Those who first established Springfield came from many origins, but the majority were from Scandinavia, Ireland and Germany. After the Civil War ended in 1865, folks started to migrate towards the farm land of Minnesota.

Settlement in Minnesota started in the southeast corner, and it was 1869 when settlers reached the area of present day Springfield. One of these original settlers was John Burns, along with his brother Daniel.

The first houses in the area were built with layers of sod, with a roof made of poles covered by additional sod or hay. The prairie sod was hard to cut through, because it had never been dug up or plowed before! The wild grasses were intertwined and had deep roots.

Railroad construction advanced westward and the name of the station stop here in 1873 was "Burns." A small settlement developed around this and a plat of the village was filed in 1877.

Two years later the community had 250 inhabitants, four stores, over a dozen other businesses, plus a school, two churches, and a doctor.

The village was incorporated in 1881 and the name changed to "Springfield," appropriate due to the large, flowing spring on the townsite.

In 1923 the village became the City of Springfield.