Waseca, Minnesota

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1991. It stands in Waseca City. It lies in ZIP code area 56093. The Survey maps it on the Waseca quadrangle. 9,229 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 1,152 feet above sea level.

Research this city

Waseca within Waseca County

On record in Waseca

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 7 records

W. J. Armstrong Company Wholesale Grocerslisted 1982
John W. Aughenbaugh Houselisted 1982
Roscoe P. Ward Houselisted 1982
William R. Wolf Houselisted 1982
Philo C. Bailey Houselisted 1994
Waseca Commercial Historic Districtlisted 2020
Waseca County Courthouselisted 1982

Population over time

2 figures

Waseca fell from 9,410 to 9,229 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.

Year	People	Change
2010	9,410
2020	9,229	-181 (-2%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

7 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.

1953 USGS Saint Paul quadrangle1:250000, 3 printings
1953 USGS St. Paul quadrangle1:250000
1959 USGS Saint Paul quadrangle1:250000
1959 USGS St. Paul quadrangle1:250000
1966 USGS Waseca quadrangle1:24000, 2 printings
1985 USGS Faribault quadrangle1:100000, 2 printings
1991 USGS Waseca quadrangle1:24000

What happened here

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

From History of Steele and Waseca Counties, Minnesota : an Album of History and Biography, Embracing Sketches of the Villages, Cities, and Townships : Educational, Civil, Military, and Political History : Portraits of Prominent Citizens, and Biographies of Old Settlers and Representative Men, published 1887 - Waseca City

The Colorado Beetle

Potato bugs were then new to the people of this country. Very few people had ever seen one prior to 1865. This year, (1868) the Mankato Record (now Review) remarked that "those striped bugs which, for the past three years have so seriously damaged the crop west of us, have already made their appear- ance in large numbers." Other papers noticed their appearance, and our paper remarlied that "we have not heard of any of these pests in this immediate vicinity, but doubt not tliey will soon visit this section." We remarked that they should be "attacked at first sight and exterminated if possible." As M'e soon after learned, this was more easily said tlian done.

Read the rest of this passage

In the county-history sources

35,970 words on this township

History of Steele and Waseca Counties, Minnesota : an Album of History and Biography, Embracing Sketches of the Villages, Cities, and Townships : Educational, Civil, Military, and Political History : Portraits of Prominent Citizens, and Biographies of Old Settlers and Representative Men, published 1887 names this settlement in its chapter on Waseca City. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Mrs. Eastlick received a ball in one heel ; Ireland's youngest child was shot through one leg ; Emma Duly received a wound in the arm, and "Willie Duly received a shot in the shoulder. They soon reached the slough, and although concealed from view, it afi'orded little protection. There were about two hundred Indians and only six white men left. For two hours the cowardly savages, keeping out of sight as much as possible, poured volley after volley into the slough. They would skulk behind the hills, crawl to the top, rise and fire, then drop out white men to fire his gun, for immediately there would be a volley fired into the grass where he was. One after another of the whites were wounded or killed. Eastlick, after doing brave work, was killed. Mrs. Eastlick received a scalp wound and another in the side. Mrs. Everett received a shot in her neck. Everett received a bullet in the thigh which struck the bone, followed around and lodged under the knee. Charles Hatch was wounded in the hand and arm, and Bentley in the arm. There was little chance for further resistance by the settlers. The firing ceased. Three of the skulking Indians, one of them old Pawn, then came forward and called upon the women to come out of the slough. Everett answered them. Pawn who knew the voice, commanded him to come, out of the slough. Everett told him he could not for he was wounded. Pawn said : " You lie ; you can walk if you want to."

Passage source: History of Steele and Waseca Counties, Minnesota : an Album of History and Biography, Embracing Sketches of the Villages, Cities, and Townships : Educational, Civil, Military, and Political History : Portraits of Prominent Citizens, and Biographies of Old Settlers and Representative Men, published 1887.

Two of the Indians then fired into the grass where Everett was, one of the bullets striking his arm near the elbow and shattering the bone and a buckshot entering his foot. Mrs. Everett, forgetting all fear, bravely arose and in the most piteous manner told them her husband was dead, and they had killed him.

Shortly after the surrender, the fiendish brutality and devilish cruelty of the Sioux were fully demonstrated. A little boy, five years old, son of Mrs. Eastlick, while following his mother, who was being led away by an Indian, was attacked by a squaw, beaten over the head with a club, and finally ri])ped open with a knife. Another of her children, Frank, was shot and murdered before her eyes. Mrs. Duly's boy, "Willie, was shot in her presence, and left in a suffering, dying condition on the prairie. Mrs. Ireland and Mrs. Smith were murdered in cold blood, and left near each other ; and near by was the corpse of Mrs. Eastlick's third child, Giles.

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 Waseca City - it names this place 107 more 107 times.

Fires near this place

1 since 2020

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 1 fire within 5 miles of Waseca in 2020, burning about 1 acre in total. None started naturally. 1 was 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
Arson/incendiarism	1

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

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
1 August 2020	Arson/incendiarism	1.0 acres	Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge	FELBER

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Waseca 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 Waseca: 2 producers. All of them still produce. What was taken out: 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	Site	Commodity	Status	Recorded
	Bauman Pit & Mill	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
	Harguth Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer

Every working recorded in Waseca County

Storms near this place

60 of 84 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Waseca in 84 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 30 thunderstorm wind, 30 hail, 12 flash flood, 7 heavy rain. 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.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
May 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	$4,000,000	no account filed
May 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	$100,000	Many large trees and power poles were snapped off from south to north across the city of Waseca. Also, a large grain bin was destroyed north of Waseca.
August 2025	Heavy Rain	Waseca	-	A trained spotter reported 72 hour storm total of 9.83 inches of rain.
August 2025	Flash Flood	Waseca	-	The city of Waseca received close to 9 inches of rain spanning from Saturday evening into Sunday morning. Several roads near and around the city of Waseca were closed due to water over the road, including a portion of 110th street stretching from 325th to 360th. Emergency manager reported that the city had to bypass the sanitary sewer and dump into the lake to save numerous homes.
August 2025	Heavy Rain	Waseca	-	Cocorahs station MN-WC-12 Waseca 1.6 SSE. 72 hour total of 6.87 inches.
August 2025	Heavy Rain	Waseca	-	Cocorahs station MN-WC-8 Waseca 2.0 N. 72 hour storm total of 5.28 inches.
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	Six to eight trees down in the southeast bay of Watkins Lake. They were downed toward the west-northwest, which along with another report from the west side of Watkins Lake, is consistent with this having been due to a microburst.
July 2024	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	About two dozen trees were downed on the west side of Watkins Lake. They were all knocked down toward the west-northwest. Trained spotters never reported a tornado with this highly visible storm. Discussion with local residents also took place and led to the conclusion that this was microburst damage.
June 2024	Flash Flood	Waseca	-	Road closures were reported south of Waseca due to flooded roadways.
May 2022	Heavy Rain	Waseca	-	Rainfall was measured at 3.20 inches.
June 2022	Heavy Rain	Waseca	-	This was a measured rainfall report of 2.80 inches of rain in less than three hours.
August 2019	Hail	Waseca	-	In addition to the large hail stone, there was a power pole blown down in Waseca.
July 2019	Flash Flood	Waseca	-	Local law enforcement officials barricaded 415th and 105th Street due to water over the road.
July 2019	Flash Flood	Waseca	-	Local law enforcement officials barricaded parts of 410th and 120th street due to water over the road.
July 2019	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	There were reports of multiple trees blown down around Waseca.
September 2018	Tornado (EF0)	Waseca	-	A NWS storm survey, plus areal footage of drone and satellite data, concluded that an EF0 tornado started east of Waseca, and tracked northeast for 3.9 miles until moving into Steele County. This tornado tracked mainly through corn and soy bean fields, and occasionally damaging a few power lines and power poles. The damage was consistent with EF0 damage with maximum wind speeds of 85 mph and a width of 250 yards.
September 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	A NWS storm survey concluded that severe straight-line winds up to 70 mph, damaged corn and soy bean fields in far northeast Waseca county.
August 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	Several trees were blown down north of Waseca.
June 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	Multiple large tree limbs were blown down in the city of Waseca.
June 2017	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	The Minnesota Department of Transportation mesonet site at the southern edge of Waseca, along Highway 14, measured a wind gust of 63 mph. The first severe wind gust was 1220 LST at 59 mph, and continued to gust up to 63 mph through 1225 LST.
June 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	A measured wind gust at the Waseca airport.
September 2016	Flash Flood	Waseca	-	Several roads in Waseca had one to two feet of flowing water. In addition, an unverified report of 10 inches of rain fell in the northeast part of Waseca late Wednesday night. Several homes and businesses in Waseca had flooded basements and other structural problems due to the flood waters.
September 2016	Flash Flood	Waseca	-	Highway 13 near Highway 14 was closed due to flood waters.
September 2016	Flash Flood	Waseca	-	The city of Waseca continued to receive torrential rainfall that caused several roads to close. The flood waters started to affect homes that had to be evacuated.
September 2016	Flash Flood	Waseca	-	Flood waters continued to affect the city of Waseca with the community arena reported of 6-8 inches of standing water on their ice rink.
September 2016	Heavy Rain	Waseca	-	A local trained weather observer measured 6.55 inches of rainfall near Waseca between Wednesday afternoon, September 21st, to the early morning of Thursday, September 22nd.
September 2016	Heavy Rain	Waseca	-	A National Weather Service coop observer measured 7.64 inches of rainfall southwest of Waseca between Wednesday afternoon, September 21st, to the early morning of Thursday, September 22nd.
August 2016	Flash Flood	Waseca	-	A portion of County Road 2 was closed near Waseca due to high water. Several businesses and residential homes had water in their basements.
June 2015	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	Large trees and a wooden swing were blown down north of Waseca near County Road 13.
September 2014	Hail	Waseca	-	Hail was piled up in town, with some areas up to 6 inches deep in the town of Waseca.
September 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	Nearly 100 trees were blown down in the city of Waseca. It was also accompanied by large hail. In addition, an outdoor tent was blown down trapping approximately 30-40 people underneath the tent.
June 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	Several large trees were blown down around the town of Waseca, with power outages.
June 2014	Flash Flood	Waseca	-	Significant street flooding occurred in Waseca, with several roads impassable.
June 2014	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	A large tree was blown down in Waseca.
July 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	Numerous trees and power lines were blown down around Waseca, Minnesota. A few trees fell on homes in Waseca.
July 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	Power lines were blown down near Waseca, Minnesota.
June 2010	Flash Flood	Waseca	-	Several inches of rainfall occurred around the area and produced significant flooding in fields, and local roadways. Some of the water was two to three feet high and flowing over sidewalks in Waseca, Minnesota.
June 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	A trained spotter measured a wind gust of 52 knots near Waseca, Minnesota.
June 2009	Funnel Cloud	Waseca	-	A trained spotter followed a persistent wall cloud from the City of Waseca along Highway 14. It produced one and sometimes two adjacent funnel clouds, a comment echoed by a Steele County spotter who also photographed the funnel.
June 2009	Tornado (EF0)	Waseca	-	Several storm chasers, local law enforcement officers and trained spotters followed funnel clouds across central Waseca County, before the tornado was observed forming just north of the City of Waseca on Clear Lake. The tornado moved onshore and then eastsouthward to Goose Lake. No property damage occurred but several large 14 diameter trees were uprooted when the tornado came onshore. Other broken trees were noted near Goose Lake.
August 2007	Flash Flood	Waseca	-	Street flooding with a few cars stranded. One basement flooded, with water coming in through windows and a downstairs door.
August 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	Numerous reports of 12 to 18 inch diameter trees downed.
July 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	Power pole down.
July 2006	Hail	Waseca	-	Hail occurred at the County Fairgrounds in the northeastern portion of the city. Ponding of water was also reported near Clear Lake Park.
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	Trees were downed.
June 2005	Lightning	Waseca	-	An outbuilding at a farm was destroyed by a lightning-related fire on 110th Street in Section 36 of Iosco Township. The time was estimated.
June 2005	Lightning	Waseca	-	A bolt of lightning struck the fascia of a home on 368th Avenue and came out through the siding. Three people inside the structure felt tingling immediately after the bolt hit, but were uninjured. The time was estimated.
June 2005	Hail	Waseca	-	Penny sized hail fell near the Waseca and Steele County border east of Waseca.
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	Two trees up to 10 inches in diameter were downed. A power line was downed onto Elm Avenue.
June 2005	Hail	Waseca	-	Quarter sized hail fell just south of the Waseca Federal Correction Institution. Dime to nickel size hail fell in town.
June 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	A tree was downed onto a power line on County Road 4 near Wilton Bridge.
August 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	Several trees were downed across town. The hardest hit areas included the Highlands and Clear Lake. Debris from a damaged roof and sun porch broke windows on a home and damaged a garage and a car on Highland Drive. Boats and docks were damaged, roofs of homes were damaged, and several trees were downed along the northwest and east side of Clear Lake. In addition, many trees were downed in Goose Lake Park three miles east of town. One felled tree smashed a metal gate.
June 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	Trees up to one foot in diameter were downed. One felled tree damaged a home. A temporary greenhouse was also damaged.
June 2004	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	Small buildings sustained roof damage and some trees were downed in Section 33 of Iosco Township.
July 2003	Thunderstorm Wind	Waseca	-	Scattered trees down across the east side of Waseca.
May 2014	Hail	Waseca	-	no account filed
June 2014	Hail	Waseca	-	no account filed
May 2012	Hail	Waseca	-	no account filed
May 2012	Hail	Waseca	-	no account filed
May 2011	Hail	Waseca	-	no account filed

Every storm recorded in Waseca 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.

Place	Distance	Sheets
Colony Court	1.4 miles	11
Wilton	4.6 miles	11
Palmer	5.5 miles	10
Saint Mary	6.1 miles	11
Otisco	6.8 miles	7
Vista	8.6 miles	7
Janesville	11.0 miles	9
Lake Elysian	12.0 miles	10

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 Waseca	An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q987118	The 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 653793. 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.