Medford, Minnesota

Medford is a small city in Steele County, Minnesota, with roots going back to eighteen fifty-three, when Chauncey Lull and A. L. Wright erected the first cabin in the township.

The town was platted in eighteen fifty-six and named for Medford Colling, the son of one of the area's first settlers. It was a first in the county in another sense, too: Medford held the first post office in Steele County, established while the area was still part of Rice County in eighteen fifty-five. Steele County itself, organized in eighteen fifty-five and reorganized in eighteen fifty-six, was named for Franklin Steele, a government contractor who was among the earliest Americans to recognize the commercial potential of Minnesota Territory.