Shakopee Public Schools history

Shakopee was designated as the Scott County seat on March 3, 1853.

In 1854, Holmes platted Shakopay Village, naming it after the leader of the Dakota band, Chief Sakpe II.

Shakopee was incorporated as a city on May 23, 1857.

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.

At the beginning of 1860, Shakopee had a population of 1,138, many of German descent.

In October 1861, the state Legislature passed an unusual state law in which the city’s charter was surrendered and it fell back under the township government.

The First National bank was organized in 1865 with a capital stock of $50,000.

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.

March 3d, 1870, the city was again incorporated.

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)

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.

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)

First Biennial Election in 1887 – Mayoral term changed to two years.

A municipal electric system was established and electric lights were turned on for the first time on Good Friday evening, March 28, 1902.

In 1927, Holmes Street bridge was completed linking Shakopee to Chaska.

In 1969, a living history museum, Murphy’s Landing, was established on the site of the area’s original ferry route.

The city dug its first well to supplant “foul river water.” It served the City until 1991.

In 1994, the track was renamed to Canterbury Park, and today live racing, a 24-hour card club and entertainment events annually draw more than 600,000 people.

The opening of the Bloomington Ferry Bridge in 1995 has spurred unprecedented growth in the city, which saw its population double in the succeeding 10 years.

Both a new Shakopee Police Department and a new Public Works building were completed in 2003.