Shakopee. A city of about 2,500 population, is situated near the northern boundary of Scott county, of which it is the county seat. It lies at the intersection of the St. P. & S. C. and H. & D. railroads, 28 miles from St. Paul. The St. Gertrude Academy is located here, and it has a graded school system employing 8 teachers. It has an English and a German Roman Catholic church, besides Methodist, Episcopal, Presbyterian and Lutheran. The manufacturies are 1 steam wagon factory and 1 steam flour mill. The repair shops of the St. P. & S. C. R. R. Co. are situated here. There is 1 national bank with a capital of $50,000, surplus $9,000. Principal exports, flour, wheat and wood. Telegraph, Northwestern. Express, American and United States. Mail twice per day. (Minnesota State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1878-9, Volume 1, R. L. Polk & Co., and A. C. Danser, Detroit, Michigan, Page 579)
Page 296. The name of this city suggests the well-known fact that here was the site of the famous Indian village of the Dakota or Sioux band under Shak-pa or Little Six. The village numbered about 600 souls, and traders as well as missionaries who came to live among them, the one to profit by shrewd bargains, and the other to labor for their souls, were here in advance of the early settlers. Thomas A. Holmes was the first actual settler.
Page 297. The present site of Shakopee was a prairie extending back from the river for about two miles. Holmes located the town site and about the same time that of Chaska across the river. He named the town site from Shak-pa, the chief of the Indian band. The survey was made as soon as the Indian title was extinguished by the confirmation by congress in 1852 of the treaty signed by the Indians the previous year.
Page 301. The business of Shakopee: The professions are represented by seven attorneys, five physicians. Two newspapers are supported. Shakopee is the junction of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha railroad, and the Hastings & Dakota division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad. The Minneapolis & St. Louis passes near, stopping regularly at the nearest point for Shakopee, though having at present no station. The repair shops of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha railway were established here in 1866, and have grown from a small beginning to become an important feature in the business of the city. They employ clerks and mechanics to the number of eighty, with a monthly pay roll of about $4,000. The First National bank was organized in 1865 with a capital stock of $50,000. The Wampach Manufacturing Company was organized July 7th, 1881, for the manufacture of wagons, carriages and machinery, with a capital stock of $50,000. Shakopee City Mills have grown out of a mill established about 1859 by Reis brothers, who had a three story stone mill with three runs of stone.
In addition to the industries named, Shakopee has two carriage and wagon shops, two cooper shops, one lime kiln, one pop factory, two breweries, one brickyard, three tailors, two harness shops, one marble shop, four blacksmith shops, one feed mill with store, one firm of contractors and builders, three insurance agents, seven stores with general merchandise, two furniture, three boot and shoe, two hardware, two jewelry, two drugs, one book and music, two agricultural implements, one lumber, one sewing machines, one pianos and organs, three meat markets, one barber shop, one bakery, one broom maker, two restaurants, three groceries, one photographer, one portrait and scenic artist, four millinery, one livery stable, one veterinary surgeon, ten hotels, eleven saloons.
Page 302. May 23d, 1857, the city was incorporated… The charter of the city was then (after 1861) surrendered and it fell back under the township government. March 3d, 1870, the city was again incorporated.
Page 304. The population of Shakopee city was 2,011 by the census of 1880. (History of the Minnesota Valley, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Rev. Edward D. Neill, North Star Publishing Company, Minneapolis, 1882)
Shakopee lies on the south bank of the Minnesota river, twenty-eight miles from St. Paul, and twenty-two miles from Minneapolis. It is the county seat of Scott county, is incorporated as a city and has a population of 1,900, composed of Germans, Americans and Irish, the Germans predominating. It has first-class public buildings, court house, jail, city hall, two large public schools, two fine parochial schools, and six churches, being two Catholic, one each of Presbyterian, Episcopal, Lutheran and Methodist. A fine iron bridge costing $20,000 spans the river. Shakopee has an efficient fire department, numbering ninety men. Its manufactories are as follows: Steam flouring mill, steam wagon works, steam bottling works, two breweries, two brick yards, two lime kilns, and two cigar factories. Its exports are flour, wagons and sleighs, bottled beverages, beer, brick, lime, wood, wheat and pork. Our manufacturers and merchants enjoy unexcelled prosperity. Our shipping facilities are very good. The Omaha and Milwaukee roads pass through the city and cross each other here, using a joint depot. The Minneapolis & St. Louis passes on the north side of the river, three-fourths of a mile from the city; and the Minnesota river is navigable at all times of the summer season to St. Paul. Shakopee is a good point for manufacturing enterprises. Fuel is very cheap, soft wood costing from $1.75 to $2 per cord. Sites are reasonable and labor is cheap. Taxes are a rule low. The banking interest is represented by a bank with a capital of $150,000. The undeveloped industries of this city are the lime and brick industries; although two lime kilns and two brick yards are in operation now, there is room for many more. Underlaying this city is a solid bed of lime rock, all of four miles long and one mile wide, furnishing an inexhaustible supply. Clay is also abundant, and land can be obtainable at very reasonable rates. Twenty lime kilns could easily be supplied with material. The Shakopee lime is known as the very best in the entire Northwest. These two industries furnish the best investment for capital, as the demand exceeds the supply. (The Saint Paul Daily Globe, Thursday Morning, December 3, 1885, Volume VII, Number 337, Page 5)