By Brian Ojanpa
Free Press Staff Writer
ST PETER
Mon, May 12 2008
—
A tornado’s random destructiveness perhaps was exemplified best in 1998 by the swath it cut in St. Peter’s historic district.
There are dozens of homes and buildings dating back to the 1800s in the city’s core, with 14 on the National Register of Historic Places.
The historic structures are concentrated within a small area. A dozen received varying degrees of damage, three were destroyed and three were spared.
The best-known historic home in town, the Cox House, avoided major damage even though it was in the heart of the damage area.
The city nearly lost the heavily damaged historic Nicollet Hotel building, but a group of Twin Cities investors swooped in to save it from the wrecking ball.
“The Nicollet Hotel is a great success story because only at the last second, literally, were they able to get support to restore it,” said Bob Sandeen of the Nicollet County Historical Society.
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