Goodhue County, Minnesota

Goodhue County, Minnesota

Goodhue County, Minnesota, is located just southeast of the Twin Cities Metro area, in the southeast region of Minnesota.

Goodhue County is bordered:

• on the north by Dakota County,
• on the west by Rice County,
• on the south by Dodge County and Olmstead County, and
• on the east by Wabasha County, the Mississippi River, and the State of Wisconsin.

Goodhue County was chartered on March 5, 1853, but its boundaries were not established until 1854-55.

The farmland in Goodhue County in the 19th century was extremely rich, and at one time, Goodhue County produced more wheat than any other county in the nation.

James Madison Goodhue

Goodhue County was named after James Madison Goodhue, a Massachusetts lawyer who migrated to Minnesota, and in 1849 published the Minnesota Pioneer newspaper – the first general circulation newspaper in Minnesota.

Goodhue County Courthouse

The current Goodhue County Courthouse is located at 454 West Sixth Street, Red Wing, MN 55066.

Goodhue County Population

Goodhue County, Minnesota had a population of 46,183 as of the 2010 Census, an increase of 8.4% over the 2000 Census population of 44,127.

Goodhue County Primary Cities

The city of Red Wing – a delightful river town – is the county seat for Goodhue County Minnesota.

Other notable cities in Goodhue County, Minnesota include Cannon Falls, Goodhue, Kenyon, Wanamingo, and Zumbrota.

The population of the city of Red Wing – as of the 2010 Census – was 16,459.

The city of Red Wing was named after a Dakota Indian chief of the same name.

In the 19th century, the city of Red Wing – as a river town – had a number of very large grain elevators.

However, once the railroads came to Minnesota and ran their tracks up to Minneapolis, the city of Red Wing lost its importance as an agricultural center.

Nevertheless, the natural clay deposits in the region fostered the development of a pottery and stoneware industry.

Goodhue County Educational Institutions

Hamline University started in Red Wing in 1854, but had to close in 1869 after the Civil War – due to declining enrollment.

It reopened in St. Paul in 1880.

Red Wing was also the first location for Gustavus Adolphus College – founded in 1862.

However, it didn’t stay long, leaving town in 1863, and relocating to St. Peter in 1876.

Red Wing had been a center for Norwegian Lutherans of a pietistic orientation, where a seminary was operated from 1879, through 1917.