Most Minnesotans view Richfield as the perfect prototype of a post-World War II American suburb. But as Richfield: Minnesota's Oldest Suburb points out, baby boomers and bungalows are just part of this community's notable history. In fact, Richfield citizens trace the origins of their city to the 1820s and the colony at Camp Coldwater a mile north of Fort Snelling. A satellite of the fort and known as Minnesota's first European-American settlement, Camp Coldwater stood as a pre-territorial day version of a suburb. Geography and politics combined to assign Richfield an important role in Minnesota history. Even before the town was formally constituted in April 1858, its farmers helped supply two larger neighborhoods to the north - St. Anthony and a boomtown on the Mississippi's west bank call Minneapolis. In those pre-Civil War days, Richfield's lush, rolling prairie appeared to dictate a future based on agriculture. Richfield: Minnesota's Oldest Suburb tells the story of the town's evolution from a large and prosperous agricultural district to a densely populated suburb just one-tenth its original size. Minneapolis expanded southward from its Lake Street border with Richfield until it reached today's Crosstown Highway, while those livening in western Richfield carved new communities from the original town. Frederick L. Johnson's narrative details the Richfield story from its years as a frontier outpost in Minnesota territory to the present day. It gives special emphasis to the community's striking metamorphosis from rural enclave to suburban boomtown. Johnson notes, "The emergence of 1950s-era Richfield as an exemplar of the new American suburb almost perfectly mirrored the nation's growth during the remarkable postwar boom years. The force of this demographic hurricane could not be sustained, and growth rates returned to normal. In the meantime, suburban Richfield had grown through infancy and awkward adolescence to reach full maturity in just 25 years." The Richfield Historical Society's extensive collection of photographs augmented by maps, including some newly created, help illustrate this well documented account of the community's first 150 years. - Dust jacket.