Prisoners at Minnesota State Prison working in the twine factory

Prisoners at Minnesota State Prison working in the twine factory

Prisoners at Minnesota State Prison working in the on-site twine factory, 1925.

Twine bales

Twine bales

Bales of twine inside Minnesota State Prison, Bayport (later Stillwater), 1925.

Twine factory floor

Twine factory floor

Interior view of the twine factory at Minnesota State Prison, Bayfield (later Stillwater). Photo by C. J. Hibbard, ca. 1914.

Twine factory floor

Twine factory floor

The twine factory floor at Minnesota State Prison, Bayport (later Stillwater). Photo by C. J. Hibbard, ca. 1914.

Twine factory and warehouse

Twine factory and warehouse

Exterior view of the twine factory and warehouse at Minnesota State Prison, Bayport (later Stillwater). Photo by C. J. Hibbard, 1913.

Twine factory, Stillwater Prison

Twine factory, Stillwater Prison

Interior view of the twine factory at Minnesota State Prison, Stillwater, ca. 1900.

Twine factory, Stillwater Prison

Twine factory, Stillwater Prison

Interior view of the twine factory at Minnesota State Prison, Stillwater, ca. 1900.

Twine Industry at Minnesota State Prison, Stillwater

A cornerstone of the prison labor system for almost eighty years, the binder twine factory at the Minnesota State Prison employed thousands of inmates who produced over a billion pounds of cordage for regional farmers. The twine-manufacturing industry began at the original facility and continued at a custom-built factory on a new site after the prison moved in 1914. The factory closed in 1970.

Nellie Stone Johnson at Nellie's Shirt and Zipper repair shop

Nellie Stone Johnson at Nellie's Shirt and Zipper repair shop

Nellie Stone Johnson at work inside Nellie's Shirt and Zipper repair shop, Lumber Exchange Building 1035, Minneapolis, November 1980. Photograph by Elizabeth M. Hall.

Fur Trade in Minnesota

The North American fur trade began around 1500 off the coast of Newfoundland and became one of the most powerful industries in US history. In Minnesota country, the Dakota and the Ojibwe traded in alliance with the French from the 1600s until the 1730s, when Ojibwe warriors began to drive the Dakota from their homes in the Mississippi Headwaters region. Afterward, the Dakota continued trading in the south while Montreal traders and their Ojibwe allies established a network of trading posts in the north. For the next 120 years, the fur trade dominated the region’s economy and contributed to the development of a unique multicultural society.

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