Walking to a Ghost Town: Nininger and its eccentric founder Ignatius Donnelly

Elder Trekker is a non-commercial, educational channel. Its mission is to encourages adults to remain both physically and mentally active as they age. In this video, I walk the Mississippi River Greenway from the Schaar’s Bluff Trailhead in Spring Lake Park Reserve to the Nininger Township Town Hall. Along the way, I relate the story of the rise and fall of Nininger City and the story of its most famous resident, the Sage of Nininger, Ignatius Donnelly. In addition to his role in founding the town of Nininger, Ignatius Donnelly also had a career as a reform politician and as an author. Even though he lived more than 100 years ago, Ignatius Donnelly is still one of the most famous (and eccentric) residents of Minnesota. We still remember Nininger today because it was the home of Ignatius Donnelly.

Schaar’s Bluff Trailhead
Spring Lake Park Reserve
8395 127th Street East
Hastings, Minnesota

Email: [email protected]

Note: I filmed the videos of the trail in September, 2023.

Resources
The history of Nininger--more than just a dream: an illustrated history of Nininger Township / by the Nininger Chapter of the Dakota County Historical Society; Leslie A Guelcher, author and editor.

The strange genius of Ignatius Donnelly: The populist who debunked Shakespeare and found Atlantis by Zachary Michael Jack.

Ignatius Donnelly: The portrait of a politician by Martin Ridge.

Additional Credits
Trails maps created using Footpath Route Planner (iOS) by Half Mile Labs LLC.

The Emigrant Aid Journal of Minnesota, The Anti-Monopolist, The Representative, and The Great West are all part of the Chronicling America Historic American Newspapers collection at the Library of Congress.

Images courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society are from the Collections Online of the Gale Family Library.

Unless otherwise noted, photographs along the trail and at Nininger are copyright by Douglas Langfield.