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Welcome to the Waseca Area History Tour!

Whether you are using our app and visiting the area in person or navigating our site virtually, welcome to a tour of Waseca History. Waseca County was officially established in 1857. Shortly thereafter the city of Waseca came into existence. The name "Waseca" in Dakota means “Rich in provisions”. In 1880 the Minneapolis Star Tribune described our fast growing community as a "Thrifty Little Village."

This tour will take you on an interesting and informative visit to the key places, people and events in the unique story of this wonderful community and the surrounding area. If you start at Stop 1 (Begin Tour Here), you can choose to walk the initial stops of the tour into our historic downtown. From the library/Trowbridge Park, you will cross the street to the Courthouse and continue south down the western side of State Street to the Canadian Pacific Railroad (Ward House Brewery) before crossing to the east side of State Street going north and back to the parking lot at the public library. From there, it is recommended to complete the tour with your vehicle.

The majority of stops on this tour were researched, aggregated and created by Waseca High School students in the Waseca History Tour Class taught by Mr. John Hanson. Others were researched and created by local historian and HPC Chair Julie Anderson. Our priorities are to present visitors with key information, images and interviews with opportunities to discover more. We are also excited about our visitors interacting with us by encouraging you to "share your memories" if one of the tour stops triggers a recollection for you.

We value your constructive feedback so please provide us with input using the feedback opportunities. We also know that our stops are not 100% complete. If you have an item (photo, video, audio, etc.) that may enhance a tour stop, please contact us.

This app/website project would not be possible without the valuable support from Waseca Public Schools, the City of Waseca, Waseca County and the Waseca Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC). A portion of the initial funding for the project, class, equipment, training and app/site development was made possible through grants from:

• Minnesota SHPO Certified Local Government Grant (SHPO Link)
• Waseca Area Foundation (WAF Link)

The project creators are grateful for the support of all the local historians and others who have helped in the process including:

• The Waseca County History Center resources and staff (WCHC Link)
• HPC Chair Julie Anderson (Waseca HPC)
  • Waseca Downtown Historic Designation: Click to watch KEYC video
• City of Waseca Economic Development Manager Tina Wilson
• Waseca High School TOSA Andrew Hopkins

Special thanks to the Waseca County News, Waseca County Pioneer and Mankato Free Press who have partnered with this project to allow for their content to be used free of charge.

How To Use This App

Navigation:

• Swipe the screen to move throughout the tour stops or press the "Next Stop" button. For a list of all tour stops, press the list icon in the top right-hand corner of the screen.

Audio

• To listen instead of reading text, click on play button.
• Special thanks to our narrators: Garrett Natyson, Jeanne Swanson and Jack Williams

Map

• Each tour map shows a quick look at the location of all stops. Pressing an individual stop marker will take you to the content for that stop.

Images & Galleries

• Swipe across images to reveal others. Tapping an image or video will enlarge the view and display image captions.

Image Credits

• To view information regarding the source of an image, click on the information button in the top right-hand corner of the screen.

Updated Content

• We are continuously expanding and refining our app! We recommend you start each visit by updating the new content. Select “Profile” at the bottom of this page, then select “Settings,” and click on “Check for updated content.” Return to explore the app, and you will be prompted to download the new content. This quick step will provide you with the up-to-date Discover Waseca Tours!