23 topographic sheets cover 22 settlements here, and 7 properties are on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 National Register listings published here · the county-history sources name 1 person · people the book names include St. George (Biscay City, 1917) (machine-read).
Sources: the county history on the Internet Archive · the National Register database, National Park Service
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Glencoe Grade and High School | building | 2012 | 12000872 |
 | Merton S. Goodnow House | building | 1985 | 85001771 |
 | Hutchinson Carnegie Library | building | 1977 | 77001507 |
 | Komensky School | building | 2009 | 09000622 |
 | McLeod County Courthouse | building | 1984 | 84001620 |
 | Harry Merrill House | building | 2012 | 12000460 |
 | Winsted City Hall | building | 1982 | 82002988 |
Every wildfire the federal occurrence database records inside this county: 6 of them, burning about 275 acres. None started naturally and 1 was recorded as arson. Each settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 3 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 2 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 1 |
The five largest, by the area the report gives. One of them was set deliberately.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 April 2009 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 180 acres | Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge | SHAKOPEE ASSIST |
| 8 November 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 45 acres | Litchfield Wetland Management District | MNLFR-FY21-WF-SILVER LAKE WF |
| 9 April 2005 | Arson/incendiarism | 25 acres | Litchfield Wetland Management District | BART |
| 4 December 2012 | Debris and open burning | 23 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 2 December 2011 | Debris and open burning | 2.0 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 29 November 2012 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Every settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it - see the settlement index below.
The NOAA Storm Events Database holds 570 reports for this county, causing no deaths, 16 injuries and about $10,457,000 in recorded property damage. Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.
| Kind of event | Reports |
|---|---|
| Hail | 250 |
| Thunderstorm Wind | 239 |
| Tornado | 25 |
| Heavy Rain | 19 |
| Flash Flood | 18 |
| Funnel Cloud | 14 |
| Flood | 3 |
| Lightning | 2 |
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 1951 | Tornado (F4) | not stated | 11 hurt, $2,500,000 | no account filed |
| June 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hutchinson | 2 hurt | A construction trailer was flipped on the southwest side of town. Two people inside the trailer were injured. Trees were downed in the vicinity. |
| September 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hutchinson | 1 hurt | A large tree fell on a vehicle on Jefferson Street, in Hutchinson, Minnesota. The person in the car was injured. There was a measured wind gust of 46 mph at the Hutchinson Airport at 829 LST. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Brownton | 1 hurt | Numerous large trees uprooted around town. A mini van was crushed due to a fallen tree. Plus, an eight year old girl was injured due to falling debris. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Brownton | 1 hurt | A semi trailer was blown off the road due to a severe thunderstorm outflow boundary. It was on County Road 15, three miles south of the intersection of State Road 212 and County Road 15. The driver was injured due to the crash. |
| June 1983 | Tornado (F2) | not stated | $2,500,000 | no account filed |
| June 1975 | Tornado (F1) | not stated | $2,500,000 | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Flash Flood | Countywide | $800,000 | Four to six inches rain flooded much of northern and eastern McLeod County, mainly along and northeast of a line from Hutchinson to 4 S Glencoe. Ten roads were covered with water. Ditches and creeks overflowed near Winsted and Lester Prairie. One home in Lester Prairie was flooded. A few homes required sandbagging, and nearly 300 houses had their basements flooded. Thousands of acres of farmland were flooded. Water damaged much of the school in Silver Lake. |
| May 1998 | Tornado (F1) | Silver Lake | $500,000 | Brief tornado touchdown destroying 6 farm buildings and damaged homestead. Debris hurled over nearby Butternut Lake. Posts driven 2 feet into the ground. |
| August 2020 | Tornado (EF1) | Biscay | $250,000 | An NWS survey found damage consistent with an EF-1 tornado in Mcleod County between Biscay and Glencoe. Maximum wind speeds of 95 MPH snapped and uprooted several trees and damaged outbuildings. There were numerous photos and videos of this tornado shared on social media. |
| June 1979 | Tornado (F1) | not stated | $250,000 | no account filed |
| March 2010 | Flood | Brownton | $190,000 | An ice jam along the Buffalo Creek in Mcleod County caused flooding on Division Street in Brownton. In addition, county officials reported 16 partially blocked county roads throughout Mcleod County due to flooding along Buffalo Creek. At least one home had basement flooding due to flood waters. By the 18th of March, the flood waters from the Buffalo Creek reached Glencoe which flooded 100th Street. |
| August 2020 | Tornado (EF0) | Brownton | $100,000 | An NWS survey found damage consistent with an EF-0 tornado in McLeod County north of Brownton. Several trees were snapped, a trailer was overturned, and a metal grain silo wall was damaged and collapsed. There were numerous photos and videos of this tornado taken by storm chasers and shared on social media. |
| June 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lester Prairie | $100,000 | Wind driven hail caused damage to houses and vehicles. |
| June 2013 | Flash Flood | Glencoe | $75,000 | Overnight rainfall, with high rainfall rates, caused significant street flooding in Glencoe, with flood waters encroaching on homes and businesses during the early morning hours. During the height of the storm, 12 inches of flowing water was reported on area streets in Glencoe. |
| May 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Glencoe | $70,000 | The roof of a pole barn (228'x70') was blown off and tossed southeast of the structure. |
| April 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Glencoe | $60,000 | Storage barn knocked off foundation. Shingles and portion of tin roof partially blown off. High school football bleachers blown over. Several trees down, including one on car. |
| May 2018 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hutchinson Arpt | $54,000 | The local emergency manager conducted a survey of the damage that occurred in Hutchinson, and areas to the south of town. There was a semi that was blown over on Hwy 15 about 2 miles south of Hutchinson. There were also about 5 power poles damaged in this area as well. There was minor damage to a shed at the McLeod County Fairgrounds, on the south side of Hutchinson. Several trees were snapped, or uprooted. The main concentrated area of damage was in the south central part of Hutchinson. There were about 5-6 houses in Hutchinson that received structural damage from trees.||McLeod County declared a state of emergency on May 30, 2018 as a result of these high winds. An initial damage assessment was conducted and determined that there was about $54,000 in estimated public assistance damages. |
| August 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Glencoe | $50,000 | In the town of Glencoe, damage mainly consisted of trees and large branches blown down. There was an evergreen tree in the center of town that got uprooted. The tree damage was scattered throughout the entire city. There were several branches that landed on houses, garages, vehicles, and other items. There was also power outage in mostly the east side of Glencoe. |
| June 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lester Prairie | $50,000 | A 40-inch diameter tree was blown down, and landed on a home in Lester Prairie. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hutchinson Arpt | $50,000 | An animal hospital roof was blown off in Hutchinson, along with several power poles on the northeast side of town. In addition, trees were blown down in the south and eastern portions of Hutchinson. |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hutchinson | $30,000 | Tree down on camper and vehicle. Three children playing inside the camper and three adults standing outside the camper were not injured. |
| August 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lester Prairie | $25,000 | In Lester Prairie, damage was confined to large tree branches which snapped off and blocked roads throughout the town. There was structural roofing damage to an indoor boat storage on Central Ave where the steel roof peeled away from the walls. |
| August 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Plato | $25,000 | An old barn was damaged in Plato, plus several large tree limbs and one large tree that were blown down. The large tree landed on a house and damaged it. |
| August 2016 | Flash Flood | Hutchinson | $25,000 | Local law enforcement official closed several roads in Hutchinson due to flooding, and some of the roads had up to 9 inches of flowing water. There was also a city pool that was under construction that received damage to the point that it would have to be torn out and new construction started. The concrete was inundated with water that caused the cement to come apart from the plumbing and silt washed under the concrete floor. There were also a few rural gravel roads that were washed out that had some damages. |
| May 2011 | Lightning | Silver Lake | $25,000 | Lightning struck a home west of Silver Lake. |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Stewart | $25,000 | A trained spotter measured a peak wind speed with his anemometer north of Stewart, Minnesota. In addition, local law enforcement officials reported numerous power outages and power lines were blown down from Stewart, eastward to Brownton. |
| May 1986 | Tornado (F1) | not stated | $25,000 | no account filed |
| June 1983 | Tornado (F1) | not stated | $25,000 | no account filed |
| June 2002 | Thunderstorm Wind | Winsted | $20,000 | Roof blown off mobile home at airport. Roof blown off stage at Winstock Music Festival, destroying numerous folding chairs. |
| April 2023 | Flood | Hutchinson | $18,500 | A combination of record setting seasonal snowfall, high snow water equivalent values, and rapid snow melt led to low lying areas, ditches, and ravines across the county to flood for a prolonged period of time. Road infrastructure such as bridges, gravel roads, and culverts experience varied degrees of damage caused by rapid runoff. McLeod County Emergency Management reported $18,500 in damages to roads and bridges. |
| June 2013 | Flash Flood | Winsted | $15,000 | Significant street flooding occurred in the town of Winsted as rainfall amounts were in excess of 1 to 2 inches in a short period of time. Some homes reported basement flooding. |
| July 2023 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lester Prairie | $10,000 | A tree fell onto a home and made a hole in the roof. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Glencoe | $10,000 | Numerous trees were blown down on houses and vehicles, along with power lines in Glencoe. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Brownton | $10,000 | Several large tree limbs were blown down and a tree was uprooted in the Brownton area. On 147 5th Ave South in Brownton, a tree branch punctured a roof. |
| May 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Winsted | $10,000 | Several large tree branches caused damage to power lines around the city. |
| June 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Fernando | $10,000 | Several trees were blown down, along with a metal shed, and power poles. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lester Prairie | $10,000 | Several power lines were blown down northeast of Lester Prairie, Minnesota. |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Glencoe | $10,000 | A large tree fell on a car. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Stewart | $5,000 | Several power lines and trees were blown down in Stewart, and between Stewart and north of Brownton. |
| June 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Glencoe | $5,000 | A large tree blew down on Main Street in Glencoe. This tree landed on a boat and damaged it. There were also numerous reports of smaller tree branches blown down throughout the city of Glencoe. |
| July 2010 | Lightning | Winsted | $5,000 | Lightning struck a home and it caught on fire. |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Glencoe | $3,000 | Several large tree branches blew down around the city of Glencoe. One of the branches was 10 inches in diameter and landed on a house. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Plato | $3,000 | A roof was damaged in Plato. Power lines were also blown down on 2nd St Northeast, and 1st Ave Northeast in Plato. |
| May 1973 | Tornado (F0) | not stated | $2,500 | no account filed |
| May 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hutchinson Arpt | $2,000 | A large tree was snapped in the town of Hutchinson. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hutchinson | $1,000 | There was a 1.5 mile wide north to south swath of wind damage that extended from Nobles Avenue and 177th Street to the 16500 block of O'Day Avenue. The damage area spread eastward for about one mile. A grain bin was blown over, landing on a propane tank. Much of the roof of a large machine shed was blown off and a large door was collapsed inward. Dozens of trees were broken or large branches were downed, and some corn was flattened. |
| August 2021 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hutchinson | $1,000 | A large tree was blown down on Highway 7, west of Hutchinson. |
| August 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hutchinson | $500 | Large tree limbs were blown off of trees in Hutchinson as noted in a social media photo. |
| August 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hutchinson | $500 | Several large tree branches were blown off of trees on the north side of Hutchinson. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Glencoe | $500 | There was a picture of wind, and hail damage to a home in Glencoe. |
| June 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Brownton | $500 | Several trees were blown down, along with a fence in a baseball field, and two large pine trees. |
| June 2025 | Funnel Cloud | Lester Prairie | - | Multiple reports of rotating wall cloud and spotted funnel cloud. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Glencoe Muni Arpt | - | Report of a tree down across a road near the intersection of 70th St. and Diary Ave or 4.5 miles southeast of Glencoe. |
| July 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Winsted | - | Report of a tree down on house. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Lester Prairie | - | Thunderstorm wind gust estimated at 58 mph snapped a tree branch that fell onto a house in Lester Prairie. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hutchinson | - | Numerous large trees and power lines down across Hutchinson. Winds speeds estimated to be between 80 to 85 mph based off of a measured wind gust for the Hutchinson Airport AWOS. |
| June 2025 | Thunderstorm Wind | Hutchinson Arpt | - | The AWOS station at Hutchinson Airport measured a downburst wind gust of 86 mph. |
| August 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sherman | - | Wind speed measured at mesonet station. |
| June 2024 | Heavy Rain | Plato | - | The storm total was 2.8 inches of rainfall. |
The Survey's mineral resources record lists 3 workings inside this county. All of them still produce. Each settlement page carries the workings within five miles of it.
| Commodity | Workings |
|---|---|
| Sand and Gravel, Construction | 3 |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jergens Pit and Mill | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Reed's Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Tews Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
History of McLeod 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 3 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biscay City | Biscay | 1,690 words | 2 | |
| Lester Prairie City | Lester Prairie | 5,014 words | 0 | |
| Stewart City | Stewart | 5,375 words | 1 |
One book written about this county, cut here where the book itself is cut, at its printed chapters: 27 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.
Everyone History of McLeod 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 1917.
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.
Hutchinson township · 55350 · Near Mud Lakebed · Hutchinson East quadrangle
11 sheets, 1953 to 1986
Lester Prairie city · 55354 · On Otter Creek · Winsted quadrangle
10 sheets, 1953 to 1986
Hutchinson city · 55350 · Hutchinson West quadrangle
11 sheets, 1953 to 1986
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