Henderson, Minnesota

Henderson was founded in August 1852 by Joseph R. Brown, and was named for his mother's maiden name.[5]

By 1855, Henderson had become a fast-growing city. It harbored more than 60 buildings, including a hotel, a warehouse, a steam sawmill, as well as Brown's house, which functioned as a boarding house, a store and the Brown family residence.

In the following years, Henderson quickly became a major distribution center for the inland settlements surrounding the Minnesota River Valley. It was the trailhead of the Henderson-Pembina road.

By the mid-1860s, Henderson had two major brickyards, The Mattei and Schwartz Brickyards, which both contributed heavily to the early 1900s brick-style buildings still found in Henderson.

The seat for Sibley County was originally established in Henderson, and an imposing courthouse was erected, being put into service in 1879. But pressure from residents of Gaylord, from as far back as 1887, to gain the county seat precipitated a 1915 countywide vote that resulted in Gaylord gaining the seat; this caused around 200 residents to leave Henderson, a major decline in the city's population. During the 50 years after that population loss, Henderson's economy increasingly centered on agriculture. Its success in transitioning to agriculture brought rise to the present Sauerkraut Days celebration.[6][7] The former courthouse, now the Henderson Community Building, houses Henderson City offices.[8]

Henderson has two museums and one public library.

• Sibley County Historical Museum: Operated by the Sibley County Historical Society
• J.R. Brown Minnesota River Center: Operated by the Joseph R. Brown Heritage Society
• Henderson Public Library: Henderson is member of the Traverse des Sioux Library Cooperative.

Allanson's Park

In 1855, the town founder, J.R. Brown, designated the land for future use as a public park. This land became Allanson's Park, which today has 15+ camping sites for tents, campers and RV's, a picnic shelter and playground.[8]

Bender Park

Bender Park is a city park that has a large multipurpose shelter where Sauerkraut Days is held. It also has a two baseball fields and a concession stand. It is the home field to the Le Sueur-Henderson High School Girls Fast pitch team.[9]

Henderson Hummingbird Garden

The Henderson Hummingbird Garden was established as a part of the Henderson Hummingbird Hurrah and is in Bender Park.

High Island Park

High Island Creek Park is 220 acres with over six miles of trails and camping opportunities.[10]

Rush River Park

Rush River Park is 285 acres with over 12 miles of trails with a picnic shelter and camping areas.[11] It is a popular horseback riding destination.

Ney Nature Center

The Ney Nature Center is 446 acres.[12] It provides year-round outdoor activities and indoor programing.

Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge

The Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge[13] is over 70 miles long, stretching from Bloomington to Henderson. It occupies over 14,000 acres. The Refuge is managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. About 50% of Henderson borders the Refuge.[14]

• Joseph R. Brown – Minnesota and Wisconsin territorial legislator & town founder
• Jerry Dempsey – Minnesota state legislator (1993–2006)
• Terry Dempsey – Minnesota state legislator (1978–1992); District Court judge (1992–2002)
• Franklin P. Kroehler - Minnesota state legislator and farmer[15]
• Albert G. Lieske - Minnesota state legislator and farmer[16]
• Ray Oldenburg – urban sociologist
• Edward T. Young – Minnesota attorney general and state legislator
• Cora C. Koester - Current Mayor

The local school district is Independent School District 2397 and operates three facilities. It is the consolidated district of ISD 734 (Henderson) and ISD 393 (Le Sueur), which consolidated in 1991.

• Park Elementary: Park is in Le Sueur with grades K-3
• Hilltop Elementary: Hilltop is in Henderson and is a 4-5 STEM elementary school
• Le Sueur-Henderson High School: The middle school/high school is in Le Sueur with grades 6–12.

Minnesota New County School: MNCS is a Minnesota Public Charter School with two sites that utilizes project-based learning. MNCS Elementary, also known as the "1900 Building", teaches grades K-5. MNCS High School is on Main Street and teaches grades 6–12.

EdVisions Off-Campus High School, also known as EOC, is a Minnesota public charter school formed in Henderson. It is an online high school that utilizes project-based learning with student enrollment from all over Minnesota.

Henderson is in Minnesota's 7th congressional district, represented by Michelle Fischbach. It is in Minnesota Senate district 18, represented by Scott Newman, and Minnesota House district 18B, represented by Glenn Gruenhagen.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 1.09 square miles (2.82 km²); 1.06 square miles (2.75 km²) is land and 0.03 square miles (0.08 km²) is water.[17]

Minnesota State Highways 19 and 93 are two of the main routes in the community. U.S. Highway 169 passes nearby.

As of 2000 the median income for a household in the city was $43,125, and the median income for a family was $49,091. Males had a median income of $31,736 versus $25,688 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,544. About 4.7% of families and 6.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.7% of those under age 18 and 9.7% of those age 65 or over.

• Official website