Fillmore

Formed March 5, 1853 (11^th county)

Fillmore County (21,229), Preston (1,321), Spring Valley (2,454)                

The Modern tan brick structure was built in 1958 and remodeled/enlarged in 2005.  There was an 1864 courthouse earlier.  The current courthouse is on Fillmore Street between St. Anthony and St. Paul streets.  United States Highway 52 passes six blocks north of the site.  Eckert and Carlson are the architects.  Chatfield (1854), Carimona (1856), and Preston (1863) have all served as the county seat.  The county originated on March 5, 1853 from Wabasha County as the 11^th county.  The county is named for United States President Millard Fillmore.  The county seat is named for mill founder Luther Preston. 

Fillmore County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, an attorney, a treasurer, an auditor, an assessor and a clerk (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Twenty-seven District Court Judges serve Fillmore, Dodge, Freeborn, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Rice, Steele, Wabasha, Waseca, and Winona counties (judicial.) The county is in the southeast part of the state on the border with Iowa.  Minneapolis, Minnesota is northwest of the county.  The county center is 2.4 miles North-Northeast of Preston.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Winona and Houston counties and Iowa and Mower and Olmsted counties. 

The area of the county is 861.3 square miles.  It is 27 out of 87 in the state.  It ranks 47 out of 87 in population in the state.  It has a density of 24.7 persons per square mile making it 49 out of 87 in the state.  Fillmore County has 58.6% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 52 crosses northwest to south in the county from Olmsted County to Iowa.  United States Highway 63 goes west to south from Mower County to Iowa.  The county is a rectangle.  Preston is located near the center of the county.  Spring Valley is near the western border of the county.  Preston is the county seat and Spring Valley is the largest city.  Preston is 6.2% of the county population while Spring Valley is 11.6% of the county population.