History

Fast Facts About Rochester, MN

• Olmsted County started stated in 1855. The county was named after David Olmsted.
• City of Rochester was established in 1858 off a stagecoach route to Dubuque, Iowa. The beginning of Rochester started at Heads Taven
• Population in 1858, 1424 residence. Settlers were attracted to low cost of fertile land.
• Current Population is 106,800 (as of 2015)
• Sister Mary Alfred Moe a Franciscan sister proposed the first permanent medical facility in Rochester.
• William W Mayo was the first County Physician in Rochester in 1863, he immigrated from England in 1845
• In 1880 Rochester became a developing urban center with population reaching over 5100 people.
• Mayo Clinic Saint Marys Hospital opened in 1889 it offered 27 beds.
• The Plumber Building opened in 1927
• By 1929 the Mayo Clinic had 366 physicians
• Rochester was not immune to natural disaster. In August of 1883 violent storms and tornado hit killing 24. Flooding in 1950 and the worst ever in 1965.
• Mayor Ardel Brede from 2003 to Present
• Average High Temperature 82 Degrees
• Average Snow Fall 48"
• Health Care and Hospitals 4 hospital 1300 beds
• Cost of living 1% below national average
• Average Housing cost $155,000

Rochester's Hometown Newspaper - The Post-Bulletin

The Post-Bulletin, one of the oldest newspapers in Minnesota, traces its heritage to the founding of the Rochester City Post in 1859, one year after Minnesota statehood.

Rochester was established in 1854 and five years later, publisher David Blakely arrived with a press and began publication of the City Post, Rochester's first newspaper. The paper covered the rapid growth of the city — in fact, it was a vital part of Rochester's early growth — and it also was a main source in this area for news of the Civil War.

The paper also noted the arrival of Dr. W.W. Mayo, an examining surgeon for the Union Army. Mayo moved to Rochester in 1864 and opened a medical practice that later became Mayo Clinic.

In 1865, Blakely sold the City Post to J.A. Leonard and Walter S. Booth. They published it until 1889, then sold it to the owners of the Rochester Record & Union, A.W. Blakely and his son Clare, relatives of David Blakely, who merged the two papers and called it the Rochester Post & Record. In 1916, the Post & Record's crosstown competitor, the Rochester Daily Bulletin, was sold to Glenn Withers, and nine years later, Withers and Clare Blakely merged the papers to create the Post-Bulletin.

Following Blakely's death in 1944, the Post-Bulletin was published by the Withers family until 1977, when it was acquired by the family-owned Small Newspaper Group, of Kankakee, Ill.

The Post-Bulletin is now one of the largest daily newspapers in Minnesota and the Post-Bulletin Co. is a diversified regional media company. PostBulletin.com is one of the most visited news websites in Minnesota, and the company also publishes Rochester Magazine, Agri News, 507 Magazine; Radish Magazine and other niche publications.

The Post-Bulletin's offices and production facilities are in downtown Rochester, as they have been for nearly 150 years.