Henderson was located in a dense forest as there ever was on the Minnesota River Bottoms. The population was 886 at the 2010 census. Henderson was founded in August 1852 by Joseph R. Brown, and was named for his mother's maiden name.By 1855, Henderson had become a fast-growing city as it already harbored more 60 buildings including a hotel, a warehouse, a steam sawmill, as well as Brown's house wh
ich functioned as a boarding house, a store and a residence for the Brown family. Henderson quickly became a major distribution center for the inland settlements surrounding the Minnesota River Valley in the following years.By the mid-1860s Henderson had two major brickyards, The Mattei and Schwartz Brickyard, who both contributed heavily to the early 1900s brick-style buildings still present in Henderson today.After various petitions by Gaylord from as far back as 1887 to gain the county seat of Sibley County, the county seat was finally offered to Gaylord in 1915 by a county-wide vote. This caused a major decline of around 200 residents leaving Henderson. Throughout the 50 years after this population loss, Henderson's economy became increasingly more centered on agriculture that largely sustain the downtown after the loss of the county seat. Its success in changing support has brought rise to the Sauerkraut Days celebrated today.Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.09 sq mi; 1.06 sq mi is land and 0.03 sq mi is water.
