Mazeppa was platted in 1855, and named in honor of Hetman Ivan Mazepa via a poem by Lord Byron. The first census was taken in 1860, it showed 534 residents. The town was incorporated in 1877. Mazeppa in its early years was a flour milling center and boasted 7 trains a day at its peak. The line was nicknamed the "Bug Line" due to the crooked nature of the line east of town. The mill during its best years produced 600 barrels of flour a day and had 80 employees. The mill was powered by a turbine from water held back by 26 foot tall wooden dam on the Zumbro River and formed the "Mill Pond" as seen in historical pictures. The mill had its ups and downs until it burned down on Feb 2, 1891, foul play was suspected. The last train left Mazeppa in 1952. Despite valiant efforts at growth and industry, Mazeppa has since moved into the 21st Century as a quiet, well kept farm & bedroom community.
Passages that mention Mazeppa, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Wabasha County, Minnesota1920 · page 129Read the page →
Read the text
The station continued to be called Tracy for some time, but as there was another town of Tracy in the state, the postoffice was called Lakey, from one of the officials of the railroad. The Mazeppa Mill Company started buying grain here in 1878. In the summer of 1879 P. J. McGinn built a two-story frame building and put in a stock of general merchandise. In the spring of 1863 he sold to P. J.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Wabasha County, Minnesota1920 · page 91Read the page →
Read the text
Mazeppa Village is the metropolis of southwestern Wabasha County. It is located in the northwestern corner of Mazeppa Township on the banks of the Zumbro River, which furnishes an excellent waterpower. Railroad service is provided by the Midland Division of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway Company. The village is not only an important shipping point for this part of Wabasha and Goodhue Counties, but gains added importance from the fact that not far away is the great dam which furnishes the city of Rochester with its electric power. There is an adequate number of churches, the educa¬
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Mazeppa, 1855 to 1908
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
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), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
2026
2020
2005