Photograph of badly damaged house.

Badly damaged house

Badly damaged house in St. Peter after the tornado.

Photograph of National Guard soldiers patrolling the streets of St. Peter.

Soldiers on Guard

National Guard soldiers patrolling the streets of St. Peter.

Photograph of a school destroyed by the St. Peter Tornado.

School Destruction

School destroyed by the St. Peter Tornado.

Photograph of a destroyed church after the St. Peter Tornado.

Church Destruction

A church in St. Peter destroyed by the tornado.

Photograph of volunteers clearing debris from a street in St. Peter.

Volunteers

Volunteers clearing debris after the St. Peter Tornado.

St. Peter Tornado, 1998

On March 29, 1998, a tornado swept through southern Minnesota, devastating the town of St. Peter. Residents had only about ten minutes to take shelter once they heard the warning sirens just after 5:00 p.m. Propelled by 150-mile-an-hour winds, the tornado cut a mile-wide swath through the town of 10,000, causing scores of injuries and one fatality when a young boy was swept out of his family's car. In terms of its severity, the St. Peter tornado ranks with other destructive storms, including those that tore through the Twin Cities metro area in 1965 and again in 1981.

Photograph of flour mills and grain elevators overlooking Red Wing’s crowded riverfront, c. 1900.

Red Wing riverfront scene

Flour mills and grain elevators overlook Red Wing’s crowded riverfront, c.1900.

Late 1860s photograph showing barges along Red Wing's Mississippi River waterfront awaiting wheat for shipment to customers downriver.

Red Wing

This late 1860s photograph shows barges along Red Wing's Mississippi River waterfront awaiting wheat for shipment to customers downriver.

Black and white photograph of Cannon Falls firefighters posing in front of their headquarters.

Cannon Falls firefighters

Cannon Falls' citizens organized a defense against further fire following the 1887 disaster, the community's second devastating blaze. Local firefighters pose in front of their headquarters.

Black and white photograph of Van Campen store and Scofield's drug store, 1883.

Van Campen store (left) and Scolfield's drug store (right)

Van Campen store, left, and Scofield's drug store, right, shown in 1883, a year before the first large Cannon Falls fire. The Van Campen building and the business next door, burned during the 1884 conflagration. The stone Scofield structure survived.

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