Steele County, Minnesota

 

Founding: 1856 (declared in 1855)
Parent counties: Blue Earth, Le Sueur, and Rice

Namesake: Franklin Steele, early Minnesota resident
Seat: Owatonna (1856–)

Land area: 430 square miles

Population (2020): 37,406

Population (historic): 2,863 (1860); 12,400 (1880); 16,524 (1900); 18,475 (1930)

Periods of population growth: pre-1860–1880; 1890s; 1910s; 1950s; 1970s

Subdivisions: Four cities; 13 townships

Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 3,246 (20.9%)
Pre-1940 housing survival rate: 72.5%
Pre-1860 housing survival rate (1940): 5.2%

Farm housing in disrepair (1950): 2.6%

Nonfarm housing in disrepair (1950): 2.8%

Average farmhouse value (1930): $2,180
Average outbuilding value (1930): $2,879
Average farmhouse size (1940): 6.9 rooms
Number of farms (1920): 1,860
Average farm size (1920): 114.6 acres
Sources of settlement: New York, Germany, Wisconsin, Norway, Czechoslovakia, and Denmark
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Owatonna

Namesake: The Straight River, whose Dakota name is Wakpá Owóthaŋna

Founding: 1855 (platting); 1855 (post office); 1858 (incorporation)

Population (2020): 26,420

Population (historic): 609 (1860); 3,161 (1880); 5,561 (1900); 7,654 (1930)

Periods of population growth: pre-1860–1900; 1910s; 1930–1980; 1990–2010
Pre-1940 residences (estimated): 1,682 (15.1%)
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Outstanding Buildings

1. Case Farm (1866). 2431 50th Road. Clinton Falls.
2. Daniel Piper Farm (1877). 6524 North County Road 45. Medford. Greek Revival/Italianate.
3. Frank Holmes House (c. 1880). 4281 28th Road. Meriden. Italianate.
4. Holy Trinity Catholic Church (1939–1941). 9946 24th Road. Somerset. Romanesque.

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