HENNEPIN COUNTY: RICHFIELD:

The town of Richland was established by the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners on April 10, 1858. Richfield residents held their first town meeting on May 11, 1858 and changed the name to the town of Richfield. The area was named for the fertile farm land it encompassed. It became a village in 1908 and, on November 7, 1950, it adopted the village manager form of government. In the early days, Richfield extended as far north as the current Lake Street in Minneapolis, included Edina on the west, and extended to the Mississippi and the Minnesota Rivers on the east, and to Bloomington on the south. Three annexations by Minneapolis brought the village to 62nd Street, its present north boundary. In 1888, Edina formed a separate community and, in 1905, a section of the east to 34th Avenue was requisitioned by Fort Snelling. In 1941, another section of East Richfield went to the airport, and, by 1955, all of Wold-Chamberlain Field (now Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport) was separated from the village. In 2004, the city had a population of about 35,000 residents in a seven square mile area.

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The records consist of village and city council minute books (1858-1951), newsletters from the village/city manager to council members (1954-1969), city council letter books (1968-1974), clerk/treasurer account books (1861-1942), treasurer's (1928-1939) and clerk's (1939-1942) finance books, annual budgets (1952-1958), financial statements and reports (1936-1969, incomplete), building permits (1939-1971), legal opinions (1964-1969), ordinances (1908-1944), and records of the Long Range Planning Commission (1958-1961), Public Works Department (1959-1965), and Zoning and Planning Commission (1941-1950). There is also a 1971 police-fire report.

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These documents are organized into the following sections:

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Availability:

The collection is open for research use.

Preferred Citation:

[Indicate the cited item and/or series here]. Richfield (Minn.). Records. Minnesota Historical Society.

See the Chicago Manual of Style for additional examples.

Accession Information:

Accession numbers: None; 2004-47; 2016-63

Processing Information:

Processed by: Charles Rodgers and Duane Swanson, February 2004

Catalog ID number: 001734779

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Arranged alphabetically.

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Financial statements for later years are housed in the Minnesota: State Auditor: Municipal financial statements (cataloged separately).

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This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the Minnesota Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.

Topics:

Building laws -- Minnesota -- Richfield.

City attorneys -- Minnesota -- Hennepin County.

City councils -- Minnesota -- Hennepin County.

City planning -- Minnesota -- Hennepin County.

Finance, Public -- Minnesota -- Richfield.

Fire departments -- Minnesota -- Hennepin County.

Municipal budgets -- Minnesota -- Richfield.

Municipal government -- Minnesota -- Richfield.

Ordinances, Municipal -- Minnesota -- Richfield.

Police -- Minnesota -- Hennepin County.

Public works -- Minnesota -- Richfield.

Zoning -- Minnesota -- Richfield.

Organizations:

Burggraaff, Wayne S.

Morgan, Thomas A.

Peterson, Philip R.

Trafton, Leroy.

Van Krevelen, O. R.

Places:

Richfield (Minn.) -- Politics and government.

Document Types:

Building permits -- Minnesota -- Richfield.

Financial statements -- Minnesota -- Richfield.

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