Near Hastings in Dakota County, Minnesota — The American Midwest (Upper Plains)
Ignatius Donnelly's Nininger City Home
Just northwest of here, at the bottom of the hill, stood the home of Ignatius Donnelly, author, orator, politician, reformer, and prophet who was easily the best known Minnesotan of his time, both in the state and throughout the world.
Donnelly, a lawyer from Philadelphia, moved west to Minnesota and launched a national campaign to attract settlers to Nininger City, a promising village of more than 500 residents when it was laid out around 1856. After the town melted away during the panic and depression of 1857, Donnelly turned his astonishing energy to politics, serving one term as lieutenant governor and three terms in Congress. For nearly 40 years his restless search for fair and effective social and economic institutions led him to play a role in virtually every agrarian reform movement of the late nineteenth century.
In addition to his fiery campaigns on behalf of farmers and workers, Donnelly wrote several unconventional and widely read books of popular science, including Atlantis, The Great Cryptogram, Ragnarok and Caesar's Column, in which he predicted the collapse of American society in the year 1988.
Donnelly lived at his Nininger City home until his death on January 1, 1901. Despite efforts to save it, the house was dismantled in 1949.
Erected by the Minnesota Historical Society
On November 3, 1981
The 150th Anniversary of Ignatius Donnelly's Birth
Erected 1981 by the Minnesota Historical Society.
Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Arts, Letters, Music • Government & Politics • Settlements & Settlers. In addition, it is included in the Minnesota Historical Society series list. A significant historical month for this entry is January 1944.
Location. 44° 46.168′ N, 92° 54.285′ W. Marker is near Hastings, Minnesota, in Dakota County. Marker is at the intersection of 124th Street East and Historic Donnelly Avenue / Ivanhoe Way, on the right when traveling west on 124th Street East. Marker is at the Nininger Town Hall. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 12390 Ivanhoe Way, Hastings MN 55033, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 3 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Nininger Historic Site (here, next to this marker); River Habitats (approx. 1.7 miles away); Shaping the River (approx. 2 miles away); Native Cultures (approx. 2.4 miles away); Enjoying the River (approx. 2˝ miles away); Living in the Water (approx. 2.7 miles away); Going with the Flow (approx. 2.9 miles away); Downtown Develops (approx. 3.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Hastings.
Also see . . .
1. Ignatius L. Donnelly. Wikipedia entry. "During the 1930s, an organization was formed to lobby for the creation of a state park at Donnelly's home at Nininger near Hastings, Minnesota. The house was still standing in 1939, but the effort failed and the house has since been demolished." (Submitted on May 29, 2013.)
2. Ignatius Donnelly, the representative. Minnesota Historical Society website entry (Submitted on May 29, 2013.)
Credits. This page was last revised on July 13, 2023. It was originally submitted on May 29, 2013, by Keith L of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. This page has been viewed 878 times since then and 54 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on May 29, 2013, by Keith L of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin. 2. submitted on July 13, 2023, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York. 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. submitted on May 29, 2013, by Keith L of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin.