Winona ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Winona County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 25,948 at the 2020 census. Located in bluff country, otherwise known as the Driftless Area on the Mississippi River, its most noticeable physical landmark is Sugar Loaf. Winona is known as the home of Winona State University, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota, and the Minnesota Marine Art Museum.
History
The site was of the village of Keoxa of Dakota people. The city is named after Winona, a figure in a Sioux legend.
European immigrants settled the area in 1851 and laid out the town into lots in 1852 and 1853. The original settlers were immigrants from New England. The population increased from 815 in December 1855, to 3,000 in December 1856. In 1856, German immigrants arrived as well. For a time, Winona had more millionaires than any other city of its size in the United States. The Winona and St. Peter Railroad first segment of from Winona to Stockton, Minnesota was completed by the end of 1862. Winona then had the second operational railroad in Minnesota, after the St. Paul and Pacific Line from Saint Paul to St. Anthony Falls. In December 1870, the Mississippi River was bridged at Winona by the Winona Rail Bridge. In 1892, a wagon toll-bridge over the Mississippi, a steel high-bridge, was completed and remained in service until the opening of the Main Channel Bridge in 1942.
Winona has two historic districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places that combine into a single local historic district administered by the city's Heritage Preservation Commission.
A bandshell was completed in 1924 for outdoor musical performances and events. The Winona Municipal Band holds concerts there during the summer.
Geography
thumb|220px|left|[[Sugar Loaf (Winona, Minnesota)|Sugar Loaf in Winona]]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of ; is land and is water. Lock and Dam 5A spans the Mississippi River in Winona. The highway bridge connecting Winona to the Wisconsin side of the river is at approximately River Mile 726 (USACE map 31).
Winona's primary suburbs are Goodview, Stockton, Minnesota City and Rollingstone to the west, Homer to the southeast and Bluff Siding is 3 miles directly across the interstate bridge to the north and Fountain City to the north. Rochester is 44 miles to the west of Winona, La Crescent is 21 miles to the south, and La Crosse is 30 miles to the southeast.
Winona is part of the driftless area, a region never covered by ice during the last ice age, that includes southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, southwestern Wisconsin and northwestern Illinois.
<!-- thumb|right|Winona from Garvin Heights; needs definition or inline discussion of "Garvin Heights." -->
thumb|[[Latsch Island]]
Just northeast of the city, connected to Winona via a number of bridges, is Latsch Island. Officially part of the city since 1998, Latsch Island has been home to a unique community of houseboat ("Boathouse") residents for several decades.
The United States Office of Management and Budget has designated Winona as the principal city of the Winona, MN Micropolitan Statistical Area (μSA).
Climate
Winona's weather station records the warmest climate of any in Minnesota, with a normal year-round average (1971–2000) temperature of compared to in Austin to the city's southwest or in Minneapolis, to the northwest, which experiences a strong urban heat island effect. Temperatures are generally very mild by Minnesota standards year-round; the January mean is , while that of July is . Winona has a humid continental climate (Dfa) with hot, humid summers and cold, snowy winters.