page_title: Faribault, Minnesota
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Faribault, Minnesota / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Main Street, Faribault, Minnesota.
context_page_description: Faribault is a city in Rice County, Minnesota, United States. It is the county seat. The population was 23,352 at the 2010 census. Faribault is approximately 50 miles south of Minneapolis and St. Paul.
  Interstate 35 and Minnesota State Highways 3, 21, and 60 are four of the main routes in the community.
  Faribault is situated at the confluence of the Cannon and Straight Rivers in southern Minnesota.
context_section_description: Faribault is regarded as one of the most historic communities in Minnesota, with settlement and commercial activity predating Minnesota's establishment as a U.S. Territory.
  Until 1745, the area was primarily occupied by the Wahpekute band of Dakotah. Shortly thereafter, the tribe was driven south after several clashes with the Ojibwe over territory.
  The city's namesake, Alexander Faribault, was the son of Jean-Baptiste Faribault, a French-Canadian fur trader, and Elizabeth Pelagie Kinzie Haines, a Dakotah woman. He is credited with fueling most of the early settlement in the area, beginning in 1826, when he established a fur trading post on the banks of the Cannon River. By 1834, the trading post had grown in popularity and was relocated to the Straight River, one mile (1.6 km) upstream of its junction with the Cannon River, the site of modern-day Faribault. The young Alexander Faribault used his knowledge of Dakotah language and culture to improve relations with the displaced Wahpekute and even helped the tribe to resettle in the area. This relationship was instrumental in ensuring the success of the trading post and allowing safe travel to the area for settlers.
  Another source maintains the city is named for Jean-Baptiste Faribault.
  The Alexander Faribault House was built in 1853 by Alexander Faribault at a cost of $4,000. It is considered the oldest framed structure in the area, and still stands in its original location near the southeastern edge of Faribault's historic downtown district.
  The years following the construction of this first building brought unprecedented growth, development, and economic prosperity to the young settlement. Spurred by the completion of the area's first steam-powered sawmill in early 1854, the next year took Faribault from a sleepy settlement of 20 buildings to a bustling town with more than 250. Historians attribute Faribault's impressive growth during this period to a number of important milestones in 1855 and 1856, including the creation of roads connecting to other settlements and trading posts in Iowa and Minnesota Territory, the availability of mail service, and the construction of schools and churches.
  The City of Faribault was platted in 1855 and granted a home-rule charter in 1872.
caption: Main Street, circa 1898
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