Decorah City Map Poster

About Decorah

The city is home to the main campus of Upper Iowa University, a private four-year liberal arts college. Decorah was founded in 1849 by John Jacob Aster and William Menner as "New Ulm." The name was changed to Decorah in 1850 after it received its post office. It is named for Chief Decora, who lived near Winneshiek County before European settlement. He had been baptized Giovanni de Cora by Father Frederic Baraga during an 1838 visit with his son Louis at St. Anthony's Church on Mackinac Island; he later took the baptismal name Joseph when he converted to Catholicism and became a catechist among other Ojibwe converts on Madeline Island (now part of Minnesota). His daughter Rosanna married another prominent chief, Wabasha (who also took the Christian name Stephen), whose village was located across from Fort Snelling along what is now Minneapolis' Minnehaha Parkway; their descendants include many notable figures such as Fanny Crosby and Alexander Ramsey (the first governor of Minnesota Territory).