Alexander Ramsey was Minnesota’s first territorial governor (1849–1853), second state governor (1860–1863), and a US senator (1864–1875). Although he directly contributed to the founding and the growth of Minnesota, he also played a major role in removing the area's Indigenous people—the Dakota and Ojibwe—from their homelands.
Joseph Wolf Brewing Company, ca. 1914. Photograph by John Runk. The Joseph Wolf Brewing Company was the largest brewery outside of the Twin Cities. It closed in 1925, a casualty of Prohibition. The building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.
The Simonet Furniture Store, Nelson and South Main Streets, Stillwater, ca. 1880. Founded in 1867 by Sebastian Simonet, a master carpenter and Romansh immigrant, ca. 1880. Photograph by John Runk.