COUNTY ORGANIZED: 1852

COUNTY NAMED FOR:  Father Louis Hennepin's name was chosen because he originally named St. Anthony Falls and recorded some of the earliest accounts of the area for the Western world.

COUNTY SEAT NAMED FOR: Its name is attributed to the city's first schoolteacher, who combined mni, a Dakota Sioux word for water, and polis, the Greek word for city.

STANDING:  Two -

• The City Hall and Courthouse was built between 1887 and 1906 on the site of the first public schoolhouse west of the Mississippi River. Hennepin County and the City of Minneapolis each occupied half of the building. The County ceremoniously moved in November 11, 1895 and the City followed on December 15, 1902. 
• Hennepin County moved most operations across the street into its new Government Center in 1975.