[3][6] The Andrew John Volstead House, a National Historic Landmark (NHL), is located in Granite Falls.

[10] In 1874 the county seat was moved to Granite Falls and a small one courtroom courthouse was erected.

In 1888 the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad built the town train station that still stands.

On July 25, 2000, the city of Granite Falls and Yellow Medicine County were hit by a powerful tornado.

The tornado first touched down in rural parts of the county west-northwest of Granite Falls, hitting the city at 6:10 pm.

After tearing through the residential sections of town, the tornado lifted at approximately 6:25PM after being on the ground for over nine miles.

One person was killed, more than a dozen were injured, and the town and surrounding area suffered millions of dollars in property damage.

Granite Falls, along with the rest of Minnesota, has a humid continental climate[13] with significant differences between seasons.

[14] Winters are cold and dry influenced by arctic air masses affecting it through its continental position, while summers are influenced by humid subtropical air masses bringing hot temperatures and significant rainfall.

Transitional periods are very short, since only April and October are between 0 °C (32 °F) and 10 °C (50 °F) in daily mean temperatures, with May–September being clearly above and November–March averaging below freezing.