Meetings are the first Thursday of the month at 7:00pm at the United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall.
A little bit of Preston history
Preston was founded by John Kaercher in 1853. The location was desirable as the Root River afforded opportunities for Kaercher to establish his flour mills along the river. The area offered abundant supplies of timber, water power, stonework, and railway service. Preston is named after the town’s first postmaster, Luther Preston, a good friend and employee of Mr. Kaercher.
Today Preston, the Fillmore County Seat, is a friendly community of 1,350 located in the Root River Valley. Preston offers a peaceful, small town atmosphere close to many interesting and recreational activities in southeast Minnesota’s Historic Bluff Country.
Located in the “Driftless Region” of the state, the Preston area was untouched by glaciers and is now a mecca of karst geology, hardwood forests, abundant wildlife, and numerous springs, brooks, and streams.
Preston Historical Society
PO Box 138
Preston, MN 55965
www.prestonmnhistory.com
prestonhistoricalsociety@gmail.com
Preston Historical Society Facebook Posts
Recent News and History
Here is the table of contents for reference:
(Oral Histories from 1978)
- Julius Afseth
- Orville Amdahl (Registrar of Deeds)
- Moppy Anderson
- Frank Ashton (Mayor)
- Lollie Ballard Cobert
- Amylee Broderick (Preston School)
- Erma Chilson
- Blanche Conkey and Mrs. Dora Conkey (with Tim Grebin)
- Elvyn Cummings
- Oscar Evenrud
- Preston Firehall (Tim Grebin, Elvyn Cummings, Fred W. Neuman, Dr. M. E. Love, O. H. Amdahl, Dean McKnight, Gustav Gartner, Howard Gartner)
- Howard Gartner (Businessman)
- Bessie Gill (no transcript available)
- Tim Grebin
- Martha Grinnell (Early Medicine Prices)
- Richard Hovelson (Preston Historian)
- Wallace Hutton (no transcript available)
- Gertrude Johnson Willford with Tim Grebin (Canton, MN)
- Ludie Johnson (no transcript available)
- Wesley Jones
- Lydin Kerr
- Gordon Kimber (no transcript available)
- Sammy Kirk
- Herb and Alma Liester
- Iva Lilliard
- Dr. Maclaren E. Love (Dentist)
- Eunice Maust
- Clifford Nelson
- Richard Nelson (Mayor)
- Fred Neumann
- Lester Ott (Railroad)
- Esther Pickett
- Wendell Pickett
- Bernard Pietenpol (Aviation Pioneer)
- Art Schibursky
- Clair Snyder
- Mary Spies (Carimona)
- Russell Sutton
- Dale Thauwald (Preston Mortician)
- Luther Thompson (Meighen Store)
- John Turck
- John Vande Zande
- Violet Van Sande
- Wendell Vrieze
- George Watts (Creamery History)
- Wyman Yaste