short tour the fort's history through images in this video by the Minnesota Historical Society:
With more than two centuries of history, the oldest building in Minnesota casts a long shadow, much of which is dark. It’s for this reason that interpretation of sites like Fort Snelling and Old Mendota, which rose up along side it and abuts part of Fort Snelling State Park, must take a broader view of history so that we can all understand the complexities – and often tragedies – involved in the development of what is now the state of Minnesota.
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