About Winona

Winona is beautifully situated on the banks of the Mississippi in southeastern Minnesota. It was settled in the 1850s and soon became a prosperous river town owing to its lumbering industry. Winona has a population of about 30,000 including the town of Goodview just to the northwest. It boasts two universities; Winona State University originating in 1858 as the first normal school west of the Mississippi, while Saint Mary's University of Minnesota was founded in 1912 by the Christian Brothers religious community.

The historic part of Winona was built on a sandbar in the river. It preserves its island-like quality by a large lake on its western side that was once part of the river. It is surrounded by bluffs rising beyond the lake and on the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi.

Winona was named for the legendary Princess Winonah, daughter of Chief Wapasha, who refusing to marry a man chosen for her, jumped to her death from a mountaintop. Winonans have associated that mountain with its landmark “sugar loaf,” so-called because that shape evolved as it was being quarried for its limestone. This stone can be seen in numerous Winona buildings, both historic and modern. Winona's rich architectural heritage is evident in its array of nineteenth and early twentieth-century buildings in a variety of historic styles, residential and public.

The programs of Winona's universities provide the community with many intellectual and cultural opportunities in the form of lectures and arts events—music, dance, and art exhibitions. Saint Mary's Page Series brings touring performing arts companies to town. Supplementing all these are the activities of the Winona Arts Center, the Theatre du Mississippi and the newly established (2005) Minnesota Marine Art Museum, showcasing art depicting the sea, lakes, coasts, and rivers, by some of the leading American and European artists of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Midwest Music Fest, featuring all manner of music, makes its second presentation in 2011. Meanwhile, the Frozen River Film Festival enlivens the winter scene, while the summer is highlighted by the performances of the the Great River Shakespeare Festival and by the Minnesota Beethoven Festival, as well as the FASEM juried exhibition.