Editing Victoria, Minnesota (section)

==History==
Michael Diethelm is believed to be the first settler in Victoria after setting up a shelter for his wife and two children in 1851 near the present-day St. Victoria Church. The city is named after the church, built on {{convert|30|acre|m2}} of land just north of Lake Bavaria in 1857. A year later, steamboats from St. Paul began bringing additional supplies for early settlers. The settlement continued to grow as the rich soil attracted farmers. Also in 1858, the [[Laketown Moravian Brethren's Church]] was established and is now on the National Register of Historic Places.<ref>{{cite web |last=Lofstrom |first=Ted |title=Minnesota Historic Properties Inventory Form: Laketown Moravian Brethren's Church |url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/80001981_text |publisher=National Park Service |date=January 1978 |accessdate=January 30, 2016 |archive-date=February 24, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220224020423/https://npgallery.nps.gov/NRHP/GetAsset/NRHP/80001981_text |url-status=live }}</ref> Eventually the steamboats to Chaska and the St. Paul railroad helped transform the area into a thriving community.<ref>{{cite web| title = City of Victoria, MN: History of Victoria| publisher = City of Victoria| url = http://www.ci.victoria.mn.us/Index.aspx?NID=187| access-date = April 11, 2015| archive-date = May 8, 2015| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150508014123/http://www.ci.victoria.mn.us/Index.aspx?NID=187| url-status = live}}</ref>