18 topographic sheets cover 12 settlements here, and 5 properties are on the National Register of Historic Places.
5 National Register listings published here · the county-history sources tell 1 story and name 3 people · people the book names include Hiram S. Bailey (Jackson City, 1910) (machine-read).
Sources: the county history on the Internet Archive · the National Register database, National Park Service
Among them: Description. These passages come from the identified county-history source books. Each inset names its own source and opens the exact section it comes from.
During the time these claims were being filed upon and before Jackson was. platted a few cabins were erected. On the east side of the river stood the old fort which had been erected by the soldiers after the massacre of 1862; the Joseph Thomas cabin, which had been erected by William T. Wheeler in 185G; and the cabin of Israel F.
Every property in this county listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with the year it was listed and the federal nomination document.
| Photograph | Property | Type | Listed | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Church of the Sacred Heart (Catholic) | building | 1989 | 89000157 |
| District No. 92 School | building | 1988 | 88002082 | |
| Jackson Commercial Historic District | district | 1987 | 87002155 | |
 | Jackson County Courthouse | building | 1977 | 77000747 |
| George M. Moore Farmstead | building | 1987 | 86003604 |
Every wildfire the federal occurrence database records inside this county: 11 of them, burning about 492 acres. None started naturally and 2 were recorded as arson. Each settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5 |
| Debris and open burning | 4 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 2 |
The five largest, by the area the report gives. None of them was recorded as arson.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 April 2004 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 152 acres | Windom Wetland Management District | BOOT LAKE |
| 1 May 2000 | Debris and open burning | 127 acres | Windom Wetland Management District | FISH LAKE (RX/WF) |
| 28 April 1993 | Debris and open burning | 75 acres | Windom Wetland Management District | TIMBER LAKE |
| 6 April 2003 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 60 acres | Windom Wetland Management District | LITTLE SIOUX RIVER |
| 23 November 2008 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 44 acres | Windom Wetland Management District | SKUNK CREEK |
| 28 April 2007 | Debris and open burning | 15 acres | Windom Wetland Management District | PLETZ MARSH - THREAT |
| 23 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12 acres | Windom Wetland Management District | TIMBER LAKE - THREAT |
| 25 June 2017 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2.0 acres | Windom Wetland Management District | LOON LAKE |
Every settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it - see the settlement index below.
The NOAA Storm Events Database holds 346 reports for this county, causing no deaths, 4 injuries and about $6,998,030 in recorded property damage. Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.
| Kind of event | Reports |
|---|---|
| Hail | 160 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 105 |
| Flood | 36 |
| Tornado | 21 |
| Flash Flood | 16 |
| Heavy Rain | 4 |
| Funnel Cloud | 3 |
| Lightning | 1 |
The most serious of them, by death, then injury, then recorded damage. The accounts are quoted exactly as the forecast office filed them.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 1976 | Tornado (F2) | not stated | 3 hurt, $250,000 | no account filed |
| May 1985 | Tornado (F1) | not stated | 1 hurt, $2,500,000 | no account filed |
| July 2018 | Flood | Swastika Beach | $750,000 | Rainfall of 3 to 5 inches (locally 5 to 10 inches upstream) during the first three days of July exacerbated flooding through the Des Moines River basin. A state of emergency was declared in the City of Windom with water breaching Island Park, the golf course, and several homes. Several county, state and local roadways flooded for up to a week, including highway 62 and numerous city streets. Significant amounts of crop and pasture land near the Des Moines River were severely impacted by major flooding as river levels climbed to the second highest crest on record at 4.4 feet above flood stage at Windom (gage site WDOM5) on July 7. |
| August 2000 | Tornado (F1) | Lakefield | $400,000 | A tornado damaged several buildings, including businesses and homes, a grain elevator, and trees as it touched down along highway 86 in Lakefield. |
| April 2019 | Flood | Swastika Beach | $388,000 | Runoff from occasional precipitation in late March and April maintained significant flooding of agricultural and pasture lands near the Des Moines River. The Des Moines River at Windom (gage site WDOM5) crested at 1.99 feet above flood stage on April 1. Minor flooding continued at the end of the month. |
| June 2024 | Flood | Spafford | $355,000 | Rainfall amounts across Jackson County from June 20-22 ranged from 4 to 6 inches. Farther north and upstream, 6 to 9 inches of rain fell across portions of southwest Minnesota. This rainfall resulted in widespread overland flooding and major flooding along the West Fork Des Moines River. ||At peak flooding, the city of Heron Lake became surrounded by flood water, resulting in an evacuation notice for 16 homes. Flood water impacted approximately 120 homes in Heron Lake, one of which was declared destroyed. Municipal crews worked 24/7 to keep water from shutting down the sewer system. ||In the city of Jackson, a temporary levee was breached on June 22, allowing flood water from the West Fork Des Moines River to inundate the community. Approximately 12 homes were evacuated with many others taking on water or sewage in their basements. One home was declared destroyed and numerous businesses were flooded and unable to operate. All three bridges in Jackson were closed, including the U.S. Highway 71 bridge on the northside of town.||County-wide, 114 individuals applied for assistance, estimated at a value of nearly 355 thousand dollars. ||Numerous other township and county roads were closed and damaged by flood waters. Portions of Minnesota Highway 60 in the northwest corner of the county were still closed by months end.||For additional information on river flooding, please see other flood entries for Jackson County. |
| March 2019 | Flood | Spafford | $352,000 | All county and township roads were closed to through traffic on March 14. Extensive flood damage was done in many areas. The property damage costs include estimates for public property losses. |
| July 1984 | Tornado (F1) | not stated | $250,000 | no account filed |
| May 1971 | Tornado (F3) | not stated | $250,000 | no account filed |
| May 1971 | Tornado (F1) | not stated | $250,000 | no account filed |
| August 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Okabena | $100,000 | Thunderstorm winds destroyed at least two barns, damaged several smaller farm structures including silos, caused widespread tree damage, and blew down power lines which resulted in power outages. The winds caused crop damage in the area, but the amount of crop damage could not be determined. |
| August 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Okabena | $100,000 | Thunderstorm winds tore a heavy rubber membrane off a school gym and wellness center. The resulting leakage of water caused damage to several pieces of electronic equipment. |
| July 2000 | Hail | Okabena | $100,000 | Large hail destroyed or damaged 15,000 acres of corn and soybean crops. The hail also broke windows, dented vehicles, and damaged siding. |
| August 2000 | Tornado (F1) | Lakefield | $100,000 | A tornado caused extensive damage to a family owned dairy farm. |
| June 1998 | Tornado (F0) | Lakefield | $100,000 | no account filed |
| June 1998 | Hail | Lakefield | $100,000 | no account filed |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bergen | $75,000 | Ten wooded power poles were snapped off by thunderstorm winds along a half-mile stretch along 850th Street west of Highway 71. Property damage costs are rough estimates. |
| June 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Okabena | $50,000 | Nine power poles were snapped off, with four tossed across 340th Avenue into the opposite ditch. Property damage costs are rough estimates. |
| June 2014 | Flood | Heron Lake | $50,000 | Persistent moderate to heavy rain caused flooding of fields and other lowlands, including several roads, homes, and businesses. This flooding lasted for two days, and was aggravated locally by additional storms during that time. Some roads were damaged or washed out. |
| August 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Jackson | $50,000 | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including a few trees blown down. One of the trees severely damaged a van when it fell, with several other vehicles receiving minor damage from wind blown debris. The winds damaged crops in the area, but the amount of crop damage was not known. |
| August 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lakefield | $50,000 | Thunderstorm winds destroyed a silo and caused widespread tree damage, including several large trees uprooted or blown down. Some roads were blocked by tree debris. Power lines were blown down, resulting in power outages. |
| June 2000 | Hail | Petersburg | $50,000 | Large hail broke windows and dented vehicles. |
| August 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lakefield | $50,000 | Downburst winds caused damage to power lines and a grain elevator, and tore singles off roofs. |
| May 1996 | Thunderstorm Wind | Alpha | $50,000 | no account filed |
| August 2000 | Tornado (F1) | Bergen | $30,000 | A tornado caused damaged to farm buildings. |
| April 1986 | Tornado (F1) | not stated | $25,000 | no account filed |
| May 1971 | Tornado (F1) | not stated | $25,000 | no account filed |
| July 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Heron Lake | $20,000 | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several trees blown down. One tree fell on and damaged a house. A pipe was impaled into the wall of a house. The winds also destroyed a small shed. |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lakefield | $20,000 | Thunderstorm winds destroyed a barn and garage on a farm. |
| August 2000 | Tornado (F1) | Bergen | $20,000 | A tornado caused damage to farm buildings and crops. The amount of crop damage was not determined. |
| April 2001 | Lightning | Lakefield | $20,000 | no account filed |
| May 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Spafford | $10,000 | Pontoon damaged, dock and hoist destroyed. |
| June 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Jackson | $10,000 | Thunderstorm winds caused extensive tree damage, with tree debris blocking several roads. Power lines were also damaged. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Jackson | $10,000 | Thunderstorm winds blew down power lines. |
| May 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lakefield | $5,000 | Thunderstorm winds tore the roof off an open faced hog barn. |
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Spafford | $5,000 | Thunderstorm winds blew down several trees and a grain auger. The winds also caused an unknown amount of damage to crops. |
| July 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Jackson | $5,000 | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including several trees blown down. Falling trees damaged two campers at Brown Park. |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Jackson | $5,000 | Thunderstorm winds caused tree damage, including trees of unknown size blown down. A camper was damaged by tree debris near Loon Lake. |
| June 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lakefield | $5,000 | Thunderstorm winds blew over a grain bin. |
| July 1995 | Thunderstorm Wind | Jackson | $5,000 | Thunderstorm winds of unknown speed blew down several trees including one, two and one-half feet in diameter. |
| April 1998 | Thunderstorm Wind | Jackson | $5,000 | no account filed |
| September 2004 | Tornado (F0) | Lakefield | $2,000 | A tornado damaged corn crops , trees, and an outbuilding on a farm. |
| August 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Jackson | $1,000 | Thunderstorm winds, measured by privately owned equipment, cracked windows in a house. |
| May 1978 | Tornado (F0) | not stated | $30 | no account filed |
| April 2026 | Hail | Okabena | - | Two thirds of the yard was covered by hail up to nickel size. Hail fall was approximately 10 minutes. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Lakefield | - | Considerable dime to quarter size hail occurred. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Lakefield | - | Most of the hail was penny to quarter size, but some stones were as large as hen eggs. |
| April 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Jackson Arpt | - | Wind was measured by a personal weather station. |
| April 2025 | Hail | Spafford | - | The ground was covered by nickel to quarter size hail. |
| July 2024 | Flood | Swastika Beach | - | Flooding continued from June on the Des Moines River at Windom, with declining river levels. The river fell below flood stage on the evening of July 11th. |
| July 2024 | Flood | Miloma | - | Flooding continued from June on the Des Moines River at Jackson, with declining river levels. The river fell below flood stage on the afternoon of July 7th. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Okabena | - | Video was taken of multiple trees damaged by a period of damaging thunderstorm wind gusts. Most downed limbs from from 6 to 8 inches in diameter, but several were in excess of a foot in diameter. |
| June 2024 | Flood | Swastika Beach | - | The West Fork of the Des Moines River at Windom rose above flood stage the morning of June 21st, cresting around 6.01 feet above flood stage (25.01 feet) on June 25th. This crest is in the Major Stage and broke the previous record. The river stayed above flood stage into July. For a more comprehensive description of flood damage, please see other entries for Jackson County. |
| June 2024 | Flood | Miloma | - | The West Fork of the Des Moines River at Jackson rose above flood stage the morning of June 22nd, cresting around 4.03 feet above flood stage (16.03 feet) on June 26th. This crest is in the Major Stage. The river stayed above flood stage into July. For a more comprehensive description of flood damage, please see other entries for Jackson County. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Okabena | - | Thunderstorm winds damaged a cattle feeder and dented a large grain bin. Several trees were also damaged. |
| May 2023 | Hail | Jackson | - | Occasional hail fell over a long period, at times reaching as large as penny to quarter size. |
| June 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Bergen | - | Thunderstorm winds uprooted a large cottonwood tree and tipped and damaged a grain auger. |
| May 2022 | Hail | Okabena | - | Crop damage is an estimate from insured losses. Information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture. |
| May 2022 | Hail | Okabena | - | Crop damage is an estimate from insured losses. Information provided by the United States Department of Agriculture. |
| April 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Jackson | - | Thunderstorm winds downed wrist-sized branches, with one 8-inch diameter tree trunk snapped. |
The Survey's mineral resources record lists 1 working inside this county. It still produces. Each settlement page carries the workings within five miles of it.
| Commodity | Workings |
|---|---|
| Sand and Gravel, Construction | 1 |
The least common of them first, because a county's hundredth gravel pit says nothing its first ten did not.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willett Pit and Mill | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
An Illustrated History of Jackson County, Minnesota devotes a chapter to each township: its boundaries and streams, who settled it and when, the mills, the schools and the churches. All 6 are reproduced here in full. Each row shows the township's own shape and where it lies in the county, drawn from the Census Bureau's boundary. Which settlements belong to which township is computed from that same boundary, not taken from the book.
| Shape and position in the county | Township | Settlements in it | Length | Sections |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heron Lake City | Heron Lake | 4,570 words | 2 | |
| Jackson City | Jackson | 11,327 words | 9 | |
| Lakefield City | Lakefield | 5,259 words | 6 | |
| Okabena City | Okabena | 913 words | 0 | |
| Petersburg Township | Petersburg | 1,205 words | 1 | |
| Wilder City | Wilder | 1,829 words | 0 |
One book written about this county, cut here where the book itself is cut, at its printed chapters: 20 chapters in all. Every chapter is public domain, machine-read from the scan and reproduced complete. A chapter already given under one of the county's towns is not repeated in this list.
| Chapter | Length |
|---|---|
| Aboriginal Days - 1834-1855 | 6,224 words |
| Early Settlement - 1856 | 6,327 words |
| Chapter 3: The. Spirit Lake Massacbe - 1857 | 7,509 words |
| Chapter 4: The Springfield Massacre - 1857 | 7,677 words |
| Chapter 5: Flight of the Fugitives - 1857 | 7,717 words |
| Chapter 6: Resettlement and Organization - 1857-1859 | 7,504 words |
| Chapter 7: The Nobwegian Settlement - 1860-1862 | 2,327 words |
| Chapter 8: The Belmont Massacre - 1862 | 5,738 words |
| Chapter 9: Reconstruction Period - .1862-1867 | 6,868 words |
| Chapter 10: Era of Development - 1868-1872 | 5,989 words |
| The Gbasshoppee Scouege - 1873-1877 | 8,100 words |
| Pbosperous Times - 1878-1894 | 7,632 words |
| Current Events - 1895-1910 | 8,684 words |
| Chapter 14: Politicai^-1858-1882 | 4,607 words |
| Chapter 15: Politicair - 1883-1910 | 3,188 words |
| Chapter 18: Jackson's Enteeprises | 5,583 words |
| Chapter 22: Descriptive | 5,569 words |
| Chapter 23 | 12,570 words |
| Chapter with an unread heading (no. 24 of those read) | 9,817 words |
| Biographical sketches | 193,370 words in 13 parts |
Everyone An Illustrated History of Jackson County, Minnesota stops to write about, with the section that describes them. Among them are the men who founded the place and governed the Territory. Each name opens the passage itself, in the words of 1910.
Named settlements recorded in the Geographic Names Information System, each with the topographic sheets covering it. Villages, hamlets and abandoned places alike. Each is shown with the nearest named watercourse or landform and the survey quadrangle it falls on.
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