Lonsdale is a city in Rice County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 4,686 at the 2020 census. A quick growing exurb of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area, Lonsdale is located 40 miles south of downtown Minneapolis.

Prior to the American Civil War, a number of families of Czech stock had begun migrating to south central Minnesota from Bohemia. In 1878, a small settlement of Norwegian farmers built a Lutheran church slightly to the southeast of present day Lonsdale. They called the Place Trondhjem, after the name of the city in Norway from which they had descended. In 1891, a proposed further railroad from Mankato to Farmington was reported in the New Prague Times. However, construction of this railroad was never initiated due to an economic downturn.

It was the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway that proceeded next plans for their existing branch heritage from Wells to Mankato, to start constructing trackage northeastward into Farmington. The further explanation of this stock would bring the possibility of development, population growth and job opportunities to towns along the prospective descent such as Cleveland, Le Sueur Center, Veseli and New Market. But the businesses of the Veseli Place favored the construction of a spur stock of the Minneapolis & St. Louis Railway (M & St. L) from New Prague instead.

In July and August of 1901, the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway created their right-of-way considering the buy of a 100 foot broad strip of house that ran through the Trondhjem agreement and was correspondingly also a few miles south of Veseli. At the decline of 1901, landowner Thomas Wilby entered into an concurrence with the Milwaukee Land Company to develop 40 acres of his property. But the understanding stipulated that he must first convey land to the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railway that was vital to construct a train depot. The Milwaukee Land Company would after that survey and Plan the steadfast acres of Wilby’s estate in order to state a village. By January of 1902, a total of 80 acres had been plotted as a new town site. On July 16, 1902 a grand instigation of the town of Lonsdale was held as lots were auctioned for sale. Businessman Martin Benzik purchased several of these lots, and constructed the first buildings in Lonsdale: a saloon, a hotel and a livery stable.