 houston county is a county located in the u.s. state of minnesota. as of the 2010 census, the population was 19,027. its county seat is caledonia. houston county is included in the la crosse-onaslaska, wi-mn metropolitan statistical area. ==history== four years before minnesota was admitted to the union as the 32nd state on may 11, 1858, houston county was chartered after its division from the eastern half of fillmore county on april 4, 1854. the county seat was the village of houston for a few years, but the county board moved the official records to caledonia for safe storage in the cabin of commissioner samuel mcphail. the first court hearings were held in that cabin, and a one-story courthouse and jail was built in caledonia in 1857. turmoil over the county seat continued, a two-story building was built in caledonia in 1867, and several referenda allowed caledonia to prevail as the county seat by 1874. from that point on, caledonia prospered, and houston slowly diminished. the only other area of prominence was la crescent, which benefited from its connection to la crosse, wisconsin. the county name was chosen to honor sam houston, who was president of texas before its annexation by the united states and afterward was a senator from that state.{{cite book | url=http://books.google.com/books?id=9v1iaaaamaaj&pg=pa161#v=onepage&q&f=false | title=the origin of certain place names in the united sta
1854_establishments_in_Minnesota_Territory Houston_County,_Minnesota Minnesota_counties Minnesota_counties_on_the_Mississippi_River Populated_places_established_in_1854