AUSTIN

austin, a city and the county-seat of mower county, minnesota, u.s.a., on the red cedar river and turtle creek, (by rail) 105 m. s. of minneapolis and 100 m. from st paul. pop. (1900) 5474; (1905, state census) 6489 (913 foreign-born); (1910, u.s. census) 6960. it is served by the chicago great western and the chicago, milwaukee & st paul railways. austin is the seat of the southern minnesota normal college and austin school of commerce (1896), and has a carnegie library, court house and city hall. it is a market for livestock, and for dairy and farm products, and has slaughtering and packing establishments, flour mills, creameries and cheese factories, canning and preserving factories, carriage works, a flax fibre mill and grain elevators. brick, tile, sewer-pipe, and hydraulic cement are manufactured, and there are railway repair shops. a valuable water-power is utilized for manufacturing purposes. fresh-water pearls of considerable value and beauty are found in the red cedar river. the city owns and operates its own water-supply system and electric-lighting plant. austin was settled in 1855, was incorporated as a village in 1868, and was chartered as a city in 1873.