Alexandria’s early days begin before the U.S. Civil War. Two young brothers, Alexander and William Kinkead, came from Delaware westward following their dreams of settling land in the Minnesota Territory.

Their travels brought them along the Red River Trail during 1858 when Minnesota moved from territory to statehood. The younger brother, William, was commissioned to help survey and stablish a government road from St. Cloud to Fort Abercrombie in the west. The road would travel north of the Red River Trail.

By autumn of 1859, Alexander established a U.S. Post Office in his log cabin and served as the Postmaster. It was then that the town site was named after its postmaster, Alexander Kinkead, and given the name it bears today—Alexandria.

At first The J.C. Burbank Stage line only went as far as St. Cloud, and then Sauk
Centre, but later, after the road was completed, it traveled a regular route with Alexandria as one of its’ stops. On its’ heels came a steady migration of settlers to what would become Douglas County, with the majority settling in or near the Alexandria town site.

Read more about the Kinkead brothers and the history of Alexandria, Minnesota by visiting the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce website.