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Plainview was platted in 1857 in Wabasha County and named for its location on a plain at a lofty elevation — about 1,161 feet — where a "plain view" can be had of the surrounding area.

A post office has been in operation at Plainview since 1857, and the city was incorporated in 1875.

The 2020 census counted 3,483 residents in Plainview, up from 3,340 in 2010; the city has grown in nearly every census since 1870.

Plainview's residents lived in 1,320 households in 2020, and nearly 38 percent of those households included children under the age of 18.

Entrepreneur Joseph Ray Watkins, founder of the Watkins Incorporated direct-selling company, was a Plainview resident.

Novelist Jon Hassler, author of books such as Staggerford, was raised in Plainview, and some of the places in his writing are based on the town.

Slim Dunlap, the guitarist best known for his years with the rock band The Replacements, was born in Plainview.

James A. Carley served as both mayor of Plainview and as a Minnesota state legislator.

Minnesota Highways 42 and 247 and County Highway 4 are the main routes through Plainview, which covers just over two square miles of land with no water area at all.

Plainview skews younger than many rural Minnesota communities — the median age of its residents in the 2020 census was 36.3 years.