Fort Ridgely
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fort Ridgely was a United States Army outpost (1853–1867) near the Dakota reservation in southwestern Minnesota (located near New Ulm). Built between 1853–1855, it played an important role in the 1862 Sioux Uprising. Two battles were fought there on August 20–22, 1862 between Army volunteers and refugees from the Minnesota River valley, and Dakota forces.
The Army abandoned the Fort in the early 1870s and moved westward. Civilians occupied the remaining buildings and later dismantled the structures for their own use.
Today the building foundations are preserved by a private group 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.
