Founding and History of Hardwick, MN

Hardwick, a city in Denver Township, was platted as four blocks in 1891, and incorporated October 10, 1898.  It was named in honor of J. L. Hardwick, the master builder of the Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway.  The community developed with the establishment of a Burlington station in 1886 on the Otter Otterson farm. A second rail line came in 1900 with a branch line from Worthington.  John Otterson built the first building in town and opened the post office in 1891.

Early Hardwick had 4 churches, the first built was a Presbyterian church,  followed by a German Lutheran Synod church, Independent German Lutheran church and a United Norwegian congregation.

The first school for Hardwick was District #48, about a mile from town.  In 1893 a one-room school building was erected. In 1906 a four-room building was built with an enrollment of about 100 and 3 teachers.

A private bank was started in 1893 that eventually became the Farmers State Bank in 1907.

Hardwick, MN Today

Hardwick is primarily a residential community today.  The population of Hardwick in 2010 was 198.  The school which housed grades 1-8 closed in 1975 and students now attend school in Luverne.  One church, Zion Lutheran, remains. Hardwick still has a post office, zip code 56134. The bank, a branch of Exchange State Bank, closed in 2013.  A 200 MW wind farm, Prairie Rose, is located just outside Hardwick and is composed of 119 wind turbines.