The story
Read it all →How Heron Lake came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of Heron Lake.
Heron Lake was named in 1870 after a local lake where great blue herons were seen.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Jared Winkler · CC BY-SA 4.0–Not graded
History · Heron Lake
Heron Lake’s post office opened in 1870, and 36% of its homes were built before 1940
Its Register listing is the Church of the Sacred Heart (Catholic). Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1894 on, and the census since 1880.
1870first post office
1on the National Register
36%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
5famous people
Quick answers
How Heron Lake began
When was Heron Lake founded?
1870
The Heron Lake post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Heron (1895), opened inside today’s city and later closed.
First census: 163 in 18802020 census: 602156 years
Founding year: the first Heron Lake post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about Heron Lake’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 928 in 1900; 602 people lived here in 2020.Mapped building by building4 fire insurance maps, 1894 to 1926, drew every building in Heron Lake.Old housesHalf of Heron Lake’s homes were built before 1953.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start Heron Lake’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Heron Lake’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
Heron Lake, census by census
Peaked at 928 in 1900; 602 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Heron Lake’s Wikipedia page.
Every building
Heron Lake, building by building, 1894–1926
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1894Sheet 1 of 2Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Heron Lake, 1870 to 1970
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1870Post officeThe Heron Lake post office opens
- 1895Post officeThe Heron post office opens
- 1897
Born hereGarland Buckeye is born here - 1899Born hereNoel Johnson is born here
- 1899Post officeThe Heron post office closes
- 20th century
- 1900CensusPopulation peaks at 928
- 1913Born hereFrederick William Freking is born here
- 1918Born hereGeorge Mann is born here
- 1970
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
By decade
Heron Lake, decade by decade
Date unknown1 to date
Date?Today15 recent
2022Heron Lake Watershed District Relief MapMap
2021Heron Lake, MN
2020The fields are fallow for winter, but this soybean-pr…
2020One of several New Vision Co-Op grain elevator and si…
2020The fields are fallow for winter, but this soybean-pr…
2020High snow piles are a common sight in southern Minnes…
2020A tree and railroad trestle, silouetted in a winter f…
2020A new American flag and an old water tower
2020A partially frozen stream between southern Minnesota'…
2020Entrance to the Sacred Heart Catholic Church
2020A winter field between southern Minnesota's legendary…
2020Sacred Heart Catholic Church
2020The public library
2020Heron Lake, Minnesota
2005MNMap-doton-Heron LakeOn the map
Heron Lake on the map, 1970 to 1985
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Heron Lake. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1970Heron Lake sheet · 1:24,000U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Heron Lake.
Then & now
Stand where they stood
No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this viewCabot Building, 274 & 282 Tenth Street
Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Heron Lake’s page.
Retake this view · +15On the National Register
1 historic place in Heron Lake
The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
1989
Church of the Sacred Heart (Catholic)
Buildings
Architectural styles listings
Baroque1
Neo-Classical1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Famous people
See all →5 famous people were born in Heron Lake
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
Places that used to be
Lost post offices
Heron Lake’s post office has been open since 1870. Another post office, Heron, opened and closed inside today’s town.
Heron Lake
Heron
18701950today
US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
Stories next door
History across the town line
Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.
Questions about Heron Lake’s history
What year was Heron Lake founded?
The Heron Lake post office opened in 1870, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
What is on the National Register in Heron Lake?
One place: the Church of the Sacred Heart (Catholic) (listed 1989).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (3), the Library of Congress (13), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.