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- Saint Paul
Capital of Minnesota · Ramsey County · capital since 1849 · 45.0°N 93.1°W
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul, on the Mississippi at the head of practical navigation, has been Minnesota's capital since the territory was organized in 1849. Minneapolis, its twin across the river, is the larger city.
Where Saint Paul is
Saint Paul is the seat of Ramsey County, the smallest and most densely populated county in Minnesota, at 44.95°N, 93.09°W. The city stands on bluffs above the north bank of the Mississippi River, a few miles below the point where the Minnesota River joins it at Fort Snelling. The river makes a large bend through the city, and downtown sits on a terrace about 700 ft above sea level inside the loop. Minneapolis is directly west, with the two downtowns about 10 miles apart. Saint Paul is on Central Time.
How it became the capital
The site was a landing below Fort Snelling, and a settlement grew around a log chapel dedicated to Saint Paul in 1841. When Minnesota Territory was created in 1849 the town was the main river port and became the capital. A bill to move the capital to St. Peter passed the legislature in 1857, but a council member took the bill and disappeared until the session ended, and Saint Paul remained the capital when Minnesota became the 32nd state in 1858.
Population
Saint Paul had 311,527 residents in 2020, the second-largest city in Minnesota. Minneapolis, the largest, had 429,954. Together the Twin Cities anchor a 16-county metropolitan area of about 3.7 million people, nearly two-thirds of the state's 5,706,494. Rochester and Duluth, the next-largest cities, each have fewer than 125,000.
The capitol
The Minnesota State Capitol was designed by Cass Gilbert, a Saint Paul architect who went on to design the US Supreme Court building and the Woolworth Building. It was completed in 1905 on a hill north of downtown. Its white Georgia marble dome, 223 ft high, is one of the largest self-supporting marble domes in the world. A gilded copper sculpture group, the Progress of the State, with four horses and a chariot, stands at the base of the dome. The building was restored between 2013 and 2017.
Distances to other cities
| City | Direction | Road distance |
|---|---|---|
| Minneapolis, MN | west | about 10 mi |
| Duluth, MN | northeast | about 150 mi |
| Chicago, IL | southeast | about 400 mi |
Des Moines is about 245 miles south on Interstate 35.
Related maps
- Minnesota map — the whole state with borders, cities and counties.
- Minnesota county map · blank Minnesota map · printable Minnesota map.
- All 50 state capitals on one map, and the state capitals quiz.
- Midwest region · West North Central division · Central Time Zone.