Henderson, Minnesota

History

Henderson was founded in August 1852 by Joseph R. Brown, and was named for his mother's maiden name.

By 1855, Henderson had become a fast-growing city as it already harbored more 60 buildings including a hotel, a warehouse, a steam sawmill, as well as Brown's house which functioned as a boarding house, a store and a residence for the Brown family. Henderson quickly became a major distribution center for the inland settlements surrounding the Minnesota River Valley in the following years.

By the mid-1860s Henderson had two major brickyards, The Mattei and Schwartz Brickyard, who both contributed heavily to the early 1900s brick-style buildings still present in Henderson today.

After various petitions by Gaylord from as far back as 1887 to gain the county seat of Sibley County, the county seat was finally offered to Gaylord in 1915 by a county-wide vote. This caused a major decline of around 200 residents leaving Henderson. Throughout the 50 years after this population loss, Henderson's economy became increasingly more centered on agriculture that largely sustain the downtown after the loss of the county seat. Its success in changing support has brought rise to the Sauerkraut Days celebrated today.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.09 square miles (2.82 km²); 1.06 square miles (2.75 km²) is land and 0.03 square miles (0.08 km²) is water.

Minnesota State Highways 19 and 93 are two of the main routes in the community. U.S. Highway 169 is nearby.

Demographics

As of 2000 the median income for a household in the city was $43,125, and the median income for a family was $49,091. Males had a median income of $31,736 versus $25,688 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,544. About 4.7% of families and 6.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.7% of those under age 18 and 9.7% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 886 people, 377 households, and 236 families residing in the city. The population density was 835.8 inhabitants per square mile (322.7/km²). There were 405 housing units at an average density of 382.1 per square mile (147.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.5% White, 0.2% Asian, 1.4% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.5% of the population.

There were 377 households of which 29.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.4% were married couples living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.8% had a male householder with no wife present, and 37.4% were non-families. 30.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.95.

The median age in the city was 39.5 years. 23.4% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.1% were from 25 to 44; 27.1% were from 45 to 64; and 15.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.9% male and 52.1% female.

Sauerkraut Days

Henderson, Minnesota, is home to Sauerkraut Days, a three-day event that takes place during the last full weekend of June. Events include a Kraut Car Cruise, 5K Kraut Run, tractor ride, kiddie parade, grand parade, Minnesota State Arm Wrestling Championships, car show, Miss Henderson Coronation, Sauerkraut Idol, and the World Champion Sauerkraut Eating Contest.

In 2006, Sam Delzer of Henderson devoured 2 pounds of kraut in 1 minute 37 seconds in front of over 400 spectators during Henderson's Sauerkraut Days. Delzer repeated as champion in 2007 with a time of 1:47. Brian Schneedwind was the Kraut King in 2008. He finished his two pounds of kraut in one minute flat. Schneedwind was also the 2005 champion.

Notable people