Archives and Holdings

Helping You Discover Goodhue County

The Library and Archives – Holdings at the Goodhue County Historical Society consist of a wide range of physical and digital materials that are meant to preserve the local history of the county. The holdings consist of books, manuscripts, photographs, audio and video recordings, maps, and other unique items related to the local history of the area. The archives are committed to preserving the history of Goodhue County and the surrounding areas, while also providing access to the community and visitors through this unique collection.

Archival Highlights

Township records
A. E. Welch Women’s Relief Corp records, 1887-1964
Frances Densmore collection
Goodhue County Farm Bureau records
Goodhue County League of Women Voters records
Lutheran Ladies Seminary, Red Wing, photograph collection and other materials (no records)
Mineral Springs Sanitorium records, 1914-1976
Nuremberg Trial transcripts of Judge William Christianson
Oral history collection
Red Wing Pottery/Union Stoneware Company catalogs
Roland Reed collection

Census Records

Minnesota Territorial, 1850
State Census (Goodhue County only), 1865, 1875, 1885, 1895, 1905
Federal Census index (Goodhue County only), 1870 (partial)
Federal Individual and Agricultural Census (Red Wing, some townships), 1870
U.S. Nonpopulation Census Schedules: Agriculture, Manufacturing, Mortality, Social Statistics: 1860, 1870, 1880

Directories

Red Wing only: 1860, 1876-77, 1894, 1948, 1962, 1963 through 1984, 1990, 1992-1993, 1998
Red Wing/County: 1893, 1899, 1903, 1921, 1924, 1932, 1937-38, 1938
Red Wing Telephone directories: 1917-1920, 1922, 1924 through 1998

Plat Books

1857 (plat maps for Welch and Burnside Townships only)
1877 (indexed by Kathryn Ericson)
1894 (index available)
1914 (index available)
1921, 1925, 1926, 1928, 1933, 1938, 1946, 1947, 1951, 1953, 1954, 1956-1959, 1962, 1966, 1970, 1972, 1976, 1983-84, 1987

Dalby Database

Compiled by John Dalby of Faribault, Minnesota, this index contains over 323,000 entries for burials in Goodhue, Rice, Steele, LeSuer, Scott, Dodge, Waseca, Dakota, Olmsted, and other area counties. Also names and data of Civil War Vets of Minnesota.

Newspapers on Microfilm

Cannon Falls Goodhue County News: February 15-22, 1900
Cannon Falls Lewis Ledger: October 5, 1911
Cannon Falls Beacon: January 5, 1906-December 25, 2008
Goodhue Enterprise: December 26, 1896-May 20, 1926
Goodhue County Tribune: May 27, 1926-September 11, 1991
Kenyon Minnesota Signal: June 1, 1900-November 24, 1905
Kenyon Courier: January 20, 1938-July 14, 1938
Kenyon Independent: July 21, 1938-November 30, 1939; March 28, 1940-August 14, 1941
Kenyon Leader: October 2, 1890-September 26, 1907; November 1, 1924-December 26, 2007
Kenyon News: April 11, 1906-November 10, 1927; July 5, 1928-December 31, 1936
Pine Island Journal: December 1, 1882-October 30, 1885; September 19, 1890-May 8, 1891
Pine Island Record: December 25, 1891-August 25, 1993
Wanamingo Progress: April 9, 1909-September 11, 1991
Zumbrota County Free Press: February 15, 1883-
Zumbrota Independent: April 24, 1890-May 10, 1906 (copies missing)
Zumbrota News: July 25, 1890-August 25, 1993
Zumbrota News Record: September 8, 1993-June 28, 1995, July 3, 1996-June 24, 1998
Red Wing Grange Advance: October 15, 1873-August 1, 1877
Red Wing Advance: August 8, 1877-November 19, 1884
Red Wing Daily Independent: November 30, 1891-March 10, 1892
Red Wing Journal: May 14, 1890-May 8, 1897
Red Wing Republican: January 9, 1895-December 25, 1901
Red Wing Republican Daily (Morning Rural Edition): September 1, 1911-June 17, 1912
Red Wing Republican Daily (State Fair Edition): September 3, 1923-September 8, 1923
Red Wing Republican Daily (Early Mail/Rural Route Edition): October 1, 1929-December 31, 1929; July 1, 1930-December 31, 1932
Red Wing Republican Daily (Home Edition): April 1, 1946-June 30, 1949
Red Wing News Daily: November 28, 1904-May 31, 1905; August 10, 1911-March 31, 1923
Red Wing Republican Eagle Daily: April 1, 1946-September 30, 1950
Red Wing Republican Morning: June 18, 1912-April 30, 1913; July 1, 1913-May 31, 1917
Red Wing Republican Morning (Rural Edition): August 1, 1917-April 30, 1921
Red Wing Republican Sunday: November 21, 1920-November 12, 1922
Minnesota Posten: November 7, 1857-Ocotber 13, 1858
Luthersk Kyro-Tidning, Red Wing: December 1, 1871-December, 1873
Evangelisk Luthersk Tidskrift: December 1877-December 1878
Nordstjernen, Red Wing: January 4, 1895-November 18, 1898

Obituary Index

Obituaries copied from county newspapers, 1975 to present. There are a few older obituaries.

Family Genealogies

Family histories that have been donated to the GCHS.

Alien Registration Forms, 1918

On microfilm. Alphabetized by last name for groups of townships. Lists county immigrants who had not become citizens.

Military Information

Civil War index, by last name
Spanish American War: photograph collection of individuals in Company G
WWI: Goodhue County in the World War
WWII: index by last name, photograph collection of men and women who served.

Red Wing Histories

1933 History of Red Wing by C.A. Rasmussen
1942 History of Red Wing to 1942 by S. T. Irvine
1975 Red Wing: Saga of a River Town by Madeline Angell

Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps

Cannon Falls: 1893, 1899, 1905, 1921
Dennison: 1958
Frontenac: 1961
Goodhue: 1960
Kenyon: 1933, 1953
Pine Island: 1957
Red Wing: 1884, 1891, 1895, 1902, 1910, 1917, 1927
Skyberg: 1922
Stanton: 1961
Wanamingo: 1959
Welch: 1961
White Rock: 1961
Zumbrota: 1885, 1890, 1899, 1910, 1911, 1927, 1948

County Histories

1869 Past and Present of Goodhue County by W.H. Mitchell
1878 History of Goodhue County (biographical sketches are indexed)
1893 Memories of an Old Settler by J.W. Hancock
1909 History of Goodhue County (biographical sketches are indexed)
1935 History of Goodhue County by C.A. Rasmussen
1963 Goodhue County Heritage edited by Harold Severson
1967 Discontinued Towns and Post Offices of Goodhue County by Roy W. Meyer
2000 Goodhue County Minnesota, A Narrative History by Frederick L.Johnson