A history of Northfield,
since 1855
Postcards, papers and photographs of Northfield from public archives, woven together by decade. Neighbors fill in the gaps.
The story
from WikipediaRead it all ↗Southern Minnesota was first settled by the indigenous Mdewakanton and Wahpekute Dakota peoples in the late 1700s, after battling with the Ojibwe and being expelled from northern Minnesota. The Wahpekute settled in the Big Woods region, which included most of what is now Northfield and Faribault. The Wahpekute used the Cannon and Straight rivers for easy transportation and game hunting. They engaged in the burgeoning Minnesota fur trade, leading Alexander Faribault to establish a trading post in Wahpekute territory in 1826, which became the town of Faribault in 1855. In 1834, the Wahpekute tribe moved their settlement to Faribault's trading post, leading to a confluence of economic and cultural engagement.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Timeline
built from the dates on the items belowFinish Northfield’s story
Most archives stop around 1920. The photos from after that are in family albums, not libraries.
1 of 10 decades since 1900 have photos 🔁Retake an old viewCongragational (sic) Church, Nort…, 1900–1910: stand where they stood+15 📦Share a family photoSign in to add one+10Famous people from Northfield
See all 32 →
Northfield, decade by decade
1990s
14 historic places in Northfield
Northfield has 14 listings on the National Register, and they protect 69 historic buildings, because Northfield Commercial Historic District (Boundary Decrease) alone counts 55. One is a National Historic Landmark, the highest tier, which fewer than 3% of listings reach.
Where they are
When they were listed
Listed 1970John C. Nutting House
Listed 1975Goodsell Observatory-Carleton College
Listed 1975Willis Hall-Carleton College
Listed 1976Old Main, St. Olaf College
Listed 1978Sciver Block Building
Listed 1982All Saints Church-Episcopal
Listed 1982Drew H. Lord House
Listed 1982Scoville Memorial Library-Carleton College
Listed 1982Skinner Memorial Chapel-Carleton College
Listed 1982Steensland Library-St. Olaf College
Listed 1998Bridge No. 8096
Listed 2021Northfield Commercial Historic District (Boundary Decrease)Listed 1978Baker, Laura, SchoolThen & now
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as Castle Rock--near Northfield, on Minnesota Central Railroad (1865) and it appears here side by side.
🔁 Retake this view · +15Stories next door
nearby towns’ historyFrom Wikimedia Commons (4), the Library of Congress (1) and the National Register (1). Images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.