Winona

Sister cities

• Misato

History

The site was of the village of Keoxa of Dakota people. But the name "Keoxa" is known only from one non-contemporary source, Edward Duffield Neill's The history of Minnesota—from the earliest French explorations to the present times. According to Neill, "Keoxa" best translated to "Homestead", and the name comes from annual ceremonial gatherings held there to honor the dead. The French knew the areas as La Prairie Aux-Ailes. The first American visitors called it Wahpasha's Prairie. The modern city is named after Winona, a figure in a Dakota legend. European immigrants settled the area in 1851 and laid out the town into lots in 1852 and 1853. The first were from New England. The population increased from 815 in December 1855 to 3,000 in December 1856. In 1856, German immigrants arrived. For a time, Winona had more millionaires than any other city of its size in the United States. The Winona and St. Peter Railroad's first segment of from Winona to Stockton, Minnesota, was completed by the end of 1862. Winona then had Minnesota's second operational railroad, after the St. Paul and Pacific Line from Saint Paul to Saint 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 Main Channel Bridge opened 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

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an 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 and Fountain City to the north. Rochester is 44 miles 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. Just northeast of the city, connected to it by several 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 the principal city of the Winona, MN Micropolitan Statistical Area (μSA). 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; the January mean is , while that of July is . Winona has a humid continental climate (Dfa) with hot, humid summers and cold, snowy winters.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  3,441
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  3,178
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  2,982
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,938
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,925
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,913
• Bald Eagle

  Haliaeetus leucocephalus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  2,892
• White-breasted Nuthatch

  Sitta carolinensis Latham, 1790 · Aves
  2,546

Largest nearby schools

• WINONA SENIOR HIGH
  High · WINONA · 881 students · 18:1 ratio
• WINONA MIDDLE
  Middle · WINONA · 641 students · 13.6:1 ratio
• JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY
  Elementary · WINONA · 309 students · 12.4:1 ratio
• WASHINGTON-KOSCIUSKO ELEMENTARY
  Elementary · WINONA · 286 students · 11:1 ratio
• BLUFFVIEW MONTESSORI
  Elementary · WINONA · 212 students · 8.5:1 ratio
• GOODVIEW ELEMENTARY
  Elementary · WINONA · 196 students · 13.1:1 ratio
• WINONA AREA LEARNING CENTER
  High · WINONA · 73 students · 10.4:1 ratio
• WINONA EARLY CHILDHOOD SPECIAL ED.
  Other · WINONA · 69 students · 6.9:1 ratio