Built 1853 Opened 1853 Phone +1 507-508-2848 | NRHP Reference # 70000304 Area 196 ha Added to NRHP 2 December 1970 | |
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Address 72404 Co Rd 30, Fairfax, MN 55332, USA Similar Lower Sioux Agency, Fort Ridgely State Park, Alexander Harkin Store, Joseph Brown House R, Dr William W Mayo House | ||
Fort ridgely state park
Fort Ridgely was a United States Army outpost (1853–1867) near the Dakota reservation in southwestern Minnesota (located near Fairfax). Built between 1853–1854, it was named for three officers named Ridgely who were killed in the Mexican–American War. The fort played an important role in the Dakota War of 1862. The Battle of Fort Ridgely was fought there in two engagements over August 20–22, 1862 between Army volunteers and refugees from the Minnesota River valley, and Dakota forces.
The Army abandoned the fort in 1867 and moved westward. Civilians occupied the remaining buildings and later dismantled the structures for their own use.
Today the building foundations are preserved by the Nicollet County Historical Society and owned by the Minnesota Historical Society within the boundaries of Fort Ridgely State Park. The old commissary building (partially reconstructed by the Veteran Conservation Corps in the 1930s) now houses the museum. The fort was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970, while much of the park was added in 1989.