Document - Historical information/data - The City of Eagan - Highlights of our History and Heritage Map -Fort Snelling C
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CITY OF EAG AN
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The City of Eagan
Highlights of our History
and Heritage Map
Eagan's heritage dates back to the earliest
United States land acquisition in Minnesota. In
1805 Lt. Zebulon Pike acquired nine square miles
from the Dakota Indians for Fort Snelling. The
military reservation included a portion of Eagan.
For 50 years Eagan's history was tied to
activities related to Fort Snelling, Mendota's fur
trade, and Black Dog's Village. All were within
the military reservation where whites could live
at the government's discretion. An 1833 map by
Lt. Thompson shows three roads (trails) crossing
Eagan to Mendota and Fort Snelling: the St.
Croix, the Traders, and Black Dog's.
In 1837 the government hired Louis Martin to
teach farming at Chief Wamditonka's Black Dog
village. Martin's cabin was near today's Highway
13. Hazen Mooers succeeded Martin in 1849.
Opening a new territory
When the Minnesota Territory formed in 1849
Dakota County was one of the first nine counties.
However, Dakota remained Indian territory until
the Treaty of Mendota opened it to settlement in
1854. Virtually all Eagan land was claimed by
1853, a year before filings were legal. Whites
connected with Mendota knew the land and made
the early claims. An example is the two LeMays.
Telesphore set his stake in Eagan and Constant
in Mendota Twp. The result is the two LeMay
lakes in different cities but only two miles apart.
John W. Brown, son-in-law of Hazen Mooers, is
considered Eagan's first white settler.
In April 1858 the Dakota County commissioners
formed the county's first townships including
Mendota which included today's Eagan. An
attempt was made to form Montgomery
Township using the bottom two-thirds of today's
Eagan. The state legislature rejected the attempt
and proceeded to create Eagan Township on
March 6, 1860. At the time Eagan's population of
565 was the fourth largest in Dakota County.
Organizing a new township, Eagan
Eagan citizens organized the township on April
3, 1860, at the home of Michael Comer. The first
town board chairman was Patrick Eagan. During
the next 100 years Eagan developed as a farming
community with wheat, corn and onions as major
crops. Early farmers delivered their produce to
Mendota and St. Paul. The "Lone Oak" tree at
Dodd Road and Highway 55 became a meeting
place and bulletin board. The Dodd Road and the
Sibley Highway were the north -south travel
routes. The Wescott Inn on Dodd Road became a
favorite stop, later known as Wescott Station.
In 1865 the first two railroads in Dakota County
crossed Eagan, the Minnesota Central on the east
and the Minnesota Valley along the Minnesota
River. A small business community called Nicols
Station grew up on the valley route in the heart
of the onion fields.
In 1890 the Cedar Avenue Swing Bridge
provided access to Bloomington and in 1926 the
Mendota Bridge to Minneapolis.
One hundred years, then suburbia
Eagan remained a farming community through
World War II. Its population of only 1,185 in 1950
was about to change. Returning GI's and family
formations resulted in a home building boom.
Eagan's population tripled to 3,382 by 1960 and
tripled again in 1970 to 10,398. Growth required
services beyond the capability of a township, but
a vote to incorporate was defeated in 1970.
After hearings in May 1972 the Metropolitan
Council ordered Eagan's incorporation as a
village. The first village election was held October
19) 1972. Herbert Polzin was elected mayor and
council members were Arthur Rahn, James
Smith, Theodore Wachter, and William Rydrych.
In 1974 Eagan became a City when the
Minnesota legislature designated all incorporated
municipalities as cities.
Basic map by Dakota County Survey and Land Information Office
Eagan History Map
I -XI Use the letter to match historic places and sites with location on today's map.
The word "site" identifies locations of historic subjects that no longer exist.
Military reservation line. The portion of Eagan to the left of the line was
part of Lt. Zebulon Pike's 1805 purchase from the Dakota Indians.
++++++++ Railroad routes. On the east the Minnesota Central. On the west the Minnesota
Valley. They were the two earliest railroads in Dakota County.
Bill Wolston, 1998
W Black Dog's Village site
A Dakota village located near
Highway 13 and Blackhawk Road.
It consisted of several lodges and at
times a population of 200. Louis
Martin served as the first
government farmer in 1837.
N Dodd Road
A road project promoted by Captain
William Dodd to connect St. Peter
with St. Paul. After not receiving
government aid he went ahead on
his own in 1853. The 65 mile road, a
hewn path, was completed in 109
days. Dodd eventually received a
government grant. The road became
a major north -south artery. The
portion between Eagan and St. Paul
was the first state road to be paved.
Fc]Patrick Eagan farm site
Eagan arrived in 1853 and in 1860
was elected as the town's first
chairman. His name was chosen for
the township name.
61
aWescott Station
James Wescott opened an inn here
in the 1850s. It became a favorite
wagon and stage coach stop. In 1866
it became a flag stop of the C.M. &
S.P. railroad (Minnesota Central).
Later a depot was built followed by
general store, grist mill, school,
telegraph office and other buildings.
i --
FilHalfway House
Originally opened in 1865 as a dry
goods store and saloon and the first
stagecoach stop south of St. Paul.
Continues today as restaurant and
saloon. Name means halfway point
from Hastings to St. Paul.
I
District 14 School (Town Hall)
Location was at intersection of
Diffley and Lexington. The original
1860 log house was replaced by a
frame building in 1875 and a brick
structure in 1898. The school was
the site of Annual Town Meetings
from 1860 to 1892.
F G] Robert O'Neill farm site
In 1857 O'Neill was elected to the
territorial legislature, and later to the
Minnesota statehood convention.
[H] Nicols Station site
Located at Nicols Road and Union
Pacific tracks. A flag station in 1867
that grew into a little community in
the 1870s with a depot, stores, and
houses surrounded onion fields on a
large peat bog. When trains passed
through the buildings shook. Hence
the name "Rubber Town."
—I] Site of the Lone Oak Tree
For 115 years the oak tree on the
Trinity Lutheran Church property
on Dodd Road was the meeting and
message place for farmers in Eagan
Township. They met at the Lone
Oak on the way to market and the
way home. If they had equipment to
sell they nailed a notice to the tree.
Notes were posted by four
generations. The oak died and was
cut down in 1984.
P] Site of original town hall
Built at southwest intersection of
Lone Oak and Pilot Knob roads in
1892, destroyed by fire in 1914.
[K]
Trinity Lutheran Church
The first services were held in a log
cabin in today's cemetery. Trinity
Lutheran became a frame structure
in 1882. When the church was
destroyed by fire in 1901 the
present impressive brick structure
was completed.
St. John's Lutheran Cemetery
The 1888 site of St. John's Lutheran
Church. After moving seven times
Rosemount became its home. The
cemetery is at the original site.
1M Old Cedar Ave. Bridge
Completed in 1890 it was the last
hand opened, swing bridge in the
state. It took six men and a car at
one end, for weight, to open it.
Designed for horses and cattle, the
bridge's limitations resulted in
automobile bottlenecks especially
when it had to be opened. It was
replaced in 1980.
Z Site of Shields sorghum mill
The mill operated by Michael
Shields from 1899 to 1911 produced
syrup from amber sugar cane in two
200 gallon boilers. The boilers were
fired night and day during
September and October with 11
men working 12 hour shifts.
-01
Old Town Hall
The Town Hall is located at the
southwest corner of Pilot Knob and
Wescott. It served from 1914 to
1965. It has been restored and is
opened on special occasions. The
hall has wooden benches, wall of
voting booths, and pot bellied stove.
LP -by -the -Lake
Shields was a very popular
hall from the 1920s to 1940s.
dance hall was a converted
and the building still exists.
dance
The
barn
1Q:] Moonshine Park
On the south shore of LeMay Lake.
"Moonshine" does not refer to the
moon. It refers to the production of
liquor at the site during prohibition
days of the 1920s. Undoubtedly
Eagan was a major supplier to the
Mendota marketplace. Some building
remains can still be found.
Ames estate and library
In 1926 Charles Lesley Ames
started collecting books on
Southeast Asia at his estate on Blue
Gentian Road (now O'Neill). After
the collection outgrew his office and
gatehouse he built a library. In 1961
he gave the 25,000 volume collection
to the University of Minnesota. The
library building is on O'Neill Road.
Radio Center site, 1928-30
The National Battery Company
selected the high and dry site at
Wescott on the recommendation of a
university professor in 1928. It
turned out to be the opposite of a
desirable site. In 1930 it was moved.
The KSTP call letters were first
used at the Eagan location and later
became the company name.
FTI1965 Munipical Center site
Eagan was a township with over
5,000 citizens when it decided the
town hall with the pot bellied stove
needed a replacement. A new
municipal building was built on the
northwest corner of Wescott and
Pilot Knob. It closed out the
township years and oversaw the
first ten years of city government. It
was razed in 1998.
From Suburbia to City
From truck farms
to national corporations
The transition from township to city
was rapid as the population
multiplied. Here are some of the
bench marks of the change and
growth through the ,years.
• Opening of the Cedarvale
shopping center; the first in
Eagan.
• Completion of the new Cedar
Bridge in 1980.
• Sperry Corp. building its Pilot
Knob plant in 1967. Now
Lockheed -Martin, the company
employees now number over 5,000.
• Blue Cross -Blue Shield of
Minnesota constructing its home
office on Sibley Highway.
• West Publishing, the world's
leading law book publisher,
headquartering on Dodd Road in
1983. Now known as the West
Group.
• The Interstate 494 freeway and
Minnesota River Crossing.
• Interstate 35E. The freeway has
become the commercial and
transportation spine of the city.
• The construction of Northwest
Airlines corporate headquarters
off Dodd Road in northern Eagan
in 1985.
KThe Eagan Municipal Center
Eagan's Municipal Center retains its place at the city's
center at the southeast corner of Pilot Knob and
Wescott. The modern center grew as the city grew.
In 1978 a police station was built on the current site. In
1983 a second floor was added to the police building for
the city offices. By 1995 city growth required an
additional expansion. A new police structure was added
and the city took over the entire former building.
The main entrance to the Eagan Municipal Center is
now on the south side of the building.
Prepared by the Eagan Historical Society with the assistance of the Dakota County Historical Society
Published with the much appreciated support of the
City of Eagan