St. Peter, Minnesota

St. Peter is located at {{coord|44|19|46.19|N|93|57|57.01|W|type:city}} (44.3294980, -93.9658367).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of {{convert|6.240|sqmi|sqkm|2}}, of which {{convert|6.065|sqmi|sqkm|2}} is land and {{convert|0.175|sqmi|sqkm|2}} is water.

{{Weather box

| single line = Y

| location = St. Peter, Minnesota, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1893–present

|Jan record high F = 65

|Feb record high F = 68

|Mar record high F = 92

|Apr record high F = 94

|May record high F = 107

|Jun record high F = 104

|Jul record high F = 109

|Aug record high F = 104

|Sep record high F = 103

|Oct record high F = 92

|Nov record high F = 81

|Dec record high F = 69

|Jan avg record high F = 42.8

|Feb avg record high F = 47.9

|Mar avg record high F = 65.4

|Apr avg record high F = 79.9

|May avg record high F = 88.9

|Jun avg record high F = 92.5

|Jul avg record high F = 93.1

|Aug avg record high F = 90.7

|Sep avg record high F = 88.7

|Oct avg record high F = 81.9

|Nov avg record high F = 63.9

|Dec avg record high F = 47.2

|year avg record high F = 95.5

| Jan high F =21.9

| Feb high F =26.7

| Mar high F =39.9

| Apr high F =54.8

| May high F =67.8

| Jun high F =77.8

| Jul high F =81.9

| Aug high F =79.4

| Sep high F =72.2

| Oct high F =58.2

| Nov high F =41.8

| Dec high F =27.5

| Jan mean F =12.5

| Feb mean F =16.8

| Mar mean F =30.3

| Apr mean F =43.9

| May mean F =57.0

| Jun mean F =67.4

| Jul mean F =71.5

| Aug mean F =69.1

| Sep mean F =60.4

| Oct mean F =46.8

| Nov mean F =32.2

| Dec mean F =19.2

| Jan low F =3.1

| Feb low F =6.9

| Mar low F =20.6

| Apr low F =32.9

| May low F =46.3

| Jun low F =57.0

| Jul low F =61.2

| Aug low F =58.8

| Sep low F =48.7

| Oct low F =35.4

| Nov low F =22.7

| Dec low F =10.9

|Jan avg record low F = -18.1

|Feb avg record low F = -11.4

|Mar avg record low F = -0.5

|Apr avg record low F = 19.6

|May avg record low F = 32.9

|Jun avg record low F = 44.8

|Jul avg record low F = 51.4

|Aug avg record low F = 48.3

|Sep avg record low F = 35.0

|Oct avg record low F = 22.3

|Nov avg record low F = 7.3

|Dec avg record low F = -10.3

|year avg record low F = -19.9

|Jan record low F = -40

|Feb record low F = -36

|Mar record low F = -30

|Apr record low F = -5

|May record low F = 14

|Jun record low F = 32

|Jul record low F = 34

|Aug record low F = 34

|Sep record low F = 21

|Oct record low F = 4

|Nov record low F = -22

|Dec record low F = -32

| precipitation colour = green

| Jan precipitation inch =0.96

| Feb precipitation inch =0.96

| Mar precipitation inch =1.79

| Apr precipitation inch =3.06

| May precipitation inch =4.04

| Jun precipitation inch =5.13

| Jul precipitation inch =4.41

| Aug precipitation inch =3.56

| Sep precipitation inch =3.16

| Oct precipitation inch =2.50

| Nov precipitation inch =1.68

| Dec precipitation inch =1.17

|unit precipitation days = 0.01 in

|Jan precipitation days = 5.0

|Feb precipitation days = 4.3

|Mar precipitation days = 5.9

|Apr precipitation days = 8.2

|May precipitation days = 10.2

|Jun precipitation days = 10.6

|Jul precipitation days = 8.9

|Aug precipitation days = 8.0

|Sep precipitation days = 7.0

|Oct precipitation days = 6.8

|Nov precipitation days = 4.7

|Dec precipitation days = 5.3

| Jan snow inch =8.8

| Feb snow inch =8.2

| Mar snow inch =4.2

| Apr snow inch =2.7

| May snow inch =0.0

| Jun snow inch =0.0

| Jul snow inch =0.0

| Aug snow inch =0.0

| Sep snow inch =0.0

| Oct snow inch =0.2

| Nov snow inch =3.2

| Dec snow inch =10.6

|unit snow days = 0.1 in

|Jan snow days = 4.3

|Feb snow days = 3.1

|Mar snow days = 1.5

|Apr snow days = 0.6

|May snow days = 0.0

|Jun snow days = 0.0

|Jul snow days = 0.0

|Aug snow days = 0.0

|Sep snow days = 0.0

|Oct snow days = 0.1

|Nov snow days = 1.7

|Dec snow days = 3.5

|source 1 = NOAA{{cite web|title=U.S. Climate Normals Quick Access – Station: St Peter, MN |url=https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/services/data/v1?dataset=normals-monthly-1991-2020&stations=USC00217405&format=pdf&dataTypes=MLY-TMAX-NORMAL,MLY-TMIN-NORMAL,MLY-TAVG-NORMAL,MLY-PRCP-NORMAL,MLY-SNOW-NORMAL |publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration |access-date=May 11, 2023}}|source 2=National Weather Service{{cite web|title=NOAA Online Weather Data – NWS Minneapolis |url=https://www.weather.gov/wrh/climate?wfo=mpx |publisher=National Weather Service |access-date=May 11, 2023}}

}}

{{US Census population

|1870= 2124

|1880= 3436

|1890= 3671

|1900= 4302

|1910= 4176

|1920= 4335

|1930= 4811

|1940= 5870

|1950= 7754

|1960= 8484

|1970= 8339

|1980= 9056

|1990= 9421

|2000= 9747

|2010= 11196

|2020= 12066

|estyear=2023

|estimate=12291

|estref={{cite web|title=City and Town Population Totals: 2020-2023 |url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-cities-and-towns.html |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=February 25, 2025}}

|align-fn=center

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web|title=Decennial Census of Population and Housing|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html |publisher=United States Census Bureau |website=www.census.gov |access-date=June 4, 2015}}
2020 Census

}}

As of the 2023 American Community Survey, there are 4,014 estimated households in St. Peter with an average of 2.25 persons per household. The city has a median household income of $65,042. Approximately 17.5% of the city's population lives at or below the poverty line. St. Peter has an estimated 65.5% employment rate, with 31.3% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 90.2% holding a high school diploma.

The top five reported ancestries (people were allowed to report up to two ancestries, thus the figures will generally add to more than 100%) were English (87.5%), Spanish (5.4%), Indo-European (2.1%), Asian and Pacific Islander (0.7%), and Other (4.3%).

The median age in the city was 35.0 years.

As of the 2020 census, there were 12,066 people, 3,708 households, and 2,269 families residing in the city.{{Cite web|title=US Census Bureau, Table P16: Household Type |url=https://data.census.gov/table?q=St.%20Peter%20city,%20Minnesota%20p16&y=2020 |publisher=United States Census Bureau |access-date=February 25, 2025}} The population density was {{convert|1989.8|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|1}}. There were 3,902 housing units at an average density of {{convert|643.4|/sqmi|/km2|1}}. The racial makeup of the city was 80.54% White, 7.25% African American, 0.92% Native American, 2.44% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 3.77% from some other races and 4.97% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 8.74% of the population.{{Cite web|title=How many people live in St. Peter city, Minnesota |url=https://data.usatoday.com/census/total-population/total-population-change/st-peter-city-minnesota/160-2758036/ |publisher=USA Today |access-date=February 25, 2025}}

As of the 2010 census, there were 11,196 people, 3,491 households, and 2,150 families residing in the city. The population density was {{convert|2003.0|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|1}}. There were 3,697 housing units at an average density of {{convert|661.4|/sqmi|/km2|1}}. The racial makeup of the city was 90.13% White, 3.3% African American, 0.57% Native American, 1.61% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 2.35% from some other races and 2.05% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 6.41% of the population.

There were 3,491 households, of which 32.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.2% were married couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 38.4% were non-families. 29.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.99.

The median age in the city was 27.5 years. 19.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 27.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22% were from 25 to 44; 19.9% were from 45 to 64; and 11.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.5% male and 50.5% female.

As of the 2000 census, there were 9,747 people, 2,978 households, and 1,843 families residing in the city. The population density was {{convert|1797.3|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|1}}. There were 3,129 housing units at an average density of {{convert|577.0|/sqmi|/km2|1}}. The racial makeup of the city was 94.17% White, 1.57% African American, 0.43% Native American, 1.53% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 1.25% from some other races and 1.02% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 3.04% of the population.

There were 2,978 households, out of which 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.7% were married couples living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.1% were non-families. 28.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 19.8% under the age of 18, 30.6% from 18 to 24, 21.3% from 25 to 44, 16.5% from 45 to 64, and 11.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $40,344, and the median income for a family was $51,157. Males had a median income of $33,618 versus $25,789 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,634. About 4.2% of families and 11.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.3% of those under age 18 and 10.9% of those age 65 or over.

File:Bird's Eye view, St. Peter, Minnesota - DPLA - d3eac16e66f34c6a3213ff176ceff131 (cropped).jpg

St. Peter was founded in 1853 by Captain William Bigelow Dodd, who claimed {{cvt|150|acre|km2}} north of what is now Broadway Avenue. He named the new settlement Rock Bend because of the rock formation at the bend of the Minnesota River. Daniel L. Turpin platted and surveyed the town site in 1854. In 1855, a group of St. Paul businessmen interested in promoting the town formed the Saint Peter Company, and the town was renamed St. Peter. The president of the company was Willis A. Gorman, Territorial Governor of Minnesota. Many of St. Peter's streets were named after streets in New York City, including Park Row, Chatham, Broadway, Nassau, and Union. Dodd was originally from Bloomfield, New Jersey. His second wife, Harriett Newell Jones, a native of Cabot, Vermont, was living in New York at the time of their marriage at the Church of the Holy Communion in New York City, which helped fund the church in St. Peter that shares its name.

St. Peter was located along the Minnesota River, a major tributary of the Mississippi River, and flowed down a wide valley carved by the Glacial River Warren, when it emptied Lake Agassiz. One mile north of where St. Peter was founded, was Traverse des Sioux, a trading site used by native Americans from before contact, that later became a major transhipment point for the fur trade, bringing furs from the Red River Valley and the watershed of Lake Winnipeg into the Mississippi River Valley. Traverse des Sioux had been a trading area and a ford over the Minnesota River that had been used by native Americans before the contact period. During the era of steamships, was the farthest up river that larger steam ships could operate.

The Two Fingers band of Sioux from St Peter's made news in 1855.Frontier Indians, Weekly National Intelligencer, April 8, 1854, Image 6, Chronicling American, 2024, Library of Congress [https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045784/1854-04-08/ed-1/seq-6/#date1=1850&sort=relevance&rows=20&words=Peters+Sioux+St&searchType=basic&sequence=0&index=0&state=&date2=1862&proxtext=St+Peters+Sioux&y=13&x=13&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=3]

File:2009-0805-MN-StPeter-BroadwayBridge.jpg connects St. Peter to the east via Minnesota State Highway 99]]

In 1857, an attempt was made to move the Territory of Minnesota's capital from St. Paul to St. Peter. Gorman owned the land on which the bill's sponsors wanted to build the new capitol building, and at one point had been heard saying, "If the capitol remains in Saint Paul, the territory is worth millions, and I have nothing." At the time, St. Peter, in the territory's central region, was seen as more accessible to far-flung territorial legislators than St. Paul, which was in the extreme east of the territory, on the east bank of the Mississippi River. A bill passed both houses of the Territorial Legislature and was awaiting Gorman's signature. The chairman of the Territorial Council's Enrolled Bills Committee, Joseph J. Rolette of Pembina, took the bill and hid in a St. Paul hotel, drinking and playing cards with some friends as the city police looked fruitlessly for him, until the end of the legislative session, too late for the bill to be signed.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} Rolette came into the chamber just as the session ended. Today, St. Paul is the state's second-largest city (after neighboring Minneapolis), while St. Peter is a relatively small rural town.

File:2009-0805-MN-ChurchofHolyCommunion.jpg is one of several St. Peter structures on the National Register of Historic Places.]]

In 1851 the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux was signed between the Sioux (Dakota) and the U.S. Government one mile (1.6 km) north of St. Peter. The Nicollet County Historical Society-Treaty Site History Center is near the site of the signing. But the treaty's promises were not kept. The Dakota became angered and the Dakota War of 1862 began in Cottonwood County. In August 1862 the Dakota attacked the German settlement of New Ulm. A company of volunteers from St. Peter, headed by Dodd, St. Peter's founder, went to New Ulm's defense. Dodd was killed on August 23, 1862, and briefly buried in New Ulm. On November 11, 1862, Dodd was buried with high military honors in St. Peter on the grounds of the Church of the Holy Communion, Episcopal, on land he donated to the church. Dodd, his wife Harriet and two children are buried behind the present stone church built in 1869–70 at 118 North Minnesota Avenue.

In 1866, the legislature established the first "Minnesota Asylum for the Insane" in St. Peter. It was later known as the St. Peter State Hospital, and is now called the St. Peter Regional Treatment Center.

On July 1, 1892, the Sontag Brothers, John Sontag and George Contant, and their partner, Chris Evans, tried to rob a train between St. Peter and Kasota along the Minnesota River. The bandits acquired nothing of value, but their activities came under the review of Pinkerton detectives, and both were apprehended in June 1893 in what is called the Battle of Stone Corral in California.{{cite web |url=http://www.mnriv.com/sontag.html |title=The Sontag Brothers: Southern Minnesota's Own Train Robbers |publisher=mnriv.com |access-date=November 28, 2012 |archive-date=February 12, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212031411/http://www.mnriv.com/sontag.html |url-status=live}}

St. Peter is known as the home of five governors:

• Territorial
• Willis Arnold Gorman (1853–1857)
• State
• Henry Adoniram Swift (1863–1864)
• Horace Austin (1870–1874)
• Andrew Ryan McGill (1887–1889)
• John Albert Johnson (1905–1909)

File:2009-0805-MN-StPeter-JohnsonHouse.jpg is listed on the NRHP.]]

The best-known of these, Johnson, was born in St. Peter to Swedish-born parents on July 28, 1861. Because of family circumstances, he offered to help his mother raise the family. He left school at a young age and held a variety of jobs. In 1887, he was hired as editor of the St. Peter Herald, the local newspaper. In 1899, he was elected to the State Senate, and served until 1903. In 1904, he was elected Minnesota's 16th governor. He was reelected in 1906 and 1908. He was considered as a possible candidate in the 1912 presidential election, but died as the result of an operation for intestinal adhesions in Rochester, Minnesota, on September 21, 1909. Drs. William James Mayo and Charles Horace Mayo, who came from Le Sueur and were friends with Johnson, performed the operation. After lying in state in the Capitol rotunda, his body was taken to St. Peter for burial. The funeral, held at Union Presbyterian Church, was St. Peter's largest ever, and he was buried near his parents in Greenhill Cemetery. He was survived by his wife, Elinore "Nora" Preston Johnson.

On March 29, 1998, a tornado struck St. Peter, killing six-year-old Dustin Schneider, injuring dozens more, and damaging much of the town's housing, commercial, and civic buildings. The tornado destroyed 156 single-family houses and 51 apartment units. An additional 362 houses and apartments suffered serious damage and 1,383 houses or apartments had minor damage. The town's three trailer parks were largely spared with no mobile homes destroyed and just two seriously damaged. Major losses included the Old Central School, St. Peter Arts and Heritage Center, St. Peter's Catholic Church, St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran Church, and Johnson Hall at Gustavus Adolphus College.

• Bethany Alliance Church (Christian & Missionary Alliance), established in 1961, present church built in 1965, church renamed Living Truth Fellowship in 2015
• Calvary Baptist Church, established in 1963, present church built in 1977
• Church of St. Peter (Roman Catholic), established in 1856, present church built in 2001
• Church of the Holy Communion (Episcopal), established in 1854, present church built in 1869–1870
• First Lutheran Church (ELCA), established in 1857, present church built in 1965
• Good Samaritan United Methodist Church, established in 2010, no church at present time
• Sunrise Assembly of God, Established in 1934, present church built in 1988
• St. Peter's Evangelical Lutheran Church (WELS), established in 1867, present church built in 1999
• River of Life Lutheran Church (LCMS), established in 2013 by Our Savior's Lutheran Church of Mankato, member of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod since 2016
• Trinity Lutheran Church (ELCA), established in 1892, present church built in 1988
• Union Presbyterian Church, established in 1869 as a result of the union of two congregations (the First Free Presbyterian Church of Traverse des Sioux Established in 1853 and the First Presbyterian Church of St. Peter in 1857), present church built in 1871
• Christ Chapel (ELCA), built from 1959 to 1961, inaugurated in 1962 on the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College

File:Old-main-gustavus-adolphus-college-ta-peter-minn.JPG

St. Peter is the home of Gustavus Adolphus College, a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and founded in 1862. The public high school is St. Peter High School. There are two parochial schools in St. Peter: John Ireland Catholic School (K-6), which is associated with the Church of St. Peter, and St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran School (K-8), which along with the church is associated with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Veritas et Lux Preparatory School is a private non-denominational (K-12) school.

The first class graduated from St. Peter High School in 1880. The first superintendent of St. Peter Public Schools was Andrew Ryan McGill, who served from 1865 to 1868. McGill was Minnesota's 10th governor from 1887 to 1889.

Scholarship America is based in St. Peter.

Community health care is provided by St. Peter Community Hospital. In 2009 St. Peter Community Hospital was renamed River's Edge Hospital. That same year the construction of a new clinic was begun adjoining the hospital. There is now the River's Edge Clinic and the St. Peter Community Clinic, part of the Mayo Health System.

St. Peter is home to the Minnesota Security Hospital, where those the state declares mentally ill and dangerous are committed.

Benedictine Health Care Center, formerly known as St. Peter Community Health Care Center, is part of the River's Edge Hospital complex. Near the hospital Pheasants' Ridge is an assisted living facility that has a section for patients suffering from memory loss due to Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Other health care facilities in St. Peter include Grandview Good Samaritan Center on Sunrise Drive.

River Valley Birth Center opened in St. Peter in the summer of 2014. It is the region's first free-standing birth center.

{{Infobox UCR

|city_name=St. Peter

|year=2023

|violent_crime= 14

|homicide= 0

|forcible_rape= 2

|robbery= 0

|aggravated_assault= 12

|property_crime= 80

|burglary= 7

|larceny_theft= 69

|motor_vehicle_theft= 4

|arson= 0

|source_url=https://cde.ucr.cjis.gov/LATEST/webapp/#/pages/explorer/crime/crime-trend

|source_name=FBI Crime Data Explorer 2023

}}

The following routes are within St. Peter:

• 20px U.S. Highway 169
• 20px Minnesota State Highway 22
• 20px Minnesota State Highway 99

• Alice A. Andrews — pianist, composer, associated with the Andrews Opera Company
• Horace Austin — sixth governor of Minnesota
• Henry N. Benson — Minnesota Attorney General
• Herbert W. Chilstrom - pastor, and bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America
• Eugene Saint Julien Cox — mayor of St. Peter, state legislator, district court judge
• Anne Martell Denver — wife of singer John Denver
• Olive Fremstad — opera singer at Metropolitan Opera
• Willis Arnold Gorman — second governor of the Minnesota Territory
• Paul Granlund — American sculptor
• Camilla Hall — Symbionese Liberation Army member
• James M. Hinds — the first congressman assassinated in office
• Gideon S. Ives — lieutenant governor of Minnesota, mayor of St. Peter
• Carl M. Johnson — politician, farmer, and businessman
• John Albert Johnson — 16th governor of Minnesota, presidential candidate, newspaper editor
• Verne C. Johnson — politician and lawyer
• Andrew Ryan McGill — 10th governor of Minnesota, newspaper editor, state senator
• James M. McPherson — Civil War historian and author
• Steve Neils — football player for the St. Louis Cardinals
• Milt Nielsen — baseball player for the Cleveland Indians
• Allen Quist — former state representative and gubernatorial candidate
• Benjamin H. Randall — politician
• Rick Rude — professional wrestler
• Myer Skoog — inventor of the jump shot
• Doug Swenson — politician, lawyer, and judge
• Henry A. Swift — third governor of Minnesota, lieutenant governor of Minnesota, state senator
• John H. Tolan — politician and lawyer
• Thomas Smith Williamson — physician and missionary
• Earl Witte — football player for the Green Bay Packers

• St. Peter Sandstone
• The Arboretum at Gustavus Adolphus College, on the campus of Gustavus Adolphus College

{{Reflist}}

{{commons category|St. Peter, Minnesota}}

• [https://www.saintpetermn.gov/ City of St. Peter – official website]
• [https://www.stpeterschools.org/ Saint Peter Public Schools District]
• [https://www.lakesnwoods.com/StPeter.htm St. Peter Community Guide]
• [https://www.lakesnwoods.com/StPeterGallery.htm St. Peter Gallery]
• {{cite EB1911|wstitle=St Peter|volume=24|page=37}}

{{Nicollet County, Minnesota}}

{{Mankato North Mankato MSA}}

{{Minnesota}}

{{Minnesota county seats}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Peter, Minnesota}}

Category:Cities in Nicollet County, Minnesota

Category:Cities in Minnesota

Category:County seats in Minnesota

Category:Mankato – North Mankato metropolitan area

Category:Populated places established in 1853