Medford, Minnesota

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Medford is a city in Medford Township, Steele County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1,239 at the 2010 census.

Medford was first settled in 1853, organized in 1855, and the city was platted in 1856. It did not incorporate as a village until 1936. A post office was established in 1855 in Rice County, and was transferred to Steele County in 1857 as the first post office in the county.

In 1853 five men erected houses on the east bank of the Straight River, making that the first settlement in Steele County. William K. Colling, an Englishman, named the town after the ship Medford which had carried him to the United States.

mnplaces.mnhs.org/upham/city.cfm?PlaceNameID=1951&B...


The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad served Medford from 1866 until 1985, with a line now operated by the Iowa, Chicago and Eastern.