From Palisade Head to Sugar Loaf: An Inventory of Minnesota's Geographic Features and Cultural Significance

Zelle, Carole

A primary objective of this study was the creation of a statewide inventory of geographic features of cultural and historic significance for Minnesota. The inventory was conducted primarily from published sources, and fieldwork was conducted only for selected sites. From the inventory, historic contexts applicable to geographic features were developed, and guidelines for evaluating and registering geographic features were prepared. Five sites were nominated to the National Register. The historic contexts are discussed in Chapter 1, the guidelines in Chapter 2, and sample inventory forms are included in the Appendix. This inventory of geographic features of historic and cultural significance reflects a broad view of landscape. An understanding of the cultural and historic landscape includes its buildings, structures, and spaces, but also an understanding of the role of the natural features that create the resource base and setting for human activity. The National Register recognizes landscapes in three categories—designed historic landscapes, rural historic landscapes, and landscapes that are the historic setting of buildings, sites and structures having primary importance. The Register recognizes that the identification of landscapes is an interdisciplinary effort, involving analyses of geology as well as history and culture. The current study involves myriad ideas about landscape: those of explorers, geologists, artists, entrepreneurs, and, ultimately, those of tourists. This project was financed in part by the National Park Service and prepared for the Minnesota Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office, Fort Snelling History Center.

From Palisade Head to Sugar Loaf: An Inventory of Minnesota's Geographic Features and Cultural Significance

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