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B+History
History · St. Peter

St. Peter dates to 1853, and 18% of its homes were built before 1940

More historic than 73% of U.S. towns · #42 of 273 in Minnesota. What drives it

19 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 32 buildings. Below: maps from 1965 on and the census since 1870.

1853founded
19on the National Register
18%homes built before 1940
10famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Quick answers

How St. Peter began

When was St. Peter founded?

1853

St. Peter dates its founding to 1853 (Wikipedia’s history). The census first counted it in 1870.

First census: 2,124 in 18702020 census: 12,066173 years

How historic is St. Peter?

B+

More historic than 73% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.

What drives the grade ↓
Founding year: Wikipedia. First post office: 1856.The full story ↓
History grade

What drives St. Peter’s History grade

On its age, its old homes and the National Register, St. Peter is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #42 of 273 in Minnesota. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.

B+
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of St. Peter’s overall grade.
Founding era1853, from Wikipedia: founded 1850–1899, an older era than 37% of U.S. townsC+Homes built before 194017.7% of homes (±3.5) · typical MN town 8.1% · U.S. 8.4%B+National Register19 listings, 50 historic buildings, 41.0 per 10,000 residents · typical MN town 2.1 · U.S. 2.4A
All U.S. towns we grade (21,289)Ahead of 73%
NewerOlder
Minnesota towns of 2,500+ (273)Ahead of 85%

Minnesota towns list about as much on the Register as the country (a typical Minnesota town has 2.1 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so St. Peter’s 41.0 sits above most of its state (92% of Minnesota towns have fewer) while its 50 historic buildings outnumber those of 85% of U.S. towns.

How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from B− to A. The pre-1940 share is a Census survey estimate (±3.5 points). Two sources give 1853.

Founding year: Wikipedia (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →

What stands out about St. Peter’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of St. Peter are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Landmarks on the Register19 places on the National Register.A historic districtThe St. Peter Commercial Historic District takes in 32 historic buildings.Lost villages4 hamlets and corners are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start St. Peter’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how St. Peter’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the National Register

19 historic places in St. Peter

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

places listed
19
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
50
each building in a district counts
first listed
1970
Eugene Saint Julien Cox House
Eugene Saint Julien Cox HouseTraverse des SiouxNicollet House HotelOld Main-Gustavus Adolphus CollegeChurch of the Holy Communion-EpiscopalFrederick A. Donahower HouseHenry A. Swift HouseJohn A. Johnson HouseNicollet County BankSt. Peter Carnegie Library, built 1903Union Presbyterian ChurchCenter Building-Minnesota Hospital for The Insane, built 1867St. Peter ArmoryBroadway Bridge, built 1931Emily and Stephen Schumacher HouseSarah and Thomas Montogomery HouseSt. Peter Commercial Historic DistrictSt. Peter Central SchoolNicollet County Courthouse and Jail
BuildingsDistrictsSitesStructures

Architectural styles listings

Italianate6
Queen Anne4
Neo-Gothic1
Gothic Revival1
Federal1
Neo-Classical1
Eugene Saint Julien Cox HouseNeo-Gothic
Traverse des SiouxSite
Nicollet House HotelItalianate
Old Main-Gustavus Adolphus CollegeItalianate
Church of the Holy Communion-EpiscopalGothic Revival
Frederick A. Donahower HouseItalianate
Henry A. Swift HouseFederal
John A. Johnson HouseBuilding
All 19 listings
Nicollet County BankBuilding · listed 1983St. Peter Carnegie LibraryBuilding · listed 1983Union Presbyterian ChurchBuilding · listed 1983Center Building-Minnesota Hospital for The InsaneBuilding · listed 1986St. Peter ArmoryBuilding · listed 1997Broadway BridgeStructure · listed 1999Emily and Stephen Schumacher HouseBuilding · listed 2000Sarah and Thomas Montogomery HouseBuilding · listed 2000St. Peter Commercial Historic DistrictDistrict · listed 2001St. Peter Central SchoolBuilding · listed 1980Nicollet County Courthouse and JailBuilding · listed 2002

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

The story

How St. Peter came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of St. Peter.

Read it all →

St. Peter was founded in 1853 by Captain William Bigelow Dodd, who claimed 150 acres (0.61 km2) north of what is now Broadway Avenue. He named the new settlement Rock Bend because of the rock formation at the bend of the Minnesota River. Daniel L. Turpin platted and surveyed the town site in 1854. In 1855, a group of St. Paul businessmen interested in promoting the town formed the Saint Peter Company, and the town was renamed St. Peter. The president of the company was Willis A. Gorman, Territorial Governor of Minnesota. Many of St. Peter's streets were named after streets in New York City, including Park Row, Chatham, Broadway, Nassau, and Union. Dodd was originally from Bloomfield, New Jersey. His second wife, Harriett Newell Jones, a native of Cabot, Vermont, was living in New York at the time of their marriage at the Church of the Holy Communion in New York City, which helped fund t…

ChaptersGovernorsList of mayors of St. Peter, MinnesotaTornadoChurches

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

St. Peter, 1853 to 1965

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1853
    FoundingSt. Peter is established
  3. 1856Post officeThe Saint Peter post office opens
  4. 1861Born hereJohn Albert Johnson is born here
  5. 1867BuiltCenter Building-Minnesota Hospital for The Insane is built
  6. 1873Born hereGodfrey G. Goodwin is born here
  7. 1877Born hereJohn H. Tolan is born here
  8. 20th century
  9. 1903BuiltSt. Peter Carnegie Library is built
  10. 1931BuiltBroadway Bridge is built
  11. 1958Born hereRick Rude is born here
  12. 1965On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade

No old photos in the archives yet

Weddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.

Be the first to add onePhotograph a print flat, in daylight, no flash.
Add from your album
On the map

St. Peter on the map, 1965 to 1991

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of St. Peter. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

St. Peter on the 1965 USGS mapSt. Peter on the 1979 USGS mapSt. Peter on the 1991 USGS map1965St Peter sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of St. Peter.

People over time

St. Peter, census by census

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,0001880190019201940196019802000202012,066

Grew from 2,124 people in 1870 to 12,066 in 2020, 5 times over.

16 censuses, 1870–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on St. Peter’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

10 famous people were born in St. Peter

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Rick RudeAmerican professional wrestler · b. 1958
J
John Albert JohnsonAmerican politician from Minnesota · b. 1861
Godfrey G. GoodwinMinnesota Representative · b. 1873
John H. TolanAmerican politician · b. 1877
E
Earl WitteAmerican football player · b. 1907
O
Ole AnthonySatirist · b. 1938
Places that used to be

Old corners and burying grounds

Old hamlets and crossroads still carry their names on the map.

Hamlets and corners on the map
Green Valley Mobile Home ParkMar Wey Mobile Home ParkSaint PeterSummit Mobile Home Park
3cemeteries and burying grounds inside St. Peter
CalvaryWood HillWoodlawn

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Kasota Township2 historic placesB−Traverse TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townKasota2 historic placesnot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townOshawa TownshipIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about St. Peter’s history

What year was St. Peter founded?

In 1853, according to Wikipedia’s history of the town. St. Peter’s post office opened in 1856, and the census of 1870 counted 2,124 people here.

How does St. Peter rank for history?

St. Peter is more historic than 73% of U.S. towns, #42 of 273 in Minnesota. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.

What is on the National Register in St. Peter?

19 listings: 16 buildings, among them the Eugene Saint Julien Cox House (listed 1970, the first), 1 historic district, the St. Peter Commercial Historic District, with 32 contributing buildings, 1 site, and 1 structure. 50 historic buildings in all.

How old are the homes in St. Peter?

18% of St. Peter’s homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±3.5 points), against a typical 8.1% for a Minnesota town; the median home was built in 1978.

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

From Wikidata (11), the National Register of Historic Places (19), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.