MANKATO, man-ka'te, Minn., city, county scat of Blue Earth County, on the Minnesota River at the mouth of the Blue Earth River and on the Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul, the Chicago Great Western, the Chicago and Northwestern and the Chicago, Saint Paul, Minneapolis and Omatha railroads, about 85 miles southwest of Saint Paul. It is situated in an agricultural region and in the vicinity are valuable stone quarries. Minneopa State Park is located four miles from the city. Nine miles south is the Rapidan dam, furnishing hydro-electric power for numerous southern Minnesota cities and villages. Its chief manu factures are stone, knit goods, lime, cement, beer, butter, candy, flour, brick, concrete cul verts, tile and building blocks, traction engines, trip hammers, shirts and overalls, interior hard wood fixtures, cigars, incubators, brooms, paper boxes, foundry and machine-shop products. There are in manufacturing business about 2,000 employees. The principal buildings are State
Normal School, Catholic and Lutheran colleges, a government building, a Carnegie public li brary, Saint Joseph's and Immanuel hospitals. The city has 20 churches, good public and parish schools, a commercial college and the schools mentioned. There are six banks with a com bined capital of $450,000. The deposits amount to over $6,000,000. The manufactures of the city are about $4,500,000 annually.
The city was first settled in 1852 by Eastern people. It was incorporated 15 July 1858, and chartered as a city 6 March 1868. The present government is by commission, Mankato being the first Minnesota city to adopt this form Mankato was the scene of the hanging, 26 Dec 1862, of 38 Sioux Indians, having been co:e victed of murdering white settlers during tit massacre of the preceding summer, west of the city. Pop. 10,365.