Odessa, MN

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ODESSA Township, first settled in June 1870, was named for the city of Odessa in southern Russia, whence seed wheat used in this vicinity was brought. The railway village of Odessa was platted in 1879 in section 29 when the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad was being built and incorporated as a village in 1895. The village had grain elevators and flour mills; the post office began in 1879; the postmaster and first settler, A. D. Beardsley, was also an express and railroad agent at the depot, lumber dealer, and general store owner; the flour mill burned down shortly after World War I. The popularly accepted story of the origin of the village's name is that it was named for Beardsley's daughter, Dessa, who died of diphtheria at age three.