Editing Richfield, Minnesota (section)

==History==
[[Image:Richfield hist boundaries.png|thumb|left|upright=.8|Map showing land annexations and Richfield's original borders as a town in 1854 and present day borders as a city]]

In the 1820s, some small settlements developed around [[Fort Snelling]]. By the late 1830s, the fortress served as a destination for newcomers—lumbermen, missionaries, farmers, traders and travelers—migrating to the borderlands people were now calling "Minisota".<ref>William Watts Folwell, ''A History of Minnesota'' 1:455-57,(St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society). 1921 reprint 1956</ref> Minnesotan [[Franklin Steele]] reached the area in 1837 and worked as a sutler, selling goods to soldiers.<ref>[[Rodney C. Loehr]]. "Franklin Steele, Frontier Businessman." ''Minnesota History'' 27 (December 1946): 312-314.</ref>

Fort Snelling's garrison made up the bulk of the area's population,<ref>Holcombe. ''Minnesota as a Territory'', (Mankato: Publishing Society of Minnesota) 2:96. Folwell, A History of Minnesota, 1:503-515</ref> along with Henry Sibley and Alexander Faribault's 75-person American Fur Company operation. Other small settlements of traders, farmers, missionaries and refugees began to develop outside the fort, some with permission, some without. These residents built communities on land that became known as Richfield.

;Minnesota's oldest suburb claim
Richfield was one of the earliest postwar suburbs in the Twin Cities to be populated by veterans returning from [[World War II]], but its claim to be Minnesota's oldest suburb date to the land's connection to [[Fort Snelling]] in the 1820s. The term "suburb" is from the Latin ''suburbium'', "the land outside a walled city". Much of the land that comprised the Township of Richfield and today's City of Richfield included the Fort Snelling military reservation, which included [[Coldwater Spring|Camp Coldwater]].<ref name="ReferenceA">Johnson, Fred, ''Richfield, Minnesota's Oldest Suburb'' 1, (Richfield: Richfield Historical Society Press).</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Smetanka|first=Mary Jane|date=February 11, 2008|title=Richfield, the state's 'oldest suburb'|url=https://www.startribune.com/richfield-the-state-s-oldest-suburb/15531027/|access-date=January 5, 2020|website=StarTribune}}</ref>

===Richfield Township is established===
[[File:LocationofRichlandMill.gif|upright=.75|right|thumb|Map showing location of the Richland Mill]]

One of the first settlers to the area was [[Riley Bartholomew]], a former general in the Ohio Militia. He later became a Richfield justice of the peace and a [[Minnesota Senate|Minnesota state senator]]. Bartholomew built a house on Wood Lake's eastern shore in 1852, and the restored [[Riley Lucas Bartholomew House]] is listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]]. Today, the Richfield Historical Society maintains the house and the site.

The Harmony post office, south of the Richland Mill on Lyndale Avenue, opened in 1854. Postmaster James Dunsmoor named the mail center after his hometown in Maine.<ref>Johnson, Fred, ''Richfield, Minnesota's Oldest Suburb'' 14, (Richfield: Richfield Historical Society Press). Balcom, ''Early Richfield History'' 16-17.</ref> Richfield farmers looked on the metropolis to its north as their marketing target. They helped supply its restaurants, hotels, grocers and citizens with fresh produce, with enough left over to ship by railroad to other cities.<ref>Johnson, Fred, ''Richfield, Minnesota's Oldest Suburb'' 37, (Richfield: Richfield Historical Society Press).</ref>

On May 11, 1858, Congress approved the [[Territory of Minnesota]] as the 32nd state to join the union. That day, local citizens met in a schoolhouse at present-day 53rd and Lyndale to form a municipal government. At that meeting, those who previously said they lived in Harmony or Richland Mills chose the name Richfield for their community.<ref>[http://www.cityofrichfield.org/about/history.htm History of Richfield] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051201013303/http://www.cityofrichfield.org/about/history.htm|date=December 1, 2005}}, City of Richfield Website</ref><ref>On April 10, 1858, the [[Hennepin County, Minnesota|Hennepin County]] Board of Commissioners established a number of towns including "Richland." Folwell History of Minnesota. II: 10-11. Records of the Town of Richfield, County of Hennepin, State of Minnesota, See minutes of the May 11, 1858, meeting.</ref>

Settlers from [[Maine]] made up 35% of U.S.-born adults 18 or older in 1860 Richfield. New York [[immigrants]] were 21%. Immigrants from [[Ireland]], numbering 58, represented half of the 119 adults from other nations. Just three of Richfield's citizens had been born in Minnesota.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060613035353/http://www.villageprofile.com/minnesota/richfield/03/topic.html Richfield History], Community Profile</ref>

Richfield's fields proved bountiful for the settlers. Early crops included corn, wheat and oats. Wheat immediately became the cash crop, sold in the area's first major market, [[Saint Paul, Minnesota|St. Paul]]. Those in southern [[Hennepin County]] found it more profitable to haul their wheat crop to St. Paul than to the St. Anthony Falls district. This was before "King Wheat" and Minneapolis's evolution into a milling center.<ref>Attwater and Stevens, ''History of Minneapolis and Hennepin County, Minnesota'' 1413-1414. Richfield's George Odell wrote his town's history in the Atwater and Stevens book. ''Minnesota Farmer and Gardener'', Lyman M. Ford and John H. Stevens, ed., No. 1. Nov. 18, 1860, 13. Letter from H. H. Hopkins in the December 1860 issue. pages 60-61.</ref>

;Market gardening
Minneapolis became a favorite trading point for market gardeners in 1897 with the building of the modern, covered Second Street Market just two blocks west of [[Hennepin Avenue]] and Bridge Square. The market featured a massive platform for gardeners, including Richfield's sizable contingent, to unload and display produce. The new system freed streets from traffic snarls by allowing each person to unhitch and put up their horses, while their wagon was backed into an assigned space. Wholesale customers could then bring their teams to the platform and negotiate prices when the starting bell sounded.<ref>The new Second Street Market at 2nd Street and 2nd Avenue North is praised in the Minneapolis monthly magazine ''The Market garden: Journal for the Gardener and Trucker'', 4 (Market 1897): 3.</ref>

===Boundary changes===
Today's boundaries differ markedly from those the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners set forth on April 10, 1858, when it established the towns of Richfield, Minneapolis, [[Bloomington, Minnesota|Bloomington]] and [[Eden Prairie, Minnesota|Eden Prairie]]. Richfield's boundaries included about 63 square miles. Richfield originally ranged to Minneapolis's Lake Street on the north, to what is now Highway 169 on the west, to Bloomington on the south, and to Fort Snelling and the Minnesota and Mississippi rivers on the east.<ref>Johnson, Fred, ''Richfield, Minnesota's Oldest Suburb'' 14, (Richfield: Richfield Historical Society Press). David J. Butler. "Did the Town of Richfield ever extend as far north as Franklin Avenue?" ''Richfield Historical Society Bulletin'', (Summer 2006):3-4. Balcom, ''Early Richfield History''</ref>
[[File:Plat of Lands in the City of Minneapolis Recently Annexed from the Village of Richfield Showing Proposed Zoning Regulations - DPLA - 7b4853eb2083080b79acee10f06a208f (cropped).jpg|thumb|393x393px|Plat of Lands in the City of Minneapolis Annexed from the Village of Richfield in 1927.]]
Parts of Richfield were later lost to neighboring towns or villages through annexation. An 1886 partition of Richfield created the village of St. Louis Park, and a division in 1889 produced the village of Edina. Minneapolis absorbed sizeable portions of Richfield through legislative action or annexations in 1867, 1883, 1887 and 1927. The growth of Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport during the last half of the 20th century and additions of land to the Fort Snelling compound meant further reductions.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

===20th century===
[[File:Richfield MN-washburn Ave.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1|Housing development along Washburn Avenue, circa 1950]]

In 1908, Richfield became a [[village]]. From 1908 until 1950, Richfield's local government consisted of a [[President (government title)#Sub-national|president]], three [[trustees]], and a [[city clerk]]. On November 7, 1950, residents voted for a city-manager form of government, meaning the city had a [[mayor]], four council members, and a [[City Manager|city manager]]. This is still Richfield's form of government. The first mayor was Clarence Christian, who began serving in 1951, but served as president under the old format dating back to 1948. By the late 1940s, the city's population started increasing rapidly as farmland was sold to developers building homes for veterans returning from [[World War II]]. The Richfield Chamber of Commerce was formed in 1955 and has been deeply involved in the community's development and redevelopment.<ref>[http://www.richfieldhistory.org Richfield Historical Society's web site]</ref>

Over the years, populations of all nearby communities increased and after [[World War II]], Richfield flourished with commuters to [[Minneapolis–St. Paul|Twin Cities]] jobs. As of 2019, Richfield has a population of about 35,000, who live within seven square miles of neighborhoods, parks, and shops.