James B. Wakefield House

Following events in their order, we now record the fact that Blue Earth City, the only village in the township, and the oldest in the county, was surveyed and platted in July, 1856, and the first buildings were erected in that year. The founding of the village preceded the organization and naming of the township. The original proprietors and founders of the village were James B. Wakefield, Henry P. Constans, Samuel V. Hibler and Spier Spencer.

Passage source: The History of Faribault County, Minnesota : from Its First Settlement to the Close of the Year 1879 : the Story of the Pioneers, published 1896.

By the act organizing the county, the county seat was located at Blue Earth City, and the question of location was voted upon at the next general election, which was held in October, 1856, and was decided unanimously in favor of Blue Earth City. The question of removal of the county seat from Blue Earth City to Winnebago City voted upon at the general election of 18G1, and a large majority of the votes proved to be against removal, and the capital of the county has remained, from the first, at this village. But our general history of the county will show that many subsequent attempts have been made to remove the county seat.

Passage source: The History of Faribault County, Minnesota : from Its First Settlement to the Close of the Year 1879 : the Story of the Pioneers, published 1896.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Blue Earth City - 6,978 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.