St. Joseph Blockhouse

St. Joseph Blockhouse is a Minnesota historical marker in Stearns County.

Stearns County · U. S. highway 52, where the highway turns north about 1 block from St. Benedict's · location approximate

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At this point the citizens erected one of three pentagonal blockhouse of green timber, with sides 50 feet long, in August 1862, during the Sioux Outbreak. A second blockhouse stood near the present grounds of St. Benedict's College. These forts effectively protected this important town on the Red River trail against Indian threats.

Verbatim 1940 text, presented as a historical record, not current interpretation. Minnesota now calls the 1862 conflict the U.S.-Dakota War and has since replaced the wording on some of these signs.

TodayHistorical map

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David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford Libraries

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under a mile from where William Gabby lived in the 1760s

what this marker records spans 1777 to 1789, overlapping William Gabby's years here

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Marker data: Minnesota Historical Records Survey Project, Work Projects Administration, Guide to Historic Markers Erected by the State Highway Department Cooperating with the Minnesota Historical Society (1940)

More markers nearby

On the National Register nearby

First State Bank140 ft
Church of St. Joseph-Catholic330 ft

Places within about 300 feet of this marker that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. A nearby listing is not always the marker's own subject.