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Zumbrota, Minnesota

11 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1989. It stands in Zumbrota City. It lies in ZIP code area 55992. It stands on Bitter Creek. The Survey maps it on the Zumbrota quadrangle. 3,726 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 991 feet above sea level.

Zumbrota within Goodhue County

On record in Zumbrota

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 2 records

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.

In the county-history sources

9,568 words on this township

History of Goodhue County, Including a Sketch of the Territory and State of Minnesota; Together with an Account of the Early French Discoveries, Indian Massacres, the Part Borne by Minnesota's Patriots in the War of the Great Rebellion, and a Full and Complete History of the County from the Time of Its Occupancy by Swiss Missionaries in 1838. Pioneer Incidents, Biographical Sketches of Early and Prominent Settlers and Representative Men, and of Its Cities, Towns, Churches, Schools, Secret Societies, Etc, published 1878 names this settlement in its chapter on Zumbrota Township. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Aaron Doty entered the northwest quarter and the southwest quarter of section 31, in 1856. The village was platted on this land by the Strafford Emigration Company, in September, 1856. Bailey and Thompson made an addition, which is called North Zumbrota in 1857. The west addition was made by Josiah Thompson, on section 36, Minneola township. The first house was built by C. W. Smith. It was a log structure, 14x18, and built on the south bank of the Zumbrota

Passage source: History of Goodhue County, Including a Sketch of the Territory and State of Minnesota; Together with an Account of the Early French Discoveries, Indian Massacres, the Part Borne by Minnesota's Patriots in the War of the Great Rebellion, and a Full and Complete History of the County from the Time of Its Occupancy by Swiss Missionaries in 1838. Pioneer Incidents, Biographical Sketches of Early and Prominent Settlers and Representative Men, and of Its Cities, Towns, Churches, Schools, Secret Societies, Etc, published 1878.

The "Zumbrota Independent," was established March 25, 1875, by E. A. Mitchell, the present editor and proprietor. In the beginning, it was a six column to the page folio sheet, then seven columns, eight columns, and it now speaks to the people a quarto sheet of forty columns. It is independent in politics, devoted to the interests of Goodhue county in general, and Zumbrota in particular. It has labored faithfully in behalf of the railroad interests of that section, enjoys a good circulation and is liberally supported.

Passage source: History of Goodhue County, Including a Sketch of the Territory and State of Minnesota; Together with an Account of the Early French Discoveries, Indian Massacres, the Part Borne by Minnesota's Patriots in the War of the Great Rebellion, and a Full and Complete History of the County from the Time of Its Occupancy by Swiss Missionaries in 1838. Pioneer Incidents, Biographical Sketches of Early and Prominent Settlers and Representative Men, and of Its Cities, Towns, Churches, Schools, Secret Societies, Etc, published 1878.

In August, 1856, a small number of persons held religious services every Sabbath, which was conducted by some of the members. The ensuing spring, after families of the settlers had arrived and some additions were made to their number, steps were taken to organize a church. A temporary organization was formed in April, 1857, Rev. Charles Shedd as supply. June 28, 1857, the church was properly organized, with a membership of fourteen, Rev. Shedd continuing as supply until October, 1857.

Passage source: History of Goodhue County, Including a Sketch of the Territory and State of Minnesota; Together with an Account of the Early French Discoveries, Indian Massacres, the Part Borne by Minnesota's Patriots in the War of the Great Rebellion, and a Full and Complete History of the County from the Time of Its Occupancy by Swiss Missionaries in 1838. Pioneer Incidents, Biographical Sketches of Early and Prominent Settlers and Representative Men, and of Its Cities, Towns, Churches, Schools, Secret Societies, Etc, published 1878.

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 Zumbrota Township - it names this place 42 more 42 times.

Fires near this place

12 since 2003

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 12 fires within 5 miles of Zumbrota between 2003 and 2020, burning about 69 acres in total. None started naturally. None 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
Missing data/not specified/undetermined10
Debris and open burning1
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
27 August 2003Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
14 August 2003Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
13 July 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
6 May 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined55 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
29 April 2015Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
12 December 2020Fireworksunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
5 November 2019Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
15 November 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Goodhue County

Mines and quarries near this place

4 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 4 workings within 5 miles of Zumbrota: 4 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
Deden QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Dierke Pit & MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Kyllo QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Lokens Pit & MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Goodhue County

Storms near this place

32 since 1996

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Zumbrota in 32 storm reports between 1996 and 2025: 15 hail, 11 thunderstorm wind, 3 tornado, 1 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
September 2018Tornado (EF0)Zumbrota$50,000A NWS storm survey, plus areal footage of drone and satellite data, concluded that an EF0 tornado started north of Zumbrota, and tracked northeast for 5.4 miles until moving into Wabasha County, southwest of Bellechester. This tornado tracked mainly through corn and soy bean fields, and occasionally damaging a few sheds and outbuildings. The damage was consistent with EF0 damage with maximum wind speeds of 85 mph and a width of 150 yards.
March 2025HailZumbrota-Multiple reports of large hail, up to 1.25 inches in diameter. Sources include a trained weather spotter in Zumbrota and a Broadcast Meteorologist.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindZumbrota-Large tree branch down in Zumbrota MN.
September 2019Thunderstorm WindZumbrota-Several trees and power lines were blown down around Zumbrota.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindZumbrota-There was a large tree that was uprooted in the city of Zumbrota.
July 2016Thunderstorm WindZumbrota-Multiple trees were blown down near Zumbrota.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindZumbrota-Several large tree limbs were blown off near Zumbrota, Minnesota.
August 2010Heavy RainZumbrota-A local observer measured 2.72 inches of rainfall in three hours.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindZumbrota-Scattered trees down.
March 2005HailZumbrota-Golf ball hail fell along Highway 52.
March 2005Funnel CloudZumbrota-Observed nearly over town.
May 2004Tornado (F0)Zumbrota-A tornado briefly touched down just west of Mazeppa. A few trees were downed and a fence was damaged before the tornado dissipated.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindZumbrota-A 1 foot diameter tree was downed onto 5th Street.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindZumbrota-Few trees down.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindZumbrota-Trees down. Estimated windspeed.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindZumbrota-Large tree blown over. Estimated windspeed.
May 2024HailZumbrota-no account filed
September 2016HailZumbrota-no account filed
May 2012HailZumbrota-no account filed
August 2012HailZumbrota-no account filed
May 2011HailZumbrota-no account filed
September 2007HailZumbrota-no account filed
July 2006HailZumbrota-no account filed
August 2006HailZumbrota-no account filed
August 2006HailZumbrota-no account filed
August 2006HailZumbrota-no account filed
May 2004HailZumbrota-no account filed
May 2004HailZumbrota-no account filed
June 1998Tornado (F0)Zumbrota-no account filed
June 1998HailZumbrota-no account filed
July 1997Flash FloodZumbrota-no account filed
May 1996Thunderstorm WindZumbrota-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Goodhue 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
Forest Mills1.5 miles11
Roscoe Center3.8 miles11
White Willow4.9 miles11
Wanamingo6.5 miles11
Pine Island6.5 miles11
Roscoe7.2 miles11
Goodhue7.7 miles11
Hader8.6 miles11

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 ZumbrotaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q1924219The 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 654511. 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.