Henderson. An incorporated borough of about 1,000 inhabitants, in the southeastern part of Sibley county, of which it is the seat. Also, located upon the Minnesota river, and within 1 mile of East Henderson station on the St. P. & S. C. R. R. A saw mill, planing mill and grist mill employ steam in their operations here. Contains a church each of the Methodists, Lutherans, Episcopalians, and Catholics, and a graded school employing 3 teachers, occupying school property costing $8,000. The Sibley County Independent, an excellent weekly newspaper, is published here. The place has a bank, 3 hotels, and a number of stores and mechanic shops. Exports, wheat, flour, and hogs. Telegraph, Northwestern. Express, American. Mail, daily. (Minnesota State Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1878-9, Volume 1, R. L. Polk & Co., and A. C. Danser, Detroit, Michigan, Page 212)
Page 414. HENDERSON. Its location is on the western bank of the Minnesota river, in the north-eastern portion of the township, form which it derives its name, upon a grassy plateau which slightly elevates as it recedes to the high bluffs in the rear, thus affording unsurpassed drainage. …the borough (was)
Page 415. incorporated in 1875… Passing over the early schools to 1878, we find the town possessed of a two-story, new brick building, with all modern improvements. It is located upon an elevation fully fifty feet above and in the rear of the borough. The school is graded, having four departments, primary, intermediate, grammar and high school, all being under the charge of Prof. E. T. Fitch. In 1881 the enrollment was as follows: Primary, in charge of Miss Eleanor Kelly – fifty; intermediate, Miss Mary Stegmier – forty-one; grammar, Mrs. Anna Fitch – thirty-eight; the high school, under the present supervision of Prof. Fitch – forty-four. Aside from a systematic course of study, rhetorical exercises are made obligatory, and reckon in the scholar’s standing. There are nine months of school each year. The first class of the school graduates in 1882 with six members.
Page 416. In matter of public enterprise Henderson keeps up with the times. Her main street is lighted by eight lamps, two posts set to every block, her streets are evenly graded and sidewalks as level as the slope will permit. Most of the leading commercial houses were opened at a very early date. The "Independent," a weekly paper was started in 1872 by Daniel Pickit. It is a nine column quarto sheet, and as its name indicates is free from party lines politically. It is the official paper of the county. In connection with it is also a job printing office.
Page 417. There are three hotels. The first established in 1854 or ‘5 by a Mr. Lester; is now the Union House, Benjamin Russell, proprietor. It contains twenty six rooms, including a sample-room for the accommodation of traveling men. The Minnesota House, established in 1863, has since been remodeled, and is now called the Merchants, in charge of F. J. Altnow & Co. It contains thirty-two rooms. The McClellan House was started in 1865, by C. Hemberle, who was succeeded a few years later by O. H. Steinke. There is a bar attached. The manufacturing industries have received attention. There is a large flour-mill, built by B. F. Paul in 1876, at a cost of $28,000, which had six run of stone, and a capacity of 150 barrels of flour per day. In 1881 it was converted into a roller mill at an additional cost of $10,000, and the capacity increased to 200 barrels per day. It is run by a 100 horse-power engine. Two elevators are conducted, one with a capacity of 40,000 bushels, the other 9,000. A feed-mill with one run of stone was built in 1877 by H. Jogerson, who also runs furniture manufacturing on a small scale. A ten horse-power engine runs the machinery. A saw-mill was built in 1861 by Joseph Herman, which is now in the hands of his heirs. It has a capacity of 8,000 feet of lumber per day.
The Henderson brewery was built in 1879, by Christian Enes. It was a brick structure with a capacity of 6,000 barrels per year. The Henderson broom factory began business in 1879, and produces annually 1,500 dozen brooms. In 1875 Charles Bisson established the Henderson machine shops, erecting a substantial two story frame structure. The pork packing house, run by Herman Mollering, handles 8,000 pounds per year. The beer keg manufactory and cooper shop of F. Schafer was established in 1867, and has been operated by him since. The lumber yard established in 1859, by H. Poehler & Co, was purchased by Feldman Brothers, in 1879, since which they have carried on the business. There is one brick yard, owned by Herman Matthei, which produces upwards of 1,000,000 brick per year. The brick are of a dark red color and very durable. For the past eleven years, Frank Conrad has made a specialty of merchant tailoring, keeping a shop at his residence. (History of the Minnesota Valley, Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota, Rev. Edward D. Neill, North Star Publishing Company, Minneapolis, 1882)