Godahl is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in Brown

Brown County, Minnesota

Brown County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 25,893. Its county seat is New Ulm.-Geography:...

 and Watonwan

Watonwan County, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 11,876 people, 4,627 households, and 3,141 families residing in the county. The population density was 27 people per square mile . There were 5,036 housing units at an average density of 12 per square mile...

 counties in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

.

Location

Godahl sits on the boundary line for Brown and Watonwan, counties, occupying two counties. The community is located between Sleepy Eye

Sleepy Eye, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 3,515 people, 1,479 households, and 942 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,099.9 people per square mile . There were 1,591 housing units at an average density of 950.5 per square mile...

 and St. James

St. James, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 4,695 people, 1,845 households, and 1,186 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,050.3 people per square mile . There were 2,006 housing units at an average density of 876.0 per square mile...

 on Minnesota State Highway 4

Minnesota State Highway 4

Minnesota State Highway 4 is a highway in southwest and west-central Minnesota, which runs from Iowa Highway 4 at the Iowa state line , and continues north to its northern terminus at its interchange with Interstate Highway 94 near Sauk Centre and Melrose.Highway 4 is in length.-Route...

. The community is located at the junction of Minnesota State Highway 4 with County Roads 6 and 10.

History

Godahl was settled by Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 immigrants and named in honor of their home, called Gode Dahl ("Good Valley"). The town had a post office from 1894 until 1907, and a station of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway

Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway

The Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway or Omaha Road was a railroad in the U.S. states of Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and South Dakota. It was incorporated in 1880 as a consolidation of the Chicago, St. Paul and Minneapolis Railway and the North Wisconsin Railway,. The...

. The community failed to develop, and today the only remnant of its commercial aspirations is the cooperative

Cooperative

A cooperative is a business organization owned and operated by a group of individuals for their mutual benefit...

store built in 1894.