General Info
Mower County was named after John Edward Mower who was a member of the Minnesota Territorial Legislature in the 1850s. The first house built was a log cabin in 1853 by Hunter Clarke. Around 1855 the population started booming and gained close to 500 residents that year. There was an abundance of stone for building through out the county making it easy for new settlers starting over in a new area. In 1856 Mower County had enough residents and was established as a county. By 1859 the county had reached nearly 4,000 residents mainly consisting of Norwegians. The county has 708 square miles of mainly prairie land with many streams running through it. The current population is around 40,029 people and the county seat is Austin.
