Carver County History

Minnesota was organized as a territory in 1849. After the Indian Treaties at Traverse des Souix and Mendota in the summer of 1851, the first Carver Co. permanent settlement of whites was formed. Thomas A. Holmes planned and laid out the town of Chaska. Late in the fall of 1851, he sold his claim, the townsite of "Shaska", to David L. Fuller.

Two years later, David sold his interest to his brothers George and Albert Fuller. In June 1854 the town was surveyed and platted. The plat was filed in Hennepin County on September 6, 1854. On February 20, 1855, Carver County and 23 other counties were formed as new counties of Minnesota. The original county seat was San Francisco, but a general election vote on October 14, 1856 changed the county seat to Chaska. 525 votes were cast with 303 being for Chaska. The first newspaper was the MN Thalbote (or, in English, MN Valley Messenger) established in June, 1857 by Fred Orthwein and Albert Wolff. it's office was moved to St. Paul in 1858. The Carver Co. Democrat was established in 1858 by Luther and William Baxter. The third newspaper was the Chaska Herald established in 1860 by Charles Warner.