St. Paul at the intersection of Fifth and Wabasha Streets

St. Paul at the intersection of Fifth and Wabasha Streets, 1857

St. Paul at the intersection of Fifth and Wabasha Streets. Construction of the Cathedral of St. Paul is visible at center. Photograph by Benjamin Franklin Upton, 1857.

St. Anthony, St. Cloud and Hartford Land Office

St. Anthony, St. Cloud and Hartford Land Office

The land office in St. Anthony, 1857.

Land Speculation, 1854–1857

Between 1854 and 1857, a craze for platting town sites and selling the deeds to settler-colonists swept through Minnesota. Speculators poured into the territory hoping to make their fortunes, and many succeeded. An estimated 700 town sites were platted during this time, though most of them were never developed or were abandoned after a few years. Ultimately, the mania of land speculation ended when the Ohio Life Insurance and Trust Company went bankrupt in 1857, causing a financial panic through the country.

Groundswell button

Groundswell button

Groundswell farm activist group button, ca. 1985.

Minnesota House of Representatives Agriculture Committee meeting

Minnesota House of Representatives Agriculture Committee meeting

Minnesota House of Representatives Agriculture Committee meeting, 1981. Photograph by Tom Olmscheid.

Farmers demonstrating at the State Capitol

Farmers demonstrating at the State Capitol

Farmers demonstrating at the State Capitol, 1985. Photograph by Dona Sieden.

Farm equipment auction poster

Farm equipment auction poster

Poster announcing the sale at auction of farm equipment by Al Trochaic, auctioneer. Printed by Haymarket Press, published by Ox Head Press in Marshall, Lyon County, Minnesota, 1981.

Foreclosure auction poster

Foreclosure auction poster

Poster announcing the foreclosure of family farms, ca. 1984.

Farm Crisis, 1979–1987

Minnesota’s farmers enjoyed an economic boom in the 1970s. Land values soared, United States exports of agricultural products grew, and farmers gained access to easy credit to expand their operations. When the 1980s brought a sharp decline in exports and land values, rising production costs, and higher interest rates on loans, many farmers found themselves in serious financial trouble. The farm crisis of the 1980s caused many farm foreclosures and bankruptcies—the worst economic conditions the agricultural sector had seen since the Great Depression.

Meeting of the Minnesota Chicano Federation

Meeting of the Minnesota Chicano Federation

Meeting of the Minnesota Chicano Federation at the Mexican American Cultural and Educational Center, St. Paul, March 1975.

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