Video shows the Rapidan Dam being demolished, days after it partially collapsed in southern Minnesota

RAPIDAN TOWNSHIP, Minnesota – The Rapidan Dam is no more. The iconic building partially collapsed earlier this week in the Blue Earth River.

On Friday evening, Blue Earth County officials announced they had taken possession of the dam storage building Family Hruska and removed the structure from the riverbank.

“My family is going to lose their home, they’re going to lose their business, their livelihood, their land is going to be gone,” Shannon Whittet of the Hruska family said earlier this week. “This feels like a death in our family.”

For years the Rapidan Damn store, which WCCO featured in a Finding Minnesota segment in 2022, was a place for families to make happy memories. Fortunately, the bar, chairs, tables and memorabilia were rescued from the building.

Debris blocking the dam caused the Blue Earth River to cut a path that took it to the edge of the Rapidan Dam. The building hung precariously for a few days before partially collapsing.