History

• The City of Lafayette was organized as a township in the year 1858. The 1st settler in the area was Louis Shagro.
• The City of Lafayette is located in Nicollet County, right off Highway 15.
• The site that would have become Lafayette was 1st settled by Louis Shagro. John Bush and family moved to the area in 1854 and operated an Inn for travelers. The towship organized in 2858, and the 1st Post Office opened in 1859. Lafayette became a village in 1897, and was incorporated in February of 1900.
• The Minnapolis and St. Louis Railroad was completed in 1895. The 1st carload of wheat was shipped out of Lafayette a year later.
• First State Bank in Lafayette organized in 1902. The Lafayette Ledger newspaper published it’s 1st edition in 1904.
• Seven Lafayette businesses were destroyed by a fire in 1908. It was started by someone heating tar on a kerosene stove.
• The Lafayette Municipal Band has been in existence for over 80 years. They still play weekly summer concerts in downtown Lafayette.
• The school in Lafayette taught students up to 11th grade until around 1940. After World War Two, the school downsized to just kindergarten through 8th grade. Students would then complete their education in either New Ulm or Winthrop usually.
• A famous person who grew up in Lafayette is Tippy Hedren. She was the star of several of Alfred Hitchcock films, including in the movie she is most recognized for: “The Birds”.

 

Businesses

• One of Lafayette’s largest employers in the charter school. The Lafayette Charter School has undergone a major expansion since 1st opening in 1999. The school currently has over 90 students enrolled in the program, in which parents and students choose their own curriculum. There is a strong focus on technology.
• The focus of much of the business conducted in Lafayette is the Farmer’s Co-Op. The customer-owned cooperative also constructed a storage facility to further benefit area farmers.
• Lafayette is home to the Good Samaritan Home, an assisted-living facility.

 

Festivals & Events

• The months of June and July are a good time to visit downtown Lafayette. Every Friday night there’s a pie and ice cream social.
• The Lafayette Lions Club hosts Bingo games every Friday night from around October through April.
• People around the region always eagerly anticipate the end of Auguts in Lafayette. That’s when the Lafayette Lions have a corn and hog roast.
• The Lafayette Fire Department holds a street dance late in the summer. The event is a fundraiser for the Fire Department.
• The Fireman’s Banquet is held in March in Lafayette. The meal usually consists of a ham dinner with all the fixins.
• The Lafayette Lions Club holds a meat raffle every friday night at Lafayette’s watering hole: “Dave’s Place.”
• The Helping Hands Food Shelf is currently planning the annual “Ride For Hunger.” The event will be held later this year.

 

People

• Lafayette has a population of about 500 people. The Mayor is Steve Langhoff.
• The New Ulm Area Farm-City Hub Club presented Ruth Klossner of the Lafayette area the group’s annual Service to Agriculture Award in 2011. Klossner is now retired from her duties as Managing Editor of the Lafayette Nicollet Ledger newspaper, and had previously worked with the University of Minnesota Extension Service.
• Dale Holmgren of Lafayette won $200,000 in a Minnesota Lottery Scratch Game, the $10 Cash Blast. He purchased his ticket at the United Express in Lafayette.
• In 2010 the Lafayette Charter School was one of twenty pilot sites across the state for the new Minnesota 4-H program “Stepping Out.” The program will train teens to teach young people and get them excited about living healthy lifestyles. The program will be delivered to elementary students in Lafayette, as well as Nicollet, as part of 4-H After School. Stepping Out is part of the new 4-H initiative called “Youth Voice: Youth Choice.”
• The students of the Lafayette Charter School held a 7-day fundraising event in 2010 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, featuring a different theme every day as well as prizes for the kids’ donations. The kids raised over $800,000, which surpassed their goal of $200,000!
• In 2010 the Lafayette Lions Club honored Tom Hayes with the Lions ‘Melvin Jones’ award for outstanding community service. The club also presented college scholarships to recently graduated high school seniors from the Lafayette area at their annual banquet.
• In 2010 the Legion Auxiliary, the Lafayette Lions, Citizens bank, and Lafayette-area churches combined to fill nearly a hundred shoe boxes with supplies for less fortunate children through the program Operation Christmas Child. Nearly $700 in donations to cover shipping costs was collected as well.

 

Click on the title below to listen to the Town Days Podcasts

• Fire Chief Scott Van Deest

  13 Feb 12

• City Administrator Heather McCollum

  13 Feb 12

• Lafayette 1

  13 Feb 12