Godahl is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing and painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors Orange (colour), orange and black. In the ...

and Watonwan counties in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

Location

Godahl sits on the boundary line for Brown and Watonwan counties, occupying two counties. The community is located between Sleepy Eye and St. James on

Minnesota State Highway 4 Minnesota State Highway 4 (MN 4) is a highway in southwest and west-central Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and O ...

. The community is located at the junction of Minnesota State Highway 4 with County Roads 6 and 10.

History

Godahl was settled by Norwegian immigrants and named in honor of their home, called Gode Dahl ("Good Valley"). The town had a post office from 1894 until 1907, and a station of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway. The community failed to develop, and for many years the only remnant of its commercial aspirations was the Godahl Store, a

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

built in 1894 and now listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. The store closed on December 31, 2016.

References

Unincorporated communities in Minnesota Unincorporated communities in Brown County, Minnesota Unincorporated communities in Watonwan County, Minnesota {{WatonwanCountyMN-geo-stub