Charles Hoag

Who was Charles Hoag?

Charles Hoag was the city of Minneapolis’s first school master, second Treasurer of Hennepin County and a classical scholar. He is also known to have played a part in the naming of Minneapolis.

Hoag was born June 29, 1808, in New Hampshire and was educated in the public schools of the time. He attended Wolfboro Academy and Friends' Boarding School, at Providence, Rhode Island. By the time he was 16 he was teaching and would continue to practice for the next 27 years. He also served as the principal of a Philadelphia Grammar School for 13 years.

He moved to Minnesota in 1852 where he taught in Saint Anthony for two terms. Upon his arrival in the state he claimed 160 acres of land in the future site of Minneapolis and as time went by became more involved in public affairs. He served as the second treasurer of Hennepin county, was an Odd Fellow and served one term as Grand Master of the Minnesota Grand Lodge. He was also Hennepin County Superintendent of Schools from 1870 and 1874.

Hoag was also President of the Agricultural and Horticultural Societies of Minnesota and purchased a farm in 1857 which he called Diamond Lake Farm.