Rochester is a city in and the county seat of Olmsted County, Minnesota, United States. It is located along rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota. The population was 121,395 at the 2020 census, and was estimated at 123,624 in 2024, The city is the home and birthplace of Mayo Clinic.
Rochester first developed as a stagecoach stop between Dubuque, Iowa, and Saint Paul, Minnesota. With the creation of the Mayo Clinic in 1864, Rochester became a national center for healthcare, as well as a hub for regional agriculture. For higher education needs the University of Minnesota Rochester, Rochester Community and Technical College, and Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine are located in the city.
History
thumb|left|St. Marys Hospital (1910)
Several indigenous peoples such as Dakota, Ojibway, and Ho-Chunk inhabited the Rochester area. The community was founded by George Head and his wife Henrietta, who built a log cabin named Head's Tavern in 1854. It was named for Head's hometown of Rochester, New York. The city developed as a stagecoach stop along the Zumbro River on a route between Dubuque, Iowa, and Saint Paul, Minnesota. When the Winona and St. Peter Railroad initiated service in October 1864, it brought new residents and business opportunities and spurred growth.
In 1863, William W. Mayo arrived as the examining surgeon for Union draftees in the Civil War. The 1883 Rochester Tornado demolished much of Rochester, leaving 37 dead and approximately 200 injured. As there was no medical facility in the immediate area at the time, Mayo and his two sons worked together to care for the wounded. Donations of US$60,000 (US$1,932,562 in 2022) were collected and the Sisters of St. Francis, assisted by Mayo, opened a new facility named St. Marys Hospital in 1889.
Geography
thumb|left|Zumbro River in downtown Rochester
Rochester lies alongside the South Fork of the Zumbro River which is long and is ringed by gentle hills and largely surrounded by farmland within a deciduous forest biome. The Zumbro Watershed flows through of agricultural and urban lands. Located in southeast Minnesota, the City of Rochester lies at the western edge of the Driftless Area, a region that was never glaciated and contains deeply-carved river valleys. The rugged terrain is due both to the lack of glacial deposits, or drift, and to the incision of the upper Mississippi River and its tributaries into bedrock. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.6%) is water.
Rochester is in Olmsted County, one of only four counties in Minnesota without a natural lake. Artificial lakes exist in the area, including Silver Lake, a dammed portion of the South Fork Zumbro River just below the convergence with Silver Creek near the city center. Silver Lake was once used as a cooling pond when the coal-burning power plant was operated by Rochester Public Utilities at the lake. When operational, the RPU coal plant's heated water output prevented the lake from generally freezing over during the winter months, attracting large numbers of migrating giant Canada geese. Large murders of crows are known to flock to Rochester during winter, including the Rochester cemetery downtown.
Rochester has an extensive parks system, the largest of which are Silver Lake and Soldiers Field in the central part of the city. A major flood in 1978 led the city to embark on an expensive and successful flood-control project that involved altering many nearby rivers and streams. The Zumbro River flowing through the center of the city is presently being readdressed for increased development and use as part of city planning in conjunction with funding from the Destination Medical Center project.
Climate
With a slightly higher altitude and without the same Urban heat island effect as the Twin Cities, the climate is warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfb), which is cooler than the Twin Cities, despite being further south, with warm summers and cold winters. The city features four distinct seasons. Rochester sees on average of rainfall and of snowfall per year. Significant snow accumulation is common during the winter months. Spring and fall are transitional seasons, with a general warming trend during the spring and a general cooling trend during the fall. However, it is not uncommon to see some snowfall during the early month of spring and the later month of fall. January to April are the windiest months on average, according to The Weather Channel. Rochester has been hit by two F4 tornadoes since 1950 (the first on May 10, 1953, and the other on September 16, 1962). The city has also been hit by two tornadoes in the past decade. On June 17, 2010, a tornado hit the city's northwest side, damaging or destroying several homes and businesses around the Lincolnshire neighborhood. Another tornado struck the city on June 4, 2019, causing damage to parts of Southwest Rochester.
;Notes: