Minnesota State Historic Preservation Office

08/27/2025

In the past 18 months, the Minnesota SHPO has taken huge strides to make information about our vast historic resources available via 21st century technology. Be sure to attend the conference session that will introduce you to SHPO’s inventory and teach you how to access two online applications: the Minnesota Statewide Historic Inventory Portal (MnSHIP) and the Office of the State Archaeologist (OSA) Portal.

See the full schedule and register today: https://mn.gov/admin/shpo/conference/

08/13/2025

Advocating for historic preservation to elected officials and others is important work, but can seem daunting if you don’t know where to start. Attend the PreserveMN 2025 Conference session where four experienced presenters will provide practical, real-world tips on how to become more effective at promoting preservation in your community.

Learn more and register today: https://mn.gov/admin/shpo/conference/

08/06/2025

Curious about why modern highway rest areas look the way they do? Then you won’t want to miss the PreserveMN 2025 session on the historic New Ulm Spring Roadside Parking Area located along a quiet stretch of Trunk Highway 14 near New Ulm. View all the info on our conference website, and make sure to register today! https://mn.gov/admin/shpo/conference/

06/25/2025

SHPO is at the League of Minnesota Cities 2025 Annual Conference "City Fest" today in Duluth! Stop by the Exhibit Hall, Booth 512 to say hi to our staff. https://www.lmc.org/learning-events/events/league-events/2025-lmc-annual-conference/

06/03/2025

The National Park Service (NPS) has announced a grant opportunity through the Emergency Supplemental Historic Preservation Fund (ESHPF). $48,000,000 will be awarded under the ESHPF grant program for necessary expenses related to the consequences of natural disasters occurring in calendar years 2023 and/or 2024. Applications are due July 15, 2025. https://www.nps.gov/subjects/historicpreservationfund/fy25-disaster-recovery.htm

05/28/2025

We are excited to announce a new National Register Listing in Minnesota! The Ness Lutheran Church and Cemetery in Litchfield consists of three parts: the Ness Cemetery, the Ness Church, and the Mass Grave and Ness Monument commemorating the first white victims of the U.S.-Dakota War of 1862. The district represents an important aspect of the Norwegian Lutheran immigrant experience, where the church served as both a spiritual and cultural hub. The cemetery is the resting place for many of the original settlers to the area and serves as an ongoing memorial to the early altercation between settlers and the Dakota. Furthermore, the church, constructed in 1874, is a distinctive local example of the Norwegian Lutheran Church style. See more recent National Register Listings in Minnesota here https://mn.gov/admin/shpo/about/preservation-program/mnnrlistings.jsp

11/16/2024

Another exciting new National Register listing in Minnesota! Constructed in 1949 with additions on 1955 and 1989, the Roseau Memorial Arena was the most important structure in Roseau’s identity as a “hockey town” during its period of significance. The rink’s design consists of a single-story barrel vault open arena utilizing 35’ high pine glulam arches and pine purlin decking. It was the city’s first enclosed rink and remained the only rink for competitive play through 2000. Like many Northern Minnesota cities, hockey is central to the cultural identity of this close knit, rural community.

11/15/2024

A new National Register listing in Minnesota! The Tifereth B’nai Jacob Synagogue-First Church of God in Christ is located on the Near North Side of Minneapolis. The building was designed by architect Perry Crosier and constructed in 1926 for the Tiferenth B’nai Jacob congregation, which had been founded by Orthodox Jewish immigrants. In 1957, the building was purchased by the First Church of God in Christ, a Holiness-Pentecostal African American congregation that continues to worship in the building to this day. The interior is notable for its original wall paintings that were installed in 1932. For nearly 100 years this religious building has been associated with the ethnic heritage of first the Jewish and then the Black community in North Minneapolis. Illustrating the societal and religions forces that shaped the Near North Side area of Minneapolis and resulted in the historic contexts of marginalized communities that define the area.

10/17/2024

Applications are now open for Heritage & Historic Preservation - NPS "Save America's Treasures" grant program!

The National Park Service is pleased to announce that the Save America's Treasures (SAT) grant program is now accepting applications. The Save America’s Treasures grant program was established in 1998 and first awarded grants in 1999 to help preserve nationally significant historic properties and ...

10/07/2024

Minnesota has a new property listing in the National Register of Historic Places! The Northern Federal Building, located at 386 Wabasha Street N in St. Paul, is a sixteen-story office building constructed in 1973, in the downtown core of Saint Paul. The building was designed as a speculative office space by local architectural firm Grover Dimond Associates incorporating Libbey Owens Ford’s innovative “Vari-Tran Thermopane” reflective glass cladding system at the upper levels. The Northern Federal Building is a distinctive example of Late-Modernism in Saint Paul’s central business district.

09/25/2024

Exciting National Register news! Two important cemetery sites on the Minnesota River near Shakopee were listed in the National Register of Historic Places on September 19, 2024. Both are groups of burial mounds that were constructed by the Dakota beginning more than two thousand years ago, with continuity of use extending into the early nineteenth century. The Ṡákpe Mounds/ Pond Mounds Site once had 28 prominent mounds. The neighboring Ṡákpe Mounds/ Steele Mounds Site once had 111 mounds. At both sites, some mounds are still visible. Others have been obscured above ground by disturbance in the early twentieth century but geophysical investigations indicate that intact portions remain below. These historic cemeteries are protected under state law by the Minnesota Private Cemeteries Act (307.08), and managed and preserved by the City of Shakopee and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community. Photos: David Mather/SHPO

09/11/2024

LAST CALL to pre-register for PreserveMN 2024! Online registration closes Friday, September 13th! Walk-in registrations are welcome both Thursday and Friday, Sept. 19 and 20, at the Red Wing Public Library, 225 East Avenue, Downstairs Level during the conference, but reserve your spot today! https://mn.gov/admin/shpo/conference/