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Please add profiles of those who were born, lived or died in Rochester, Minnesota.
Rochester is the county seat of Olmsted County on the Zumbro River.
Official Website
The area developed as a stagecoach stop between Saint Paul, Minnesota, and Dubuque, Iowa near the Zumbro River. The community was founded by George Head and his wife Henrietta who built log cabin Head's Tavern in 1854 and named the city after his hometown of Rochester, New York. When the Winona and St Peter Railroad initiated service in October 1864, it brought new residents and business opportunities further spurring growth and expansion. In 1863, Dr. William W. Mayo arrived as the examining surgeon for Union draftees in the Civil War. Rochester celebrated its sesquicentennial in 2004.
On August 21, 1883, the Great Tornado demolished much of Rochester, leaving 37 dead and approximately 200 injured. As there was no medical facility in the immediate area at the time, Dr. Mayo and his two sons worked together to care for the wounded. Donations of US$60,000 (US$1,567,054 in 2016 accounting for inflation) were collected and the Sisters of St. Francis, assisted by Mayo, opened a new facility named St. Marys Hospital in 1889.
The Mayo practice grew and is today among the largest and most well-respected medical facilities in the world. Many notable people from around the world, including former Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, George H. W. Bush, Gerald Ford, and Ronald Reagan, have visited Rochester as patients of the Mayo Clinic. International patients include King Hussein of Jordan.
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