Heron Lake is in Jackson County, in lower Minnesota. The community was named for the nearby lake, which itself was named for the great blue herons who then congregated there. The main route through the city is Minnesota Highway 60. Nearby localities include Dundee, Kinbrae, Okabena, Wilder. Windom and Lakefield are about twelve miles from Heron Lake, northeast and southeast respectively, and Fulda is about eighteen miles northwest of the city. Former Vice President and presidential nominee, Walter Mondale, attended Heron Lake Public High School for three years while his father was the pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church in Heron Lake. The community was founded in 1871 as the terminus of the Black Hills branch of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Railroad. The first inhabitants of the railroad town were John T. Smith and C.H. Carroll, who opened a store there, followed shortly after by a drug store, the railroad depot itself, a lumberyard, and a hotel. Early on, the area was hit by a grasshopper scourge, along with much of southwestern Minnesota, which brought business to a standstill as the fertile farmland upon which so many of the village’s businesses depended upon were unable to produce between the years of 1873 and 1878. However, 1979 brought the disappearance of the grasshoppers and the construction of two new lines of railroad in the vicinity, and the village was incorporated in 1882. Since its peak population of 928 in 1900, the city has experienced a general decline, but with population increases in 1920, 1940, 1960, 1980, and 2000, with a population of under seven hundred in 2010.
Recommended Resources
In business since 2001, the company operates an ethanol plant on the south side of Highway 60 in Heron Lake, Minnesota. Its site offers information about the ethanol industry, and a corn route map, discount schedules, trading capital units, cash bids, SEC filings, and news items about the company are featured.
http://www.heronlakebioenergy.com/
Facilitated by the Herbert K. Kellam Post 224 and the Veterans Memorial Committee, the memorial is located near the Heron Lake Community Center in Heron Lake, Minnesota. Sketches and photographs of the memorial are put forth, and a description of its implementation is provided.
http://www.legionmemorial.org/
The official city web site features a history of the community and its early citizens and businesses, introduces its council, boards and commissions, and offers administrative and departmental contacts. A guide to local services and facilities, schools, businesses, and recreational opportunities are included.
http://www.heronlakecity.org/
Providing a PK-12th grade curriculum, the public school district operates an elementary school and a high school. A district calendar, strategic plan, policy documents, and an annual curriculum report are presented, along with daily schedules, a student handbook, and an overview of its academic and athletics programs.
http://www.ssc.mntm.org/
Featuring twenty-five private rooms, twenty-three with private bathrooms, a 24-hour nursing staff, in-house physical, occupational and speech therapy, and respite services, the facility serves senior citizens in Heron Lake, Minnesota. Its services and amenities are described in detail, and a calendar of events is posted to the site.
http://www.lakeviewmn.com/
Built in 1920 and serving the Catholic community of Heron Lake, Minnesota, the church’s history, staff contacts and office hours, liturgical roles, faith formation policies and schedules, mass schedules, a church bulletin, and an introduction to associated organizations and programs are included.
http://www.sacredheartheronlake.org/
Schumacher’s Nursery & Berry Farm, Inc.
The wholesale conservation nursery specializes in native seedlings, trees, shrubs, and conifers, stocking a wide variety of northern hardy bareroot and container grown plant material, including pine, spruce, ash, oak, maple, dogwood, cedar, willow, lilac, cherry, and poplar cuttings. An availability list is provided.
http://schumachersnursery.com/
