Chisago County, Minnesota: History
=== Early history ===
Before the arrival of European settlers, the area that is now Chisago County was home to the Dakota and Ojibwe tribes. The Dakota lived in the southern part of the county and the Ojibwe in the northern part. The first European to explore the area was Sieur duLuth in 1679. French and English trading posts were established in Taylors Falls and Sunrise during the 18th century. In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, French fur traders who traveled south from Lake Superior established trading posts along the river, extending as far south as Taylors Falls.
In 1837, a treaty between the United States and the Chippewa Nation led to the cession of all lands between the St. Croix and Mississippi River, opening the area for European settlement.
The first European settlers arrived in the Chisago County area in the early 1800s. Most of them were of Swedish descent, and they came in search of land and new opportunities. They established small farms and communities throughout the county. Chisago County's early economy was based on farming, logging, and mining. Its forests and mines attracted many settlers to the area. Records of early businesses in Chisago County are recorded in Lindströmsjö. Many Swedes emigrated seeking religious freedom from the oppressive Lutheran Church of Sweden. However, the majority left for reasons other than religious repression and still identified as Lutherans. The early Swedish churches in Minnesota, like the Chisago Lake Evangelical Lutheran Church in Center City, were initially lay-led due to the absence of ordained clergy.
In the mid-1800s, the area that is now Chisago County was part of the Minnesota Territory, and it was not officially established as a county until 1851. It took its name from the Chisago Lake. In its aboriginal form it was "Ki-chi-saga", from two Ojibwe words: "kichi" (large) and "saga" (fair or lovely).
The county seat was originally in Taylors Falls, but was relocated to Chisago City in 1865. It took three more years before the legislature approved this relocation and voters approved it in a referendum. The move was later challenged in the courts on allegations of election fraud, resulting in a two-year delay before the state Supreme Court validated the results. In 1875, the county seat was again moved, this time to Center City where it remains as of 2026.
The development of transportation infrastructure in Chisago County began with the completion of the first bridge across the St. Croix River at Taylors Falls in 1856. Prior to the bridge, ferryboats provided crossings at Sunrise and Rush City. In 1868, a military road was constructed, spanning the entire county from north to south. Railroads soon became a vital mode of transportation, with the completion of the St. Paul and Duluth Railroad, also running north to south, in 1870. …