27 Minnesota State Monuments Assessment

In 2004 the Minnesota Historical Society sought assistance with preserving 27f monuments, which had not been evaluated for many years.

The primarily masonry-based structures ranged from modest grave markers to granite shafts reaching up to 50 feet in height. Designated by the state, the monuments represented approximately 100 years of Minnesota history, dating from the early 1870s to the early 1970s. They included in the survey featured the Fort Ridgely State Monument (1896), which commemorates the heroism of the fort’s defenders during its nine-day siege in the 1862 U.S.–Dakota Conflict, the Hinckley Fire State Monument (1900), which marks the mass grave of 248 victims of the 1894 Hinckley Fire, and the Traverse des Sioux State Monument, which recognizes the site where the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux was signed in 1851.

EverGreene was contracted to perform condition assessments, involving documenting the materials, installation methods, and existing conditions of the monument’s zinc, bronze, iron, and stone elements. Each monument was surveyed, measured, photographed, and mapped. Several were located in obscure or abandoned cemetery sites. The information collected was used to develop treatment recommendations for each monument, including prioritized scopes of work and associated cost estimates.