National Register of Historic Places listings in Blue Earth County, Minnesota

This is a list of the National Register of Historic Places listings in Blue Earth County, Minnesota. It is intended to be a complete list of the properties and districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, United States. The locations of National Register properties and districts for which the latitude and longitude coordinates are included below, may be seen in an online map.

Location of Blue Earth County in Minnesota

There are 28 properties and districts listed on the National Register in the county. A supplementary list includes five additional sites that were formerly listed on the National Register.


          This National Park Service list is complete through NPS recent listings posted June 28, 2024.[1]

Current listings

[2]Name on the RegisterImageDate listed[3]Location City or townDescription
1Blue Earth County Courthouse
Blue Earth County Courthouse
July 28, 1980
(#80001940)
Courthouse Sq.
44°09′49″N 93°59′57″W / 44.163651°N 93.999249°W / 44.163651; -93.999249 (Blue Earth County Courthouse)
MankatoCourthouse built 1886–89, noted for its ornate French and Italian Renaissance architecture and longstanding role as the seat of Blue Earth County government.[4]
2J.R. Brandrup House
J.R. Brandrup House
July 28, 1980
(#80001941)
704 Byron St.
44°09′16″N 94°00′32″W / 44.154457°N 94.009001°W / 44.154457; -94.009001 (J.R. Brandrup House)
Mankato1904 Neoclassical house of a founder (1864–1944) of an important private vocational school in Mankato.[5] Also a contributing property to the Lincoln Park Residential Historic District.[6]
3Charles Chapman House
Charles Chapman House
July 28, 1980
(#80001942)
418 McCauley St.
44°09′19″N 94°02′14″W / 44.155217°N 94.037347°W / 44.155217; -94.037347 (Charles Chapman House)
MankatoCirca-1858 house of an early surveyor and city engineer who played a key role in Mankato's initial development.[7]
4Lorin Cray House
Lorin Cray House
July 28, 1980
(#80001943)
603 S. 2nd St.
44°09′43″N 94°00′20″W / 44.162015°N 94.005549°W / 44.162015; -94.005549 (Lorin Cray House)
MankatoProminent Queen Anne house—built in the late 1890s—of local philanthropist Lorin Cray (1844–1927), patron of the local YWCA and other organizations.[8]
5Dodd Ford Bridge
Dodd Ford Bridge
December 9, 2009
(#09001070)
County Road 147 over the Blue Earth River
43°52′35″N 94°11′16″W / 43.876336°N 94.187872°W / 43.876336; -94.187872 (Dodd Ford Bridge)
Shelby1901 Pratt truss bridge, notable as a work of Minnesota bridge engineer Lawrence H. Johnson and an example of the flurry of government-funded infrastructure built in Blue Earth County during the Progressive Era.[9]
6Adolph O. Eberhart House
Adolph O. Eberhart House
July 28, 1980
(#80001944)
228 Pleasant St.
44°09′30″N 94°00′20″W / 44.158282°N 94.005486°W / 44.158282; -94.005486 (Adolph O. Eberhart House)
MankatoCirca-1903 house of politician Adolph Olson Eberhart (1870–1944), who served as a state senator, lieutenant governor, and governor of Minnesota.[10] Also a contributing property to the Lincoln Park Residential Historic District.[6]
7Federal Courthouse and Post Office
Federal Courthouse and Post Office
June 17, 1980
(#80001945)
401 S. 2nd St.
44°09′49″N 94°00′15″W / 44.16357°N 94.004152°W / 44.16357; -94.004152 (Federal Courthouse and Post Office)
MankatoMassive federal building built in 1896 and expanded in 1932 and 1965, noted for its consistent and imposing Richardsonian Romanesque architecture of Mankato limestone.[11]
8First Baptist Church
First Baptist Church
July 28, 1980
(#80001938)
108 Franklin St.
44°02′50″N 94°10′01″W / 44.047266°N 94.166836°W / 44.047266; -94.166836 (First Baptist Church)
Garden City1868 church, significant as a symbol of Blue Earth County's most successful pre-railroad community and as the state's earliest known use of concrete block construction.[12]
9First National Bank of Mankato
First National Bank of Mankato
July 30, 1974
(#74001004)
229 S. Front St.
44°09′56″N 94°00′15″W / 44.165597°N 94.004089°W / 44.165597; -94.004089 (First National Bank of Mankato)
MankatoThe region's most significant example of Prairie School architecture, a 1913 bank designed by Ellerbe & Round.[13] Now incorporated into the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center.[14]
10First Presbyterian Church
First Presbyterian Church
July 28, 1980
(#80001946)
220 E. Hickory St.
44°09′53″N 94°00′08″W / 44.16464°N 94.002084°W / 44.16464; -94.002084 (First Presbyterian Church)
MankatoProminent Richardsonian Romanesque church designed by Warren H. Hayes and built 1893–96 with Mankato limestone.[15]
11James P. Gail Farmhouse
James P. Gail Farmhouse
July 28, 1980
(#80001939)
53417 181st Ln.
44°04′01″N 94°08′11″W / 44.066988°N 94.136357°W / 44.066988; -94.136357 (James P. Gail Farmhouse)
Garden City TownshipOctagon house built in the latter 1850s, a rare example of this 19th-century architectural fad in rural Minnesota and a remnant of the earliest Euro-American settlement in the region.[16]
12Rensselaer D. Hubbard House
Rensselaer D. Hubbard House
June 7, 1976
(#76001047)
606 S. Broad St.
44°09′42″N 94°00′18″W / 44.161637°N 94.004892°W / 44.161637; -94.004892 (Rensselaer D. Hubbard House)
MankatoElaborate 1871 house of a successful businessman (1837–1905) who was highly influential in the development of Mankato.[17] Now a historic house museum.[18]
13William Irving House
William Irving House
July 28, 1980
(#80001947)
320 Park Ln.
44°09′35″N 94°01′19″W / 44.15981°N 94.02197°W / 44.15981; -94.02197 (William Irving House)
MankatoWell-preserved Second Empire house built in 1873 by an early Mankato merchant (b. 1821).[19]
14Jones-Roberts Farmstead
Jones-Roberts Farmstead
July 28, 1980
(#80001949)
51209 Minnesota Highway 68
44°11′39″N 94°13′13″W / 44.194113°N 94.220338°W / 44.194113; -94.220338 (Jones-Roberts Farmstead)
Judson TownshipRare vestige of Minnesota's chief Welsh American settlement, and a well-preserved example of an early Blue Earth County farmstead, with structures dating from the 1850s to 1887.[20]
15Kern Bridge
Kern Bridge
July 28, 1980
(#80001950)
Township road over the Le Sueur River
44°06′35″N 94°02′31″W / 44.109722°N 94.041944°W / 44.109722; -94.041944 (Kern Bridge)
SkylineMinnesota's only bowstring arch truss bridge—built in 1873—and oldest road bridge still in use at the time of its nomination.[21] Closed to vehicle traffic in 1991.[22]
16Lincoln Park Residential Historic District
Lincoln Park Residential Historic District
June 2, 1995
(#95000671)
Roughly bounded by Shaubut, Record, Pleasant, 2nd, Liberty, Parsons, Lock, and Bradley Sts. and Grace and Wickersham Cts.
44°09′29″N 94°00′25″W / 44.157996°N 94.006807°W / 44.157996; -94.006807 (Lincoln Park Residential Historic District)
MankatoLarge and unusually intact upper-middle-class residential neighborhood of the late-19th and early-20th centuries, with 247 contributing properties built between 1856 and 1930.[6]
17Main Street Commercial Buildings
Main Street Commercial Buildings
July 28, 1980
(#80001957)
Main St.
43°55′45″N 93°57′20″W / 43.929028°N 93.955554°W / 43.929028; -93.955554 (Main Street Commercial Buildings)
MapletonBlock of 1890s commercial buildings noted for their coherent design, embodying a peak in the development of the region's "Main Streets" around the turn of the 20th century.[23]
18Mankato Public Library and Reading Room
Mankato Public Library and Reading Room
July 28, 1980
(#80001952)
120 S. Broad St.
44°09′57″N 94°00′03″W / 44.165775°N 94.000957°W / 44.165775; -94.000957 (Mankato Public Library and Reading Room)
MankatoPublic library built 1902–3, noted for its association with the Carnegie library phenomenon and for its Renaissance Revival architecture using local materials.[24]
19Mankato Union Depot
Mankato Union Depot
July 28, 1980
(#80001956)
112 Pike St.
44°10′03″N 94°00′16″W / 44.1675°N 94.004444°W / 44.1675; -94.004444 (Mankato Union Depot)
MankatoOnly intact example—built in 1896—of the railway stations that were instrumental in the placement and development of 13 Blue Earth County communities.[25]
20Mapleton Public Library
Mapleton Public Library
December 18, 2009
(#09001097)
104 1st Ave. N.E.
43°55′43″N 93°57′28″W / 43.928549°N 93.957793°W / 43.928549; -93.957793 (Mapleton Public Library)
Mapleton1910 Carnegie library representative of the civic push for public libraries in Minnesota, abetted by philanthropic grants from steel magnate Andrew Carnegie.[26]
21Marsh Concrete Rainbow Arch Bridge
Marsh Concrete Rainbow Arch Bridge
July 28, 1980
(#80001953)
County Road 101 over the Little Cottonwood River
44°14′13″N 94°21′40″W / 44.236813°N 94.361114°W / 44.236813; -94.361114 (Marsh Concrete Rainbow Arch Bridge)
Cambria Township1911 concrete through arch bridge, Minnesota's oldest surviving example and one of the first built by the Marsh Engineering Company of Iowa, an important promoter of the type.[27]
22Minneopa State Park WPA/Rustic Style Historic Resources
Minneopa State Park WPA/Rustic Style Historic Resources
October 25, 1989
(#89001663)
Off U.S. Route 169 west of Mankato
44°08′54″N 94°05′20″W / 44.148333°N 94.088889°W / 44.148333; -94.088889 (Minneopa State Park WPA/Rustic Style Historic Resources)
MankatoPark facilities with 7 contributing properties built 1937–40, significant as examples of New Deal federal work relief, early Minnesota state park development, and National Park Service rustic design.[28]
23North Front Street Commercial District
North Front Street Commercial District
July 28, 1980
(#80001954)
301–415 N. Riverfront Dr.
44°10′13″N 94°00′00″W / 44.170185°N 93.999887°W / 44.170185; -93.999887 (North Front Street Commercial District)
MankatoWell-preserved block-and-a-half remnant of Mankato's original commercial district, reflecting the economic growth of a major southern Minnesota city and changes in commercial architecture from the 1870s to the early 20th century.[29]
24Old Main, Mankato State Teachers College
Old Main, Mankato State Teachers College
June 2, 1983
(#83000899)
5th St., S., and Jackson St.
44°09′43″N 93°59′59″W / 44.161854°N 93.999683°W / 44.161854; -93.999683 (Old Main, Mankato State Teachers College)
MankatoOldest surviving buildings, constructed 1908 and 1922–24, of a state-run normal school established in 1868, representing early-20th-century school design and Minnesota's longstanding commitment to education.[30] A boundary decrease was approved on May 28, 2020.
25Seppman Mill
Seppman Mill
August 26, 1971
(#71000435)
Minnesota Highway 68 in Minneopa State Park
44°09′50″N 94°06′49″W / 44.164016°N 94.113491°W / 44.164016; -94.113491 (Seppman Mill)
SkylineStone windmill completed in 1863, one of the few ever built in Minnesota. Operated up until 1890 when the last of its arms were destroyed by a storm.[31]
26Sterling Congregational Church
Sterling Congregational Church
July 28, 1980
(#80001958)
County Road 151
43°53′55″N 94°03′25″W / 43.898611°N 94.056944°W / 43.898611; -94.056944 (Sterling Congregational Church)
AmboySimple 1867 church, a rare surviving example of Blue Earth County's rural community buildings from the period of settlement before railroad access.[32]
27Lucas Troendle House
Lucas Troendle House
July 28, 1980
(#80001959)
2nd and Silver Sts.
43°55′41″N 93°57′20″W / 43.927978°N 93.955617°W / 43.927978; -93.955617 (Lucas Troendle House)
Mapleton1896 Queen Anne house of a local leading citizen, exemplifying the prosperity attained by many who invested in land and commercial enterprises in the region's rail towns of the late 19th century.[33]
28Zieglers Ford Bridge
Zieglers Ford Bridge
November 6, 1989
(#89001830)
Township Road 96 over the Big Cobb River
44°01′45″N 93°59′35″W / 44.029167°N 93.993056°W / 44.029167; -93.993056 (Zieglers Ford Bridge)
Good Thunder1904 example of the pin-connected Pratt through truss bridges once common in Minnesota, and one of the few built by a company based outside of Minneapolis–Saint Paul.[34] Removed in 1995.[35]

Former listings

[2]Name on the RegisterImageDate listedDate removedLocation City or townDescription
1Adam Jefferson HouseJuly 28, 1980
(#80001948)
November 30, 1987Cleveland St.
Mankatoc. 1865 Greek Revival house of a pioneer in the local quarrying industry.[36] Relocated to North Mankato in 1987 rather than be demolished for a quarry expansion.[37]
2Kennedy BridgeNovember 6, 1989
(#89001832)
May 7, 2008Township Road 167 over Le Sueur River
Mankato vicinity1883 wrought iron Pratt truss bridge.[38] Moved in 2006.[39]
3Mankato Holstein Farm BarnJuly 28, 1980
(#80001951)
September 21, 2007County Highway 5
Mankato vicinity1917 dairy cattle breeding barn.[40] Demolished in 2006 after roof collapse.[41]
4Oscar Schmidt HouseJuly 28, 1980
(#80001955)
September 19, 1988111 Park Ln.
Mankato1925 Georgian Revival house of a notable business owner. Demolished in 1988 to expand the Mankato YMCA.[42]
5Winnebago Agency HouseFebruary 20, 1975
(#75000975)
May 15, 19871 mi. S of St. Clair on CR 138
St. Clair vicinity1855 brick Federal house.[43] Demolished in 1986.[44]

See also

References