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Photograph of Original Main Street Historic District
Photograph by McGhiever, CC BY-SA 4.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Original Main Street Historic District

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.

From the record

“The Original Main Street Historic District stretches for ten blocks along Main Street in downtown Sauk Centre, Minnesota, United States. It is considered the inspiration for the 1920 novel Main Street by locally born author Sinclair Lewis, which in turn inspired the concept of "Main Street" as a symbol of American small towns.”

Wikipedia article Original Main Street Historic District, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 36 National Register listings published here for Stearns County · listed in 1994 · category: District.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

  • Address. Main St. between S. Eighth and N. Third Sts., Sauk Centre, 56378
  • When was it listed? August 1994
  • Category. district
  • Township. Sauk Centre township
  • National Register reference number. 94000758 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

The ground it stands on

5,495 words

The chapter on Sauk Centre Township in History of Stearns County, Minnesota, published 1915 names Sauk Centre. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.

The white man who first set his foot on the spot where now rises the beautiful little city of Sauk Centre was probably a reckless adventurer inspired by wanderlust. He passed on, leaving never a trace l>ehind him, and has now ended his aimless journeyings through the world. To this nomadic class belong not the real pioneers of a country, they who build its civilization. With these latter it is a desire for the erection of homes that sends them forth to endure all the hardships and perils of a new and uninhabited country. The love of home is instinctive with them:

Passage source: History of Stearns County, Minnesota, published 1915.

The first settlement made in Sauk Centre was in the year 1856. It consisted of what was known as the "Sauk Centre -Townsite Co.," comprised of seven persons, of whom the leading spirit in the enterprise was Alexander Moore, who was then acting as agent for his mother, Rachel Moore. His arrival in this locality was probably antedated by that of W. R. James, the latter, however, after a short stay had departed to return a few years later. Although the township had not then been sub-divided, the outlines of a townsite were staked out.

Passage source: History of Stearns County, Minnesota, published 1915.

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 Sauk Centre Township - 5,495 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.

Fires near this property

4 since 2000

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 4 fires within 5 miles of Original Main Street Historic District between 2000 and 2011, burning about 23 acres 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
Recreation and ceremony2
Debris and open burning1
Arson/incendiarism1

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
1 March 2005Debris and open burningunder an acreLitchfield Wetland Management DistrictARCHWELDER
18 November 2011Recreation and ceremony21 acresLitchfield Wetland Management DistrictGETTEL
1 October 2004Recreation and ceremony2.0 acresLitchfield Wetland Management DistrictTWIN FIRE
1 January 2000Arson/incendiarismunder an acreMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

Every fire recorded in Stearns County

Mines and quarries near this property

1 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 1 working within 5 miles of Original Main Street Historic District: 1 producer. 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Haskamp PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Stearns County

Storms near this property

45 since 1993

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sauk Centre, the town this property stands in, in 45 storm reports between 1993 and 2025: 23 hail, 13 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 2 tornado. The reports record 1 injury. 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
August 2000LightningSauk Centre1 hurtMetal trailer struck by lightning. Person standing next to trailer suffered burns.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindSauk Centre$500,000The Sauk Centre City Officials noted that power was lost in the town at 1908 CST, which is when emergency sirens lost power. Several residents noted that the strong straight line winds lasted for 10 minutes. ||Damage occurred to approximately 200 trees in Sauk Centre which were either uprooted or snapped off with the line of storms. Tree damage was noted from Interstate 94, in the south, to the Sauk Centre Country Club to the north. ||The survey noted that all of the trees were laying toward the east, which was indicative of damage caused by straight line winds. Dozens of structures were also damaged in the town, though almost all of the structural damage was caused by falling trees. There was a toppled truck trailer, just over a dozen downed utility poles, and several snapped road signs.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindSauk Centre$25,000Numerous trees were uprooted around the city of Sauk Centre.
June 2023HailSauk Centre-A report was received via social media. There was also a measured 51 mph wind gust.
May 2022Tornado (EF0)Sauk Centre-Video on social media showed a tornado moving across the southern part of Sauk Lake. A damage survey found over a dozen trees uprooted or broken in the northwest wide of Sauk Centre, just east and southeast of the Old Golf Course. After moving across the lake, it knocked down a few more trees and dissipated.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindSauk Centre-A few trees were blown down around Sauk Centre. The Sauk Centre airport measured a wind gust of 53 MPH at 1755 CST.
August 2021Thunderstorm WindSauk Centre-There were numerous trees blown down in the town of Sauk Centre.
May 2014Flash FloodSauk Centre-There were numerous reports of county roads flooding between Sauk Centre and Melrose, including County Road 4 near the Sauk River, Highway 71 south of Sauk Centre, plus County Roads, 29, 186 and 169. These roads were closed during the height of the storm, and sustained damage due to debris and some erosion from the fast flowing water.
June 2013Flash FloodSauk Centre-Very heavy rainfall began across Stearns County after 1200 AM CST, Friday, June 21st. Due to the extreme rainfall rates that continued through 130 AM CST, Friday, June 21st, several roads in the city of Sauk Centre became inundated with flood waters. The heavy rainfall tapered off after 2 AM CST, June 21st, and flood waters slowly receded during the early morning hours.
May 2013HailSauk Centre-Small tree limbs were also blown down during the time the quarter size hail fell.
May 2012HailSauk Centre-The large hail stones accumulated up to 2 inches deep in some areas of town.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindSauk Centre-Wind gust occurred on Interstate 94 at mile post 128.
August 2007Thunderstorm WindSauk Centre-Semi-trailer trucks blown over on Interstate 94. Roof off two buildings at car dealership, garage door blown out, softball bleacher tossed, large trees uprooted, silo collapsed onto barn.
September 2007Heavy RainSauk Centre-Ponding of water occured at a viaduct and at a few intersections around town. As a result, a few roads were barricaded.
August 2006HailSauk Centre-Hail was occasionally nickel size.
June 2005Funnel CloudSauk Centre-A trained spotter reported via HAM Radio that they witnessed a funnel cloud from a vantage point 7 miles south of Sauk Center.
April 2002Thunderstorm WindSauk Centre-Numerous trees down in Sinclair Lewis Park.
June 2002Tornado (F0)Sauk Centre-Brief touchdown in open field witnessed by broadcast meteorologist.
July 2002Flash FloodSauk Centre-Street flooding.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindSauk Centre-Tree down on Main Street.
July 2000Thunderstorm WindSauk Centre-Power lines down.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindSauk Centre-Two farmsteads damaged by downburst winds. Several sheds destroyed. Irrigation equipment ripped into pieces. Trees blown down. Estimated windspeed.
August 2025HailSauk Centre-no account filed
June 2022Thunderstorm WindSauk Centre-no account filed
May 2022Thunderstorm WindSauk Centre-no account filed
May 2016HailSauk Centre-no account filed
May 2012HailSauk Centre-no account filed
July 2011HailSauk Centre-no account filed
July 2010Funnel CloudSauk Centre-no account filed
July 2010HailSauk Centre-no account filed
July 2010HailSauk Centre-no account filed
April 2010HailSauk Centre-no account filed
June 2007HailSauk Centre-no account filed
September 2007HailSauk Centre-no account filed
July 2007HailSauk Centre-no account filed
June 2007HailSauk Centre-no account filed
July 2007HailSauk Centre-no account filed
August 2006HailSauk Centre-no account filed
June 2003HailSauk Centre-no account filed
July 2002HailSauk Centre-no account filed
July 2002HailSauk Centre-no account filed
June 2001HailSauk Centre-no account filed
July 2000HailSauk Centre-no account filed
May 1996HailSauk Centre-no account filed
August 1993Thunderstorm WindSauk Centre-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Stearns County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

3 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Palmer House Hotelunder 500 feet1982
Sinclair Lewis Boyhood Home0.2 miles1968
Minnesota Home School for Girls Historic District1.0 miles1989

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 94000758 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Stearns CountyAll 36 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • 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.