History of Rochester
Photos provided by History Center of Olmsted County
For more than two hundred years, the Rochester area was one of the busiest trade routes in the area. Eventually, a railroad stop was established and a town emerged and grew. In 1883, a historic tornado swept through the region, essentially destroying the early city of Rochester. Dr. William Worrall Mayo, who was serving as the city mayor and also ran a small medical practice in the area, recruited the Sisters of Saint Francis to help him care for the many people who were seriously wounded by the tornado. A few years later, in 1889, the Sisters of Saint Francis partnered with Dr. Mayo to build the region’s first hospital, St. Mary’s Hospital. Dr. Mayo’s sons, William J. Mayo and Charles H. Mayo, served as the physicians while the Sisters embraced the role of nurses and administrators. Fast forward nearly 134 years and today, this quaint “hospital in a cornfield” has become the Mayo Clinic – one of the most renowned healthcare facilities in the world, employing more than 76,000 people and over 66,000 allied health staff as of 2022. Often referred to as “Med City,” today, Rochester is the third largest city in Minnesota and is celebrated globally for its indelible mark on the healthcare industry.
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20 ROCHESTER AREA COMMUNITY GUIDE & CHAMBER DIRECTORY
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