Fort Beauharnois
Fort Beauharnois | |
 Fort Beauharnois | |
  | |
| Location | Wacouta Township |
|---|---|
| Built | 1727 |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000517 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966[1] |
| Designated NHL | October 9, 1960[2] |
Fort Beauharnois was a French fort (or fur post) built on the shores of Lake Pepin, a wide part of the upper Mississippi River, in 1727. The location chosen was on lowlands and the fort was rebuilt in 1730 on higher ground. It was the site of the first Roman Catholic chapel in Minnesota, which was dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel. The fort was named after the Governor of New France at the time, Charles de Beauharnois.
Eventually it was abandoned as the French sent most of their troops to the east to fight the British in the French and Indian War.
Today, an Ursuline convent and the Villa Maria Conference Center stand on the site of the old fort, in Wacouta Township of Goodhue County, Minnesota, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The Minnesota Department of Transportation inventories a roadside historical marker of the presumed location of the fort along US 61/US 63.[3] in Goodhue County, Minnesota.
See also
- Pierre-Charles Le Sueur, one of the first French explorers to visit the upper Mississippi River in 1699
- Jacques Legardeur de Saint-Pierre, commanded the fort from 1734 to May 1737
External links
References
- ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
- ^ "Fort St. Frederic". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. 2007-09-12.
- ^ MNDoT Inventory Document for Fort Beauharnois Historical Marker
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