Austin, Minnesota Austin Austin, Minnesota Downtown Austin, St.
Downtown Austin, St.
Official seal of Austin Location of the town/city of Austinwithin Mower Countyin the state of Minnesota Location of the town/city of Austin Website City of Austin Austin is a town/city in Mower County, Minnesota, United States.
The town was titled for Austin R.
Hormel Foods Corporation is the biggest employer in Austin, and the town is sometimes called "SPAM Town USA". Austin is home to Hormel's corporate headquarters, a factory that makes most of North America's SPAM tinned meat, and the Spam Museum.
Austin is also home to the Hormel Institute, a dominant cancer research institution directed by the University of Minnesota with momentous support from the Mayo Clinic. Austin has been titled one of the "Top 10 Affordable Small Towns Where You'd Actually Want to Live," as well as one of the "Best Small Cities in America" for 2015. The rich gameland thriving a trapper titled Austin Nichols, who assembled the first log cabin in 1853. At that time there were "about twenty families in the area." More pioneer began to arrive by wagon train in 1855, and by 1856, enough citizens were present to organize Mower County. It was in 1856 that the settlement adopted the name Austin, with respect to its first settler.
Mills, powered by the Cedar River, were the first industries in Austin.
By 1896, region doctors - with the help of small-town Lutheran congregations - formed the Austin Hospital Association, later becoming St.
Austin received its first college in 1897 when the Southern Minnesota Normal College and Austin School of Commerce were opened by Charles Boostrom.
The college closed in 1925 and the town/city was without an institution of college studies until Austin Junior College opened in 1940 (In 1964 it became part of the State College and University System and is now Riverland Community College).
A 50-acre parcel of territory was made into Horace Austin State Park by the Minnesota Legislature in 1913.
In the 1930s, Austin Acres was assembled with funding from the Subsistence Homesteads Division of the Department of the Interior, and the Austin Parks Board was formed in the 1940s to oversee the burgeoning number of green spaces inside the city.
Hormel Nature Center, established in 1971, a 500-acre nature preserve also including the 60 acre Hormel Arboretum, purchased from Geordie Hormel with a state grant.
In 1973, the town/city opened Riverside Arena, the city's first indoor ice arena, now home to a range of ice activities including the Austin Bruins junior ice hockey team.
In August 1985, 1,500 Hormel meatpackers went on strike at the Austin plant after management demanded a 23% cut in wages.
Austin has recently undergone a several notable developments: a new $28 million courthouse and jail were instead of in 2010, a new intermediate school opened in 2013, and a primary redevelopment universal is taking place at the site of the former Oak Park Mall. In 2015, the National Association of Realtors titled Austin one of the "Top 10 Affordable Small Towns Where You'd Actually Want to Live." Austin has a long history of flooding.
In 1983 and 1993, primary floods again brought damage to many homes and businesses in Austin.
Tornado damage in Austin, 2009.
The damage ran from the southern edge of Austin High School to the Milwaukee Road railyards on the city's east side.
Olaf Lutheran Church, Carnegie Library, Main Street, the spire on Austin's former courthouse, Grand Theatre (replaced in 1929 with what is now the Paramount Theatre), Austin Utilities, Lincoln School, and a several boxcars at the Milwaukee railyards before it dissipated.
Austin inhabitants noticed debris raining out of the sky, such as straw and laundry.
Part of Austin.
A tornado touched down in Glenville on 1 May 2001, gaining strength before it turned into a F-3 headed for Austin.
On 17 June 2009, an EF2 tornado touched down outside of Austin and moved athwart the northwest and northern parts of the city, gradually weakening as it moved east.
The worst damage in Austin was about three miles north of downtown.
Downtown Power Plant, Mill Pond, and Horace Austin Park Downtown Power Plant, Mill Pond, and Horace Austin Park Austin has a humid continental climate typical of the Upper Midwest.
On the Koppen climate classification, Austin falls in the humid continental climate zone (Dfa) and is situated in USDA plant hardiness zone 4b. Below is a table of average high and low temperatures throughout the year in Austin.
Climate data for Austin, Minnesota (55912) Downtown Austin With Hormel's corporate command posts and chief manufacturing facility positioned in Austin, food refining plays a dominant part in the city's economy.
The government, education, hospitality, and retail sectors comprise much of the remainder of Austin's employment base.
Hormel's consistent and steady expansion have resulted in below average unemployment rates for Austin and Mower County in recent years.
As of February 2016, the unemployment rate was at 3.7 percent in Austin and Mower County.
Austin region businesses and improve actively supported an application to participate as a test improve in the Google Fiber project, started in 2010. Although unsuccessful in their bid, the adoption of high-speed fiber optic and wireless internet throughout the improve is a stated goal of the Vision 2020 committee and their initiative, Gig - Austin. Retail company in Austin struggled amid the Great Recession, including the demise of the Oak Park Mall.
Riverland Community College is one of Austin's top employers According to Austin's Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (2015), the top employers in the town/city are: 4 Austin Public Schools 777 The Austin Symphony Orchestra and Chorus performing at St.
Austin is home to a several long-standing performing arts organizations, including the Austin Symphony Orchestra, which was established in 1957. The Austin Artist Series, one of the Midwest's biggest and longest-running concert and performance series, was established in 1945. The Historic Paramount Theatre hosts a range of small-town and county-wide performances throughout the year, and the music programs at Austin High School have been recognized for decades among the best in the state.
Austin is also home to a improve choir (Northwestern Singers) and a several improve bands (Austin Community Band, Austin Community Jazz Band, and the Austin Big Band).
Austin has also produced many experienced musicians of county-wide and nationwide acclaim, including John Maus, Trace Bundy, Charlie Parr, Martin Zellar, and Molly Kate Kestner.
In 2015, the Mac - Phail Center for Music, based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, opened their first outstate locale in Austin.
Currently positioned at Riverland Community College, Mac - Phail's Austin ground provides individual instruction on nearly a dozen musical instruments for grownups and children, as well as large ensembles and early childhood music instruction. The Austin Art - Works Center, established in 2014, hosts loggia exhibits, educational classes, performance space, and a retail loggia.
The Center is directed by the Austin Area Commission for the Arts, which also sponsors the Austin Art - Works Festival, an annual celebration of visual, performing, and literary arts. The Center is positioned in the historic First National Bank Building, which opened in 1896. There are a several historically and architecturally momentous buildings in Austin, including Austin High School, St.
Austin is also home to a Frank Lloyd Wright home, the Elam Residence. Augustine Catholic Church, the earliest place of worship in Austin, as well as host of cultural affairs.
Austin Art - Works Center Austin High School and Knowlton Auditorium Austin Country Club (private) The Austin Bruins are a North American Hockey League team that began play amid the 2010 11 season.
Austin previously was represented in Junior hockey by the Austin Mavericks, a team that first participated in the Midwest Junior Hockey League from 1974 to 1977 and following a league consolidation competed in the United States Hockey League from 1977 to 1985.
Austin is home to two amateur baseball clubs, the Austin Blue Sox and Austin Greyhounds.
Several other teams, clubs, and activities are prominent in Austin, including the Southern Minnesota Bicycling Club, the Austin Curling Club, the Minnesota Southbound Rollers (female roller derby), and the Southeast Minnesota Warhawks of the Southern Plains Football League. The addition of Packer Dome, a cyclic athletic facility assembled in 2015, has already enhanced sport and recreation options in Austin.
Packer Dome is directed by Austin Public Schools and was funded in large part by the Hormel Foundation as part of the Vision 2020 improve evolution project. Austin has an extensive network of 28 parks and green spaces, which the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Forestry oversees.
Hormel Nature Center Established in 1971, the Hormel Nature Center is positioned in Western Mower County inside the town/city limits of Austin.
Other parks Horace Austin Park, in downtown, is the most centrally positioned and boasts a blend of undivided amenities, including playground equipment and the municipal pool as well as trails and green spaces encircling Mill Pond. Austin's parks are positioned throughout all four quadrants of the town/city and many are connected by a trail system, including three of the biggest parks in Austin: Bandshell Community Park, Driesner Park, and Todd Park.
Bandshell Community Park is the site of Austin's annual Independence Day celebration, which draws thousands of inhabitants for two days of music, carnival games, and evening fireworks. Austin City Hall Austin Mayor and City Council Council: 1st Ward Jeff Austin term ends in 2018 Located in Mower County, the southern part of the City is in Austin Township while the northern part is in Lansing Township; the town/city is politically autonomous of both.
Austin is positioned in Minnesota's 1st congressional district, represented by Mankato educator Tim Walz, a Democrat.
Austin is positioned in Minnesota Senate District 27, represented by Dan Sparks, and House District 27 - B, represented by Jeanne Poppe.
Both Sparks and Poppe are Austin residents.
Austin is the seat of Mower County, and home to the Mower County Justice Center (courthouse) and Jail.
The City of Austin is led by a Mayor-council form of government.
Austin High School Austin Public Schools (Independent School District 492) serves more than 4,700 students in the Austin area.
Austin High School, a large portion of which was constructed in 1919, is well known for its distinct ive architecture.
A 1939 addition to the school includes Knowlton Auditorium, one of the biggest high school auditoriums in the state of Minnesota, seating 1,850.
Post-secondary education is available through Riverland Community College, first established as Austin Junior College in 1940.
Austin High School and Area Learning Center (Grades 9 12) Austin's Carnegie Library, 1904 to 1996.
The Austin Public Library opened in 1884 in the basement of the Mower County Courthouse.
Austin is part of Nielsen's Rochester-Mason City-Austin designated market area. Austin has two tv studios, KAAL channel 6 (ABC), and KSMQ-TV channel 15 (PBS).
Radio stations in Austin include KAUS (AM) (1480 AM, small-town news/talk), KAUS-FM (99.9 FM, country), KNSE (90.1 FM, enhance talk radio), KLSE (FM) (103.3 FM, enhance classical radio), KNSE (103.9 FM, enhance AAA), KQAQ (970 AM, classic country).
A daily newspaper, the Austin Daily Herald, serves the improve and has a circulation of approximately 7,000.
Austin Living Magazine is an award-winning bi-monthly printed announcement featuring culture and lifestyle stories about the Austin community. The Post-Bulletin, a daily journal from Rochester, is also widely read and distributed in Austin.
The documentary film American Dream, was filmed in Austin amid the 1985 1986 Hormel strike.
90 Business Loop (Oakland Avenue) runs through the center of Austin.
Austin is served by the Austin Municipal Airport, a public-owned, public-use airport positioned on the east edge of the city. The nearest commercial global airports are positioned in Rochester (RST) and the Twin Cities (MSP).
Southern Minnesota Area Rural Transit provides bus transit inside Austin and Mower County; daily routes, as well as on-demand pick-up and drop-off service is available. Rochester City Lines provides daily bus transit between Austin and Rochester.
Austin is positioned at the intersection of Interstate 90 and U.S.
Minnesota State Highway 105 runs from Austin south to Iowa.
Passenger trains once traveled the "Smoky Valley" line between Austin and La Crosse, and on to Madison, Wisconsin.
Austin was once a barns town.
All lines served passengers, and the Milwaukee Road Depot was a busy station ferrying travelers to and from Austin.
Passenger rail service on the Milwaukee Road through Austin between Calmar, Iowa and St.
Paul ended in 1953, and Pullman sleeper service on the Milwaukee between Austin and Chicago ended in 1960.
An overnight train on the Chicago Great Western between the Twin Cities and Omaha stopped at Austin until 1965, with the southbound coming through late evening, and the northbound train stopping early in the morning. The north-south Milwaukee Road mainline continues to carry freight of that barns 's successor, Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad, a subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific, but the Chicago Great Western was abandoned and torn up soon after its acquisition by the Chicago and North Western Railway.
The City of Austin has an extensive network of paved recreational trails for biking and hiking.
Austin also has a mountain biking trail, instead of in 2015, that played host to a Minnesota High School Cycling League competition in its inaugural year.
Extensions to these existing non-motorized trails will connect Austin to the Blazing Star Trail (west toward Albert Lea and Myre-Big Island State Park) and the Shooting Star State Trail (east toward Rose Creek, Adams, and Leroy).
Austin Medical Center, a full-service hospital and clinic, is part of the Mayo Clinic Health System.
The Mayo Clinic Health fitness operates a full-service hospital and clinic in Austin, the Austin Medical Center.
Before joining the Mayo system, Austin Medical Center was St.
The expansion was instead of in Spring 2016. Tours of the Institute are available, but must be pre-arranged through Discover Austin, the small-town convention and visitors agency.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Austin, Minnesota.
Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau Austin Area Chamber of Commerce Wikisource-logo.svg "Austin, a town/city and the county-seat of Mower county, Minnesota, U.S.A.".
The 1985 1986 Hormel Meat Packers Strike in Austin, Minnesota by Frank Halstead.
City of Austin: 150th Anniversary Pictorial.
Remembering Austin's yester years by Richard Hall.
Austin, Minnesota Municipalities and communities of Mower County, Minnesota, United States
Categories:
Cities in Minnesota - Cities in Mower County, Minnesota - County seats in Minnesota - Populated places established in 1853 - 1853 establishments in Minnesota Territory - Austin, Minnesota
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