In August 1912, the University of Minnesota’s Board of Regents purchased 246 acres of land half a mile to the south and west of Waseca on the edge of the city limits. The Southeast Demonstration Farm and Experiment Station began operations in 1913. In 1925, the Southeast Demonstration and Experiment Station became the Southeast Experiment Station. In 1941, with an additional land purchase, the station totaled 598 acres. Land was set aside for the Southern School of Agriculture (SSA) which admitted its first students in 1953. In 1969, the Southern School of Agriculture evolved into the University of Minnesota Technical College-Waseca then it was renamed as the University of Minnesota-Waseca (UMW), sharing land with the newly named Southern Experiment Station (SES). In 1992, UMW graduated its final class and then the UMW campus buildings were sold to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. In 1999, the Southern Experiment Station became the Southern Research and Outreach Center (SROC). Waseca was a C & NW Chicago and North Western division point, or a place where engines were serviced. The roundhouse and car shops were built in 1881 and for many years provided Waseca's largest payroll. Engines were repaired at the roundhouse while cars went on the "riptrack" to the shops for repair. The roundhouse burned in 1953.
