Editing Adrian, Minnesota (section)

===Railroad era===
Adrian's early development was largely fostered by the efforts of [[John Ireland (bishop)|John Ireland]], bishop of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis|St. Paul Roman Catholic Diocese]]. Through the Catholic press, he encouraged Catholics from eastern cities to come to Minnesota, and he used his personal wealth to buy land near Adrian to sell to the new arrivals. In 1877, he bought {{convert|20,000|acre|km2}} of land; seven months later he made an additional purchase of {{convert|35,000|acre|km2}}.<ref name=CityHistory/>

In 1877, 100,000 bushels of grain were shipped from the Adrian station, and the town population totaled 193 people as of 1880. By 1882 the local parish reported 250 Catholic families living in the area. The town population increased to 671 in 1890 and 1,258 in 1900. Growth slowed thereafter, as some of Adrian's rail trade had shifted to the towns of Ellsworth, Lismore and Wilmont. In 1893, Adrian tried but failed to split Nobles County into two parts in order to become a [[county seat]].<ref name=CityHistory>{{Citation |url=http://www.adrian.govoffice2.com/index.asp?Type=DYNAFORM&SEC={E440EED7-0593-443E-A72F-FC5142E0B20B}|title=Adrian Local History, City of Adrian website|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322123234/http://www.adrian.govoffice2.com/index.asp?Type=DYNAFORM&SEC={E440EED7-0593-443E-A72F-FC5142E0B20B}|archivedate=2016-03-22|url-status=dead}}</ref>