Early Settlers

European settlers began arriving in the area in the 1850s after the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, signed July 23, 1851, allowed settlers to claim land that had once belonged to the Dakota. In 1852, Parsons King Johnson and Henry Jackson claimed the town site for Mankato near the present-day corner of South Second and East Hickory streets. Mankato was quickly settled and soon became the county seat for Blue Earth County. By the mid-1850s, Mankato had a hotel, several stores, two quarries, a brickyard, a physician, four churches, a postal service, a newspaper and a school. By 1860, Blue Earth County had more than 4,800 residents, with most residing in Mankato. Early nationalities of the settlers included Welsh, Scandinavian and German. In the early 1900s, brickyards became a thriving industry in Mankato because the clay used to produce bricks had been deposited in the Minnesota River Valley when the glaciers retreated. Although no remnants of the brickyards remain, several homes and larger buildings, including the armory on North Second Street, contain brick produced in Mankato.

Mankato, Minnesota · United States