# Stillwater *City and county seat of Washington County, Minnesota; site of the territory's first prison and of its successor, MCF-Stillwater.* Stillwater is the county seat of Washington County, Minnesota. It lies on the west bank of the St. Croix River, opposite Houlton, Wisconsin, and counted 19,394 residents at the 2020 census.[^1] An act of the territorial legislature in February 1851 established the prison there, and it began receiving inmates in 1854.[^2] Its successor, the Minnesota Correctional Facility–Stillwater (MCF-Stillwater), is operated by the [[Minnesota]] Department of Corrections.[^3] On May 15, 2025, Gov. Walz and the Legislature agreed, as part of a budget deal, to close MCF-Stillwater by June 30, 2029. The reported figures were $160 million in deferred repairs, more than $8 million spent on preservation over four years, and $40 million in projected annual savings.[^4][^5] Five years earlier, in February 2020, the [[Office of the Legislative Auditor (Minnesota)]] found that "chronic shortages of correctional officers and the increasing use of overtime at several prisons have affected the safety of prisoners and staff." It reported an average fiscal-year 2019 shortage at Stillwater of 25 officers against 314 allocated.[^6][^7] The prison's record also includes its labor. According to the [[Minnesota Historical Society]], "the prison's first warden put prisoners to work for his private manufacturing business."[^8] From 1866 a private firm, [[Seymour, Sabin & Co.]], contracted for prison labor at Stillwater.[^9] A state binder-twine plant ran inside the prison from 1891 until 1970.[^10] ## Who The prison was created by act of the territorial legislature in February 1851. Governance passed from a warden and a Board of Inspectors to the State Board of Control in 1901, and then to the Department of Corrections in 1959.[^2] John McKusick built the settlement's first sawmill and proposed the name "Stillwater" in 1843; he later served as a state senator.[^1] The *[[Star Tribune]]* reports that McKusick sold the territorial government the marshy ground on which the prison was built.[^11] The 2025 closure agreement was made by Gov. Walz and the Legislature.[^4] The pack does not record party affiliations or a recorded vote on that agreement. Oversight bodies have reported on the prison: - The Legislative Auditor reported in 2020.[^6] - John Poupart, Minnesota [[Ombudsman for Corrections]], reported on a September 11, 1983 incident at Stillwater.[^12] The Washington County Attorney's office is in Stillwater. A 1997 Court of Appeals caption lists Washington County Attorney Richard M. Arney's office at 14900 61st Street North, Stillwater.[^13] In 1859, during the [[Wright County War]], a militia company called the Stillwater Guards was among the units named in accounts of the deployment.[^14][^15] ## What The institution was opened as the Minnesota Territorial Prison and later became Minnesota State Prison.[^1] It is now MCF-Stillwater.[^3] The prison's records held by the Historical Society include: - Convict Registers for 1854–1902; - *[[The Prison Mirror]]*, a prison publication, for 1887–1993.[^2] The twine plant was a forerunner of [[MINNCOR]], the State's correctional-industries program, established in 1994.[^10] The [[Stillwater Lift Bridge]], built in 1931 to a Waddell and Harrington design, is one of six vertical-lift highway bridges built in Minnesota and Wisconsin before the Second World War. It is recorded in the Minnesota Department of Transportation's historic-bridge inventory.[^16] [[New Heights School]], a charter school in Stillwater, opened in 1993. The project's at-issue record gives its enrollment as 111 and describes it as the nation's oldest K–12 charter school. That record treats it as eligible for charter-school lease aid under Minn. Stat. § 124E.22. The record does not establish what lease aid the school has actually drawn, because school-by-school figures were not obtained.[^17] ## When - **1837 (July 29 and September 29):** The United States signed treaties with the Ojibwe and Dakota nations opening the St. Croix Valley to settlement.[^1] - **October 26, 1843:** Four partners formed the Stillwater Lumber Company, founding the settlement.[^1] - **1848:** A territorial convention held in Stillwater began the process toward statehood.[^1] - **February 1851:** The territorial legislature established the prison by act.[^2] - **1853 or 1854:** Wikipedia gives 1853 as the year the prison opened. The Historical Society's guide gives 1854 as the year it began receiving inmates.[^1][^2] - **March 4, 1854:** Stillwater was incorporated as a city.[^1] - **1912:** A new prison opened on a 160-acre site two miles south of the original.[^2] - **1931:** The lift bridge was built.[^16] - **1959:** The Department of Corrections took over governance of the prison.[^2] - **1970:** The twine plant closed.[^10] - **September 11, 1983:** An incident occurred at the prison; the Ombudsman's report on it was submitted on October 14, 1983.[^12] - **August 2, 2017:** The St. Croix River replacement bridge opened, and MnDOT closed the 86-year-old lift bridge to vehicles the same evening.[^18][^19] - **August 2018:** Washington County charged the killing of Officer [[Joseph Gomm]] at MCF-Stillwater.[^20] Wikipedia describes it as "the state's first known incident of a prison guard killed in the line of duty by an inmate."[^21] - **February 2020:** The Legislative Auditor issued its safety findings.[^6] - **May 15, 2025:** The budget agreement to close the prison by June 30, 2029 was reached.[^4] ## Where The city covers 7.98 square miles: 6.96 square miles of land and 1.02 square miles of water, by [[United States Census Bureau]] figures. State Highways 36, 95 and 96 are among its main routes.[^1] The [[Dakota]] name for the area, Hoġan Wanḳe Kin, means "the place where the fish lies." The Ojibwe name, Giigoonzh-agomod, means "where the fish floats."[^1] The first prison stood at a site historically called Battle Hollow.[^11] MNopedia records that the original site was "damp and infested with roaches and bed bugs." It also records a transfer to the new site between 1912 and 1914.[^8] The replacement prison sits on a 160-acre tract two miles south.[^2] The [[St. Croix Boom]] was moved to a site above Stillwater after its 1856 reorganization.[^22] ## Why The territory divided its principal institutions among three towns. The *Star Tribune* account summarizes the bargain this way: "St. Paul would get the capital, and Stillwater would get the prison." In that account, St. Anthony took the university.[^11] Wikipedia gives the same three-way division, but it names [[Minneapolis]] as the university's location and attributes the selection to the territorial convention.[^1] The State gave reasons for the 2025 closure, and the reported figures can be set beside them. According to the trade-press report, the closure cited unsafe conditions and $160 million in deferred repairs. The same report gives preservation spending of more than $8 million over the prior four years.[^4] AFSCME Council 5 executive director Bart Andersen called the decision an "unacceptable budget gimmick" that "undoubtedly puts lives on the line."[^4] ## How Prison labor was organized through private contracts and later through state industry: - **Private contracts.** Seymour, Sabin & Co. first contracted for convict labor at Stillwater in 1866.[^9] *Farm Collector* reports that by August 1888 the works were producing 900 machines and 450 engines with that labor, and that a new contract followed in November 1889. Successor firms followed: Minnesota Thresher Mfg. Co. after an 1884 collapse, then Northwest Thresher Co. in July 1901. [[M. Rumely Co.]] bought the business and shut it down by 1913.[^9] - **State twine plant.** By 1907 the plant employed 225 workers producing over 15 million pounds of twine a year. It reached nearly one billion pounds cumulatively by 1941. It closed in 1970, with officials conceding it "failed to provide marketable skills."[^10] MNopedia also records: - a 1969 episode involving solitary confinement and tear gas; - a suit by the [[Department of Human Rights]]; - a 1970 decision limiting that department's oversight authority over the prison.[^8] The Ombudsman's report on the September 11, 1983 incident records the following: - Use of force: 15 tear-gas canisters and 8 grenades; the hall was secured at 11:03 p.m. - Segregation: 20 inmates were placed in segregation. The report states that four Black inmates were transferred to Oak Park Heights the next day. Several days later, fifteen White and five Black inmates were moved to Stillwater segregation. - Training: five of the 240 training hours for new correctional counselors were devoted to human and race relations.[^12] On the river, the boom company was chartered in 1851 by Wisconsin and Minnesota Territory. Isaac Staples, Martin Mower and other investors reorganized it in 1856, and it operated until 1914 as "the epicenter of the St. Croix Valley's logging industry." In 1889 the "Weyerhaeuser Syndicate" leased controlling interest.[^22] ## How much - **Replacement bridge:** The St. Croix River crossing cost $646 million.[^18][^19] - **Closure finances, as reported in 2025:** - $160 million in deferred repairs; - more than $8 million in preservation spending over four years; - $40 million in projected annual savings.[^4][^5] ## How many - **City population:** 19,394 at the 2020 census. The median age was 43.1, and there were 7,750 households.[^1] - **Prison population and staff, as of May 2025:** 1,206 inmates against a capacity of 1,600, and about 565 employees affected by the closure.[^4] - **Legislative Auditor findings, 2020:**[^6][^7] - Staffing at Stillwater in fiscal year 2019 averaged 25 officers short against 314 allocated. - Forced overtime ran at 15–20 percent. - Assaults resulting in disciplinary convictions rose from 112 in 2017 to 149 in 2018. - The Auditor reported that "female staff endure repeated sexual offenses by some male prisoners" in some state prisons. - **Logging:** In the 1880s and 1890s, up to 200 companies "crammed more than 300 million board feet of logs into the river annually," according to the [[National Park Service]].[^22] ## In the at-issue record The project's at-issue record contains six pairs keyed to Stillwater: 1. **The 1851 bargain and the 2025 closure.** The 1851 three-way division of institutions is set beside the 2025 closure decision.[^23] The pair is anchored to a primary document held in the [[University of Minnesota]] Digital Conservancy.[^23] 2. **The closure agreement and the State's own infrastructure report.** The record sets the May 2025 agreement beside the State's February 2024 infrastructure report, *Crumbling Conditions*, issued about fifteen months before the closure decision.[^24][^4] 3. **The Auditor's finding and the staffing count.** The Auditor's February 2020 finding is set beside the Stillwater staffing figure of 25 short of 314.[^6] 4. **The prison site sale.** McKusick's sale of the Battle Hollow site is one pair.[^11] 5. **New Heights School and lease aid.** The school's founding is set beside the lease-aid statute.[^17] 6. **The lift bridge.** The bridge's 1931 construction and 2017 closure to vehicles is the sixth pair.[^16] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Stillwater, Minnesota* (rev. 1381546732, retrieved Oct. 27, 2026) — location, county seat, 2020 census, area, highways, names, 1837 treaties, 1843 founding, 1848 convention, 1854 incorporation, 1853 prison opening, three-institution placement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stillwater,_Minnesota [^2]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Minnesota State Prison, Stillwater* (LibGuide) — February 1851 act; first inmates 1854; governance chain 1901 and 1959; 1912 new prison on 160-acre site; record series. https://libguides.mnhs.org/prison/stillwater [^3]: Minnesota Department of Corrections, *MCF-Stillwater* (facility page) — the facility's current identity and operator. https://mn.gov/doc/facilities/stillwater/ [^4]: Corrections1, *Minn. to close state's second-largest correctional facility, citing unsafe conditions* (May 2025) — May 15, 2025 agreement; June 30, 2029 date; $160 million, $8 million, $40 million; 1,206 vs. 1,600; ~565 employees; AFSCME statement. https://www.corrections1.com/jail-management/minn-to-close-states-second-largest-correctional-facility-citing-unsafe-conditions [^5]: KARE 11, *Minnesota to close Stillwater correctional facility* (May 2025) — broadcast confirmation of the closure agreement. https://www.kare11.com/article/news/local/minnesota-to-close-stillwater-correctional-facility/89-83e82da5-c5d4-49e2-996c-bc956379d3b9 [^6]: Office of the Legislative Auditor, *Safety in State Correctional Facilities* (Feb. 2020), summary — staffing finding; FY2019 Stillwater shortage of 25 against 314; overtime; assaults; staff-safety finding. https://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/ped/2020/prisonsafetysum.htm [^7]: Office of the Legislative Auditor, *Safety in State Correctional Facilities* (Feb. 2020), full report — the same findings in full. https://www.auditor.leg.state.mn.us/ped/pedrep/prisonsafety.pdf [^8]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Minnesota State Prison, Stillwater* (MNopedia) — first warden's use of prisoner labor; original site conditions; 1912–1914 transfer; 1969 episode; Department of Human Rights suit and 1970 decision. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/place/minnesota-state-prison-stillwater [^9]: *Farm Collector*, *Northwest Thresher Company Began with Minnesota Prison Labor* — 1866 contract; 1888 output; 1889 contract; 1884, 1901 and 1913 corporate history. https://www.farmcollector.com/company-history/northwest-thresher-company-began-with-minnesota-prison-labor/ [^10]: Minnesota Historical Society, *Twine Industry at the Minnesota State Prison, Stillwater* (MNopedia) — plant 1891–1970; 1907 and 1941 output; closure; MINNCOR established 1994. https://www.mnhs.org/mnopedia/search/index/thing/twine-industry-minnesota-state-prison-stillwater [^11]: *Star Tribune*, *How did Stillwater become home to Minnesota's first prison?* — the capital/prison/university division; McKusick's sale of the Battle Hollow site. https://www2.startribune.com/minnesota-territorial-prison-stillwater-history/600199594/ [^12]: John Poupart, Minnesota Ombudsman for Corrections, *Report on the September 11, 1983 Stillwater incident* (submitted Oct. 14, 1983) — munitions used; time secured; segregation and transfers; training hours. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/docs/pre2003/other/840005.pdf [^13]: Minnesota Court of Appeals, *State v. Bjorkman*, No. C9-96-822 (Apr. 8, 1997) (unpublished) — caption listing the Washington County Attorney's office at 14900 61st Street North, Stillwater. https://mn.gov/law-library-stat/archive/ctapun/9704/822.htm [^14]: Wikipedia contributors, *Wright County War* — 1859 events and militia roster including the Stillwater Guards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_County_War [^15]: Forum Communications, *The insurrection that rocked Minnesota* — militia units named, including the Stillwater Guards. https://www.brainerddispatch.com/news/the-vault/the-insurrection-that-rocked-minnesota [^16]: Minnesota Department of Transportation, *Historic bridge 4654* — the 1931 Stillwater Lift Bridge; Waddell and Harrington; one of six pre-WWII vertical-lift highway bridges in Minnesota and Wisconsin. https://www.dot.state.mn.us/historicbridges/4654.html [^17]: Revisor of Statutes, *Minn. Stat. § 124E.22* — charter-school lease-aid provision; primary anchor of the at-issue pair on New Heights School. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/124E.22 [^18]: CBS Minnesota, *St. Croix River bridge opens* (Aug. 2, 2017) — opening date; $646 million cost; closure of the 86-year-old lift bridge to vehicles. https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/st-croix-river-bridge-opens [^19]: Minnesota Department of Transportation, *St. Croix Crossing* (project site) — the replacement river crossing. https://www.dot.state.mn.us/stcroixcrossing/ [^20]: MPR News, *Stillwater prison: Gomm killed; inmate faces murder charge* (Aug. 2, 2018) — Washington County charges in the killing of Officer Joseph Gomm at MCF-Stillwater. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/08/02/stillwater-prison-gomm-killed-inmate-murder-charge [^21]: Wikipedia contributors, *Minnesota Correctional Facility – Stillwater* — description of the killing as the state's first known such incident. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Correctional_Facility_%E2%80%93_Stillwater [^22]: National Park Service, *The St. Croix Boom* — 1851 charter; 1856 reorganization and move above Stillwater; 1856–1914 operation; volumes; 1889 lease. https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/stcroixboom.htm [^23]: University of Minnesota Digital Conservancy, document anchoring the 1851 at-issue pair — primary anchor for the three-way placement. https://conservancy.umn.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/46ca5f5a-b584-437e-bfcf-59bedf1a3c72/content [^24]: State of Minnesota (OBFC), *Infrastructure Report: Crumbling Conditions* (Feb. 2024) — the State's infrastructure report anchoring the closure pair. https://mn.gov/obfc/assets/OBFC%20Infrastructure%20Report_Crumbling%20Conditions%20Feb%202024_tcm1157-610210.pdf