Minnesota Saint Paul, in east-central Minnesota along the banks of the Mississippi River, has been Minnesota's capital city since 1849, first as capital of the Territory of Minnesota, and then as the state capital since 1858. Saint Paul is adjacent to Minnesota's most populous city, Minneapolis; they and their suburbs are known collectively as the Twin Cities metropolitan area, the 16th-largest metropolitan area in the United States, and home to about 54 percent of the state's population. The remainder of the state is known as "Greater Minnesota" or pejoratively "Outstate Minnesota". The state has 17 cities with populations above 50,000 (as
Minnesota State Academy for the Blind Deaf, which was established three years earlier (1863). The Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library is an extension of the Academy for the Blind. It serves people of all ages everywhere in Minnesota with a collection of hundreds of thousands of items. It is funded by the state and federal governments. Blind Department Building and Dow Hall at the State Academy for the Blind are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Other facilities include Lysen Hall. Minnesota State Academy for the Blind Minnesota State Academy for the Blind (MSAB) (formerly known as the Braille and Sight Saving School)