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New Ulm, Minnesota

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1992. It stands in New Ulm City. It lies in ZIP code area 56073. The Survey maps it on the New Ulm quadrangle. 14,120 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 899 feet above sea level.

Research this city

New Ulm within Brown County

On record in New Ulm

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 12 of 24 shown

Every listing in Brown County

Population over time

2 figures

New Ulm grew from 13,522 to 14,120 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
201013,522
202014,120+598 (+4%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 11 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

What happened here

An account from the chapter on New Ulm city. The inset identifies its exact source book and publication year.

From History of Brown County, Minnesota: Its People, Industries and Institutions (Volume 1), published 1916 - New Ulm City

Municipal History

New Ulm was incorporated in March, 1857, and William Pfaender was elected its first president. Later it was incorporated as a borough, with Charles Roos as mayor. A city charter was granted New Ulm on February 24, 1876, with Charles Roos as mayor and Jacob Nix as clerk. Since the place was incorporated into a city the records are all intact, but on account of the Indian depredations during the massacre in August, 1862, the early village records were all destroyed or lost.

Read the rest of this passage

In the county-history sources

3,395 words on this township

History of Brown County, Minnesota: Its People, Industries and Institutions (Volume 1), published 1916 names this settlement in its chapter on New Ulm City. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

New Ulm, the seat of justice of Brown county, on the right bank of the Minnesota river, was named by its founders after an important city and an old fort standing on the shore of the Danube in Wurtemberg - Ulm - which word is a combination of the initials of the old Roman legend, " Ultra limites militares," which, translated into our language signifies 6 i Beyond the military border/ ' as the Romans usually called the territory adjoining their possessions in distant countries. It will be understood by the reader from what has already been noted, this place in Brown county was first settled and has always been almost exclusively a German town, hence it was but natural that the founders named it from Ulm, in Wurtemberg, and added the prefix "New," making it New Ulm.

Passage source: History of Brown County, Minnesota: Its People, Industries and Institutions (Volume 1), published 1916.

The object in laying out New Ulm was stated in a resolution passed by the company or colony that headed the enterprise in the following words: "The object of the German Land Company is to procure a home for every German laborer, popish priests and lawyers excepted, in some healthy and productive district, located on some navigable river." With the passing years, both priest and lawyer have here found a welcome and have been numerous, as well as truly law-abiding citizens of a sprightly city whose history reads not unlike a romance from the early fifties on down for more than a third of a century, which covered the awful baptism of blood during the 1862 massacre, as well as that never-to-be-forgotten summer in 1881, when the city was destroyed by a cyclone of fearful velocity.

Passage source: History of Brown County, Minnesota: Its People, Industries and Institutions (Volume 1), published 1916.

At present the city is built up with many brick business houses and the residence districts are scarcely excelled in cities much larger than New Ulm. Excellent deposits of clay, stone and sand are found in and near the city. The railroad facilities are excellent in all directions and the wealth accumulated largely by the painstaking German and other foreign elements, has for years supported the numerous strong banking concerns, and the number of unfortunate poor in few in number.

Passage source: History of Brown County, Minnesota: Its People, Industries and Institutions (Volume 1), published 1916.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on New Ulm City - it names this place 25 more 25 times.

Fires near this place

13 since 2001

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 13 fires within 5 miles of New Ulm between 2001 and 2015, burning about 17 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning6
Recreation and ceremony2
Arson/incendiarism2
Smoking1
Equipment and vehicle use1
Fireworks1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
3 September 2007Debris and open burningunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
3 September 2007Debris and open burningunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
1 July 2010Arson/incendiarism1.1 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
31 May 2001Debris and open burningunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
14 May 2008Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
19 April 2007Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
15 April 2007Debris and open burning2.0 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
19 December 2006Recreation and ceremony2.0 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Brown County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of New Ulm: 2 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
New Ulm Quartzite QuarriesStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Reinhart PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Brown County

Storms near this place

57 since 1994

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names New Ulm in 57 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 29 thunderstorm wind, 21 hail, 2 lightning, 2 flash flood. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 1998Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm$7,000,0004,000 trees blown down. 10 businesses lost portions of their roof. Mobile home destroyed. Maintenance hangar at airport destroyed, damaging several airplanes. 400 ft TV tower blown down. Poultry bldg levelled at fairgrounds. Reception hall lost its roof. Large trees blown down at local cemeteries. The statue of Hermann the German damaged. Estimated 5% of crops or about 50,000 acres in county destroyed. Damage estimate for entire county.
May 2000HailNew Ulm$500,000More than 100 vehicles at a dealership sustained damage.
March 2010FloodNew Ulm$160,000Numerous county roads around New Ulm were closed due to flooding. Monetary costs were based on FEMA, State, and Local assistance which includes the following categories; emergency protective measures and road systems and bridges.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm$50,000Several trees and power lines blew down, some landed on homes and damaged their roofs around New Ulm.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm$40,000Numerous trees down, including one on a car. Barn and shed also downed.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm$10,000A street light pole was bent over due to severe straight line winds.
September 2021Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm$1,000A large tree was blown down in the city of New Ulm. The regional airport reported a wind gust of 61 mph as the storms moved through the city.
June 1994HailNew Ulm$500no account filed
June 1994HailNew Ulm$500no account filed
July 1994HailNew Ulm$500no account filed
June 2025Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-Thunderstorm winds estimated at 60 mph snapped several large trees snapped at their base in German Park, downed a dead, 2 foot diameter tree along 5th North Street, and downed several trees near the New Ulm Medical Center.
August 2024Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-Multiple downed trees blocked roads throughout New Ulm.
June 2024Heavy RainNew Ulm-The storm total was 2.5 inches of rainfall.
August 2023Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-A report of a tree down in the city of New Ulm was related by dispatch. The New Ulm airport west of town had a measured wind gust of 56 mph.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-A large tree and several large tree branches were blown down in New Ulm.
June 2016Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-Numerous trees were blown down in New Ulm.
June 2014Flash FloodNew Ulm-Due to excessive rainfall numerous roads were flooded, especially in New Ulm, and slumping took place in several locations.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-A few trees were blown down around New Ulm, Minnesota.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-A 50 knot wind gust was measured at the New Ulm, Airport.
June 2010Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-A measured wind gust at the New Ulm Airport.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-Several trees blown down.
August 2007Flash FloodNew Ulm-Widespread street flooding occurred. Several cars stranded around New Ulm. The cooperative observer in New Ulm measured 6.82 inches as of 0630 CST August 19.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-Tree down over Shag Road along Minnesota River.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-A tree in a marsh near the Minnesota River was downed onto a power line.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-Numerous trees were downed onto yards and roads. The most concentrated area of damage was in an east-west path between 12th North and Center streets. One large tree pulled up the sidewalk and a portion of the curb on South Minnesota Street.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-Trees and power poles were downed.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-Many tree branches were downed throughout town. A tree fell onto a garage in Payne Street.
August 2005Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-A 60 MPH wind gust was reported via HAM radio.
April 2004Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-Several trees were downed. The metal roof of a granary was ripped off and blown 100 feet.
September 2004LightningNew Ulm-A home on Garden Street suffered electrical damage after a lightning strike.
September 2004LightningNew Ulm-A residence on South Jefferson Street suffered damage to a tree, transformer, doorbell, and front door after lightning struck.
August 2000Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-Several trees toppled.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-Portion of old one story building collapsed onto car. Large tree limbs down. Winds estimated.
July 1998Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-Windows blown out at Flandreau State Park Bldg. 300 trees down. Two trees blown onto camper. Estimated windspeed.
June 1997Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-Trees and large branches down on west side of city. Estimated windspeed. About one and one half inches of rain in one half hour resulted in minor flooding at a mobile home park.
May 1994Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-Thunderstorm winds blew down several large trees in the city of New Ulm. Hail and strong winds damaged several hundred acres of crops in the Springfield area.
August 2023HailNew Ulm-no account filed
May 2022Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-no account filed
May 2014HailNew Ulm-no account filed
May 2012HailNew Ulm-no account filed
May 2012HailNew Ulm-no account filed
June 2010Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-no account filed
June 2008HailNew Ulm-no account filed
May 2007HailNew Ulm-no account filed
June 2007HailNew Ulm-no account filed
June 2007HailNew Ulm-no account filed
June 2007HailNew Ulm-no account filed
June 2005HailNew Ulm-no account filed
June 2005HailNew Ulm-no account filed
June 2005HailNew Ulm-no account filed
July 2003HailNew Ulm-no account filed
May 2003HailNew Ulm-no account filed
May 1998HailNew Ulm-no account filed
July 1997HailNew Ulm-no account filed
July 1997Funnel CloudNew Ulm-no account filed
October 1996HailNew Ulm-no account filed
July 1995Thunderstorm WindNew Ulm-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Brown County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Traulich Estates2.3 miles11
Searles5.9 miles9
Essig7.7 miles10
Linden9.4 miles9
Stark11.2 miles9
Hanska11.4 miles9
Iberia13.4 miles9
Sleepy Eye14.0 miles9

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on New UlmAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q545119The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 648523. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.