The "Kee" to our City!
Welcome to Kiester on the Internet! Main Street is the heart of our town
site and we hope you will enjoy browsing through our various pages. Kiester
is a small town nestled among some of the highest hills, known as glacial
moraines, in Southern Minnesota. The tallest of these "Kiester Hills" is
at an altitude of 1,432 feet above sea level.
We are a thriving community with many vital businesses tied to agriculture,
two fine churches, a spectacular movie theatre (Kee Civic Theatre), very
active main street businesses and much, much more. You will find we have
some of the friendliest folks around, making Kiester a great place to raise
a family! |
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Kiester Hills The surface of
Faribault County
ranges from
nearly level to
increasingly
rolling. At
least four of
the ice sheets,
known as the
Nebraskan and
Kansan stages
and the Iowan
and Mankato sub
stages of the
Wisconsin stage,
crossed
Faribault
county.
There are two
belts of hills
in the county of
moderate height
and slope. These
are end, or
terminal
moraines: piles
of glaciated
material left at
the edge of
melting ice
masses. One
range of hills
extends from the
southeast corner
of Kiester
Township
northwestward
for several
miles. The other
lies mostly in
Iowa, but
includes a part
of Elmore and
Pilot Grove
Townships in
southwestern
Faribault
County.
The highest
points, the
hills in section
three of Kiester
Township, known
locally as the
Kiester Hills,
are about 1,400
feet above sea
level. The
average
elevation of the
county is about
1,130 feet.
Travelers
driving north
out of Kiester
on Hwy. 22 can
enjoy beautiful
panoramic views
of the rolling
hillside as this
highest point in
the county is
approached just
north of town.
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| The Kiester Hills of the Algona Glacial Moraine have brought people to
the community for centuries. Early residents certainly walked up all
1,432
feet of the Kiester Hills and back down again as they made their Home s
on and around what is commonly known as Tveit's Pit southeast of
present-day
Kiester. Later, high-spirited investors flung money after the oil they
believed the Kiester Hills contained. To know Kiester, one must know
the
hills. They signify one is, once again, Home .
Both the City of Kiester and the Kiester Township land which
surrounds
it were named for Judge J. A. Kiester, a prominent figure in Faribault
County history. Although the city's name has been a topic of
conversation
for both residents and friends, all Kiester residents are proud of its
origin and even prouder of this progressive, beautiful community built
on the rolling Kiester Hills.
Early settlers first lived in the surrounding Kiester Township
countryside,
with Eli and A. W. Judd filing the first land claim in the fall of
1865.
Today, their claim would run from the Almberg farm southwest of Kiester
into the southwest corner of the city.
When the Iowa, Minnesota and North Western Railroad began marking
their
trail through this area in 1899, beginning in Belle Plaine, IA, through
Mason City and on to Blue Earth and Fairmont, it left behind many
villages
platted on its tracks, including the City of Kiester. By June of 1900,
the combined population of the city and township was 896, and the city
already boasted several general stores, a state bank, a hardware store,
implement store, railroad depot, two blacksmith shops, a dray line, a
newspaper,
and a livestock dealer.
Kiester has enjoyed a progressive community status throughout its
lifetime,
maintaining a strong business base and enjoying unending support from
its
residents. Progressive city fathers worked hard to plan a complete curb
and gutter system, paved streets, built a sanitary sewer system and an
upgraded water system during mid-century. With that infrastructure in
place,
new projects became the focus.
A city-sponsored renewal project on Main Street in the 1990's
brought
a newly-constructed retail complex to town, including a grocery store
unrivaled
in a community of Kiester's size and comparable to markets found in
larger
cities. That progress shows its face today in Kiester Clinic-Mayo
Health
Systems, located in a building owned by the city, which provides a
health
facility connected to the Mayo Clinic.
Communality volunteerism, fostered with the city's progressivism,
makes
an impact. The annual Farming of Yesteryear show, the summer Kiester
days
celebration, the Kiester City Park holiday lights festival, the Kee
Theatre,
the fire and ambulance services, and the many community-service clubs
are
possible because of talented residents and friends who donate their
time
and skills.
The cooperative, progressive spirit continues to make history in
the
Kiester Hills. Like the rolling hills, the community has found itself
looking
uphill at times and enjoying a downhill coast during others. But the
ride,
like the hills, continue to be a source of pride and enjoyment.
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