Northfield
Northfield was founded by John W. North in 1855. Early industry included lumber and flour mills powered by the Cannon River, which flows through town.
Northfield was at one time an agricultural center serving first wheat, then corn farms. The “wheat frontier” moved west, and dairy operations and other more diversified farms replaced wheat-based agriculture. The region now produces substantial amounts of corn, soybeans, and hogs. Dairy and beef operations are still present though not in the numbers they once were. Malt-O-Meal, a breakfast cereal maker, is what remains of the milling industry. When the factory cooks malt, the aromas bathe the town.
Since very early in its history, Northfield has been a center of higher education. Carleton College (then Northfield College) was founded in 1866 on the north edge of town by New England Congregationalists, like those who had established Harvard more than 200 years earlier. St. Olaf College was created in 1874 on the western edge of town by Norwegian Lutheran immigrant pastors and farmers eager to preserve their faith and culture by training teachers and preachers. These two institutions, which today enroll a total of more than 5,000 students, have had a major influence on the makeup of Northfield. The city’s motto, proudly displayed on signs at two of the highway entrances to town, is “Cows, Colleges, and Contentment.” There are more pigs than cows in Northfield today, but there are still two colleges.
In the 1970s the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area expanded south of the Minnesota River. The completion of Interstate Highway 35 (6 miles west of Northfield via Minnesota State Highway 19) was a major milestone. Northfield has experienced an erosion of what remained of its agricultural makeup since then. The downtown grain elevator accepted its last load of corn in 2000 and was torn down in 2002. Residential growth has been rapid since the mid-1990s. Northfield is becoming a suburb and bedroom community on the southern fringe of the metropolitan area. A new hospital, which opened in 2003 in the northwest corner of town, is actually in Dakota County.
Many of the buildings in downtown Northfield are reasonably well-preserved examples of late 19th/early 20th century architecture. Because of early economic successes, stability provided by two thriving colleges, and the abilities of business owners and entrepreneurs to adapt to changing conditions, the downtown is more extensive and better maintained than that of otherwise similar communities in Southern Minnesota and Iowa. Today, commercial development continues on the southern edge of the city, where there is room for growth.