Henderson, Minnesota

Henderson was founded in August 1852 by Joseph R. Brown, and was named for his mother's maiden name.[7]

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 a residence for the Brown family.

In the following years, Henderson quickly became a major distribution center for the inland settlements surrounding the Minnesota River Valley.

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

The seat for Sibley County was originally established in Henderson, and an imposing courthouse was erected, being put into service in 1879. However, pressure from residents of Gaylord, from as far back as 1887, to gain the county seat precipitated a county-wide vote in 1915. That vote resulted in Gaylord gaining the seat; this caused around 200 residents to leave Henderson, a major decline in the city's population. Throughout the 50 years after this population loss, Henderson's economy became increasingly more centered on agriculture. Its success in transitioning to agriculture brought rise to the present Sauerkraut Days celebration.[8][9] The former courthouse, now designated 'Henderson Community Building', houses Henderson City offices.[10]

The official newspaper of Henderson Minnesota is the Henderson Independent. It is the oldest newspaper in Sibley County. It started April 16, 1873 under the title of The Sibley County Independent. In 1922, it became the Henderson Independent.[11]

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.[10]

Bender Park

Bender Park is a city park that has a large multi-purpose shelter where the Henderson's 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.[13]

Henderson Hummingbird Garden

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

High Island Park

High Island Creek Park is 220 acres with over 6 miles of trails and camping opportunities.[14]

Rush River Park

Rush River Park is 285 acres with over 12 miles of trails with a picnic shelter and camping areas.[15] It is a popular horseback riding destination.

Ney Nature Center

The Ney Nature Center is 446 acres.[16] It provides year-round outdoor activities and indoor programing.

Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge

The Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge[17] is over 70 miles long, stretching from Bloomington, MN to Henderson, MN. The size of The Refuge is currently over 14,000 acres. The Refuge is managed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Approximately 50% of Henderson borders the Refuge.[18]

Sauerkraut Days

Henderson hosts Sauerkraut Days, a three-day event that takes place during the last full weekend of June. Events include a Kraut Car Cruise, 5K Kraut Run, tractor ride, kiddie parade, grand parade, Minnesota State Arm Wrestling Championships, car show, Miss Henderson Coronation, Sauerkraut Idol, and the World Champion Sauerkraut Eating Contest.[19]

In 2006, Sam Delzer of Henderson devoured 2 pounds of kraut in 1 minute 37 seconds in front of over 400 spectators during Henderson's Sauerkraut Days. Delzer repeated as champion in 2007 with a time of 1:47. Brian Schneedwind was the Kraut King in 2008. He finished his two pounds of kraut in one minute flat. Schneedwind was also the 2005 champion.

Henderson Classic Car Roll In[20]

Held each Tuesday from May - September. This event features classic vehicles, local shops and eateries, food venders and a farmers market. On average over 250 classic cars line the streets of Historic Henderson along with 1000 - 2000 Classic Car Roll-In fans.

Kraut Kickoff

Prince Celebration

Hummingbird Hurrah

Flood Fest

The first inaugural Flood Fest was held April 5th, 2019. In a rare feat, the city was able to shut down State Highway 19 and have the Flood Fest right on the highway. There was live music, a photo booth, fire trucks, a race car and restaurant table service from the Henderson Roadhaus being offered on the highway[21]. The headliner for the event was Triple Stich, a rock band that has played internationally and releases its music through streaming services.[22]

Flood Fest 2020 was scheduled to be held April 4, 2020, but was postponed in late March due to fears of spreading illness during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Heritage Days

Music on Main

Holiday Showcase

Garage Sale Weekend

Henderson's Main Street - Top 10 Charming Minnesota Main Streets

The Henderson Classic Car Roll-In is held on Tuesday nights all summer long.[20]

Kerfoot Canopy Tours is located just north of Henderson, which includes over one mile of zip lines and a high ropes course.[23]

Henderson sits along the Scenic Byway in the Minnesota River Valley.[24]

Toody's Sweet Treats - 45 Must-Visit Minnesota Ice Cream Shops

The movie Purple Rain filmed the famous "Lake Minnetonka" scenes just east of Henderson along the Minnesota River.[25] Henderson is home to the Memorial Prince Bench, Prince Mural and Purple Rain Route. The mural was completed by New York artist Moises Suriel.[26]

Local folklore characters include the Buck's Lake Beast and Crazy Anne.

Active Bands

• Mammoth Bone
• Dirt Roads - Celebrated the five year anniversary of its album "The Road Less Graveled" with an anniversary performance on December 21, 2019 at the Henderson Roadhaus. The band has played host to an "Eve of the Eve" celebration on the Saturday before Christmas for almost a decade. Dirt Roads performed for the first time in two years, playing the album in its entirety, while also receiving commemoratives plaques to celebrate the album reaching "Aluminum" status after reaching more than 600 distributions (combined physical and streaming)[27].
• Organic Cowboys
• White Hinders
• TrainwrecK
• '#fakeband

Inactive/Defunct Bands

• Scarlet Sky
• Planet Masters
• SmallTown Eviction

• Joseph R. Brown – Minnesota and Wisconsin Territorial legislator
• Jerry Dempsey – Minnesota State Legislator (1993-2006)
• Terry Dempsey – Minnesota State Legislator (1978–1992); State District Court judge (1992–2002)
• Ray Oldenburg – Urban sociologist
• Edward T. Young - Minnesota Attorney General and state legislator
• Jeff Bertrang - Brigadier General (Retired), Minnesota Army National Guard[28]
• Joel King - Motion Pictures Cinematographer[29]

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 1992.

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

Minnesota New County School: MNCS is a Minnesota Public Charter School, operating two sites and utilizes project-based learning. The MNCS Elementary, also known as the “1900 Building” site, teaches grades K-5. The MNCS High School is located on Main Street and teaches grades 6-12.

EdVisions Off-Campus High School: Also known as EOC, is a Minnesota Public Charter School was 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 Colin Peterson (DFL). It is in Minnesota Senate district 18, represented by Scott Newman (R), and Minnesota House district 18B, represented by Glenn Gruenhagen (R).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total 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.[30]

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