Ramsey County Historical Society – Spring 1999: “Ramsey County History Preserved in Its Survey Office”

Ramsey County History Preserved in Its Survey Office

Author: Ramsey County Public Information Office

A brief overview of the history of the surveying of public lands in Ramsey County using the rectangular grid system established in the Ordinance of 1785. In the 1890s Ramsey County was resurveyed to replace old or worn-out markers with granite monuments. The county is charged with maintaining accurate land records, the survey system, and administering these. Today new tools are in use, but the survey is still an important part of the county’s history.

The remainder of this issue consists of excerpts from articles previously published in Ramsey County History that provide brief histories of the cities of White Bear Lake, Little Canada, New Brighton, and North St. Paul. Other excerpts provide accounts of the feuding Territorial-era newspaper editors in St. Paul, farming in the region in the mid-nineteenth century, a winter dog sled trip from Winnipeg to St. Paul in 1859, and the great horse market at Prior and University Avenues from the 1880s to the 1920s.

PDF of History of Ramsey County Part 2