Hamilton, Glendale, Savage. So great have been the changes in this river town that it has had three names.

A steamboat landing, located at the mouth of the Credit River where it empties into the Minnesota River, marked the beginning of the town of Hamilton. Before the arrival of the first white settlers–most of them Irish and Scottish–Dakota Indians lived throughout the Minnesota Valley.

The community has been shaped by its transportation connection — wagon trail, river, rail and roadway — and by its role as a farm trade-service center. Hamilton was established as a town on Nov. 20, 1857. In was incorporated on Aug. 31, 1892. The first post office, Hamilton Station, was renamed Glendale Post Office in October 1894.

In 1902, Marion W. Savage, a prominent Minneapolis businessman, purchased 400 acres of land on the south side of the river and proceeded to build a mosque-like horse stable and an unrivaled half-mile covered track. In the same year, he acquired the famous Dan Patch, who on Sept. 8, 1906 startled the world by pacing the mile at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds in the record-breaking time of 1:55. He became the only harness horse in racing history to break the two-minute barrier 35 times.

Apart from physical prowess, Dan Patch was a crowd pleaser. He would nod his head to a cheering crowd, stop for cameras, and stare straight into the lens as pictures were taken. Dan, who traveled across the country in a luxurious 65-foot railroad car, was a personality, a hero to kids across America, as were Lassie and Rin Tin Tin.

Marion W. Savage, the son of an Iowa country doctor, was the founder of International Stock Foods, a Minneapolis stock feed and veterinary supply company. With Dan Patch the center of his advertising campaign, Savage amassed a fortune. At Christmastime, the benevolent entrepreneur would hitch Dan to a cutter and transport gifts to the poor of Minneapolis.

When the horse died in 1916, Savage died 32 hours later. It was an untimely death, said to have been caused by a broken heart.

So fascinated were local residents by Savage, and the fairy tale-like story of his horse, they decided the town should be called Savage. Grazing horses, spotted here and there across the community, still suggest the glorious days of old, a time when world famous stallion Dan Patch made local history.
Savage remained a relatively small town for the next several decades, and it was not until after World War II that residential development began above the river bluffs. The war years did, however, have some major impacts on the community.

In 1941, Cargill Inc. started a shipbuilding yard near the Minnesota River. Several ocean-going tankers were constructed for the U.S. Navy. After the war, the facility was changed to a grain-handling port.

Also, Camp Savage, a branch of the U.S. Army, opened in April 1941 as a military intelligence language camp for servicemen of Japanese-American (Nisei) ancestry. A commemorative plaque and trees help memorialize the site.

On April 28, 1969, the Village of Savage was consolidated with the adjacent Glendale Township to form the current 17-square-mile city of Savage.
The horse, a symbol of the city’s past, also may be viewed as a beacon for its future. While the working farm slowly gives way to urbanization, the city of Savage continues to celebrate and honor its natural amenities — wooded hills and streams — that provide unique lifestyle opportunities.