How Farmington Got Its Name

 
Photo: Third Street in 1867

In 1856, James C. Dow, editor of the Dakota Weekly Journal, a territorial newspaper published in Hastings, wrote this, “Farmington is situated on the Vermillion River, about fifteen miles from Hastings. This place is rightly named, for it looks like a village of farms. Good soil, good water, and intelligent citizens is their wealth.”

The City of Farmington, named after Farmington, New York, is one of Dakota County’s oldest communities and was on the map before Minnesota became a state.

Irving Todd, publisher of the Hastings Conserver, recorded these observations in 1863:
“Farmington seems to us to be suitably named, being a vast conglomeration of farms and farm houses. We could not but notice the thrifty look which bespoke the careful husbandman.”

The “vast conglomeration of farms and farm houses” would inevitably be platted in 1864. A business district, with a railroad depot to serve its needs, was constructed a year later. Schools, churches, and community organizations were established to meet the necessities of an increasing population.

On the first of April 1997, Farmington’s municipal government marked its 125th year of serving the needs and interests of the community.