Early Settlers

Early Settlers. . , European settlers began arriving in the area in the 1850s. 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. The clay used to produce bricks was 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., [Captions:] , Front Street, Mankato, circa 1870. , Front Street, Mankato, circa 1890. , City drugstore on Front Street, circa 1870. , Mankato in the early 1860s on the northwest corner of Front and Hickory streets. , Mankato Brick and Tile Company employees. , Mankato House was one of the first hotels built in Mankato. In addition to being a hotel, it was also an early public meeting place. , The first public school was opened in this log cabin on the corner of Broad and Plum streets in 1855. , Parsons King Johnson residence and family, Mankato, circa 1860s., Special thanks to the Blue Early County Historical Society, Minnesota State University, Mankato faculty and staff in Geography, Anthropology, Earth Science and the Water Resources Center.