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Austin is a city in Mower County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 23,314 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Mower County⁶. more...

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The southern part of the city is in Austin Township while the northern part is in Lansing Township; the city is politically independent of both. It is located at the intersection of Interstate 90 and U.S. 218 in the southeastern part of the state. The town was originally settled along the Cedar River and it has two man-made lakes called East Side Lake and Mill pond.

The Hormel Foods Corporation is the largest employer in Austin, and it holds a yearly Spam Jam in Austin. "Spam Town USA," as Austin is sometimes called, is home to the Spam Museum.

From August 1984 until June 1985, there was a major strike at Hormel that resulted in then-Governor Rudy Perpich requesting National Guard intervention allowing replacement workers to enter the plant. This strike was documented in the Academy Award-winning Barbara Koppel film, "American Dream." The town still remains divided over the issue of labor unions at the plant.

History

19th century

In 1853 Austin Nichols (namesake of the city, named in 1856) built the first log cabin on the Cedar River (also called the Red Cedar River), which he sold to Chauncey Leverich in 1854. Leverich built the first sawmill here in 1854-55 and supplied the earlier settlers with lumber. A Methodist preacher first held services in 1855. Settlers in covered wagons full of belongings and followed by livestock came into the area, and on March 1, 1856, Governor Willis A. Gorman signed the act that organized Mower County. It was named after John Edward Mower, a member of the territorial legislature. The first hotel was started in 1856 by J.H. McKinley, and that year Dr. Ormanzo Allen became the small town's first doctor.

School had been held in a small cabin near Leverich's mill as early as 1854, but by 1857 school was being taught by Maria Vaughn in the Robert Audis building. That year W.A. Woodson started to butcher and dress pork for sale and the first Congregational Church services were held in the Old Headquarters Building. The Truesdell brothers built the first grist mill in 1858, thereby reducing the need for oxen-freight flour from Decorah and Chatfield. 1858 also saw the city's first newspaper, the Mower County Mirror, and the beginning of public utilities and street lamps. The Oakwood Cemetery and the first library (started by the Floral Club) were also started in 1858.

The first permanent school building was built in 1865, and Harlan Page opened the first bank the following year. The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and other smaller rail lines were established in 1867-69, thus turning the growing town into a small rail hub. First National was granted a U.S. Government bank charter in 1868. In 1885, service on the Chicago Great Western Railway first started in Austin. George A. Hormel started George A. Hormel & Co. in 1892. Dr. O.H. Hegge and area Lutherans organized the Austin Hospital Association, and thus St. Olaf Hospital was established as a non-profit organization. Charles Boostrom opened the Southern Minnesota Normal College and Austin College of Commerce in 1897; both remained open until 1925.

Read more at Wikipedia.org