Kasota, MN

Kasota sits on the eastern side of the Minnesota River, about halfway between Mankato and St. Peter and only two miles from St. Peter. The 2020 census counted 714 people. The city lies along the Minnesota River Scenic Byway, with Kasota Prairie south of the center and the river valley shaping the western edge. Kasota's name is also a material: local limestone became Kasota stone, a building stone carried far beyond Le Sueur County.

During the 1880s, the stone industry surged, and Babcock became the leading local stone company. Kasota stone later appeared in the National Museum of the American Indian and the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art. On July 1, 1892, John Sontag, George Contant, and Chris Evans tried to rob a train between St. Peter and Kasota along the river. Today the Kasota Prairie Scientific and Natural Area protects a 45-acre terrace above the valley, with prairie, wet meadow, oak woodland, hiking, and wildlife viewing. Kasota keeps the stone quarries, river road, and prairie within the same small-town frame.