Fort Snelling

The Friends of Fort Snelling was established in 1961 as the Fort Snelling State Park Association. The non-profit advocacy group was integral in both establishing Fort Snelling State Park and in preserving and restoring Historic Fort Snelling. Over the years we have helped to expand and protect the Park and Fort by working to acquire funding for land and facilities, most recently the Thomas Savage Visitor Center. We have long supported new educational and interpretive programs for the Historic Fort and the State Park Donations to Friends of Fort Snelling may be tax-deductible... Check with your accountant or financial advisor To Preserve… The natural and historical resources of the unique area where the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers converge and peoples have been meeting for centuries. To Promote… Recreational opportunities in the metropolitan Twin Cities only state park. Educational opportunities using Fort Snellings nationally significant historical resources. Increased citizen support for continuing development of these public sites. To Assist… Fort Snelling sites staff with acquisition of resources to maintain and improve programs and amenities. The professional staff of the sites with educational and recreational programs. • Act as advocates for both Historic Fort Snelling and Fort Snelling State Park. • Encourage the preservation of the Fort Snelling area’s natural and historic character. • Seek financial support for Park and Historic Fort projects. • Assist the professional staff through volunteer efforts. While the history of the Fort Snelling area begins with the American Indians who occupied this land for thousands of years and continues through the building of Fort Snelling in 1825, the history of the Fort Snelling State Park Association (also known as the Friends of Fort Snelling), began much more recently. It was a dire threat to Historic Fort Snelling in 1956 that prompted the first steps that led to the forming of the Association. A proposal by the Minnesota Highway Department to build a new bridge with a freeway and cloverleaf interchange right through the site of the old fort that finally brought action. Russell W. Fridley, the Minnesota Historical Society’s executive director, called a meeting of concerned groups to look at the highway staff’s plans. There was an outpouring of citizen support for saving the old fort site. Finally, Governor Orville L. Freeman convinced the Highway Department to build a tunnel under the area between the round tower and the chapel so as to leave the old fort site intact and accessible. The full story of the restoration of the Historic Fort can be found in the Historic Fort History article. In 1960, the landscape architect, A. R. Nichols, proposed a 2,400 acre park. He referred to the “population explosion” taking place in the Twin Cities region and pointed out that the whole area at the confluence of the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers was a strategic site for a large recreational park incorporating a rich historical background. Nichols’ map became the basis for the Fort Snelling State Park we have today. The Minneapolis Star published a story headlined “Metropolitan Park Plan Advanced by Twin Cities Group; Area at Junction of Rivers is Sought.” The story aroused the interest of a private citizen, Thomas C. Savage, who had already become dedicated to environmental causes. Savage called on State Park Director Hella to ask how to make this Fort Snelling Park dream a reality. Judge Hella encouraged Tom to organize a citizen association dedicated to such a park. Tom went right to work organizing the Fort Snelling State Park Association (Friends of Fort Snelling) as a nonprofit corporation qualified to accept tax-deductible gifts of land and money to assist the project. Tom led the effort for legislation to establish the park. TheFriends of Fort Snelling’s first annual membership meeting was held in November and the next spring, on June 3, 1962, a grand dedication was h