St. Peter proposed as Minnesota's "Honorary Capital"

MANKATO, Minn. (KEYC) -In 1857, when Minnesota was in the process of transforming from a territory to a state, there was contention about where the new state’s capital would be.

Even the shape of the new state was in question, and an early draft of the borders has Minnesota much wider and shorter.

In that drawing of Minnesota, St. Peter was in the dead center of the state, and was then proposed to be the new state’s capital.

The bill that would make it official passed both parts of the territory’s legislature, and it was handed off to Joe Rolette to be enrolled and put into law.

“He was against the move,” explained the Nicollet County Historical Society’s Bob Sandeen. “So instead of enrolling the bill and handing it to the governor as he should have done, he took the bill and disappeared. But just as the territorial legislative session was ending and the clock was striking the end of session, Joe Rolette appeared with the bill. But it was too late. The session had ended. No further action could be taken.”

St. Paul then became the new capital; it had already acted as the capital for the territory.

But even today, history buffs speculate on what a capitalized St. Peter would like like, particularly where the capitol building would be.

Some believe it would have been Minnesota Square Park, others believe a former hotel built around that time that still stands today.

Some historians however, believe that the only place that would meet the requirements of the building would be around the intersection of 5th Street and Union, right next to what is now the Nicollet County Fairgrounds.

“One block north of Union was Capitol street, with an O L. I think that’s where they intended to build the capitol. I can’t prove it, but it meets every requirement,”

The story of the almost-capital has become a local legend, and some want to keep the legend alive.

Local legislators Erica Schwartz and Nick Frentz each sponsored bills to recognize St. Peter as the honorary capital of Minnesota, and St. Peter’s Chamber of Commerce director Ed Lee was asked to tell the story of the infamous bill to the legislature.

There is some precedent for the distinction, as the city was recognized as the state’s honorary capital in the early 1960s for the duration of the annual Capital Days festival that ran for three years.

“Minnesota embraces history more than other states do, and I’ve always been proud of that, to be a Minnesotan because there’s such an attention to history and appreciation of history, and history tourism is alive and well,” Lee said.

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