The Sioux called it Wakzupata, which roughly means "village on the cottonwood".

In 1856, the Settlement Association of the Socialist Turner Society ("Turners") helped secure New Ulm's future. The Turners (German for "gymnasts") originated in Germany in the first half of the 19th century. Their motto was "Sound Mind, Sound Body". Their clubs combined gymnastics with lectures and debates about the issues of the day. After the failed Revolutions of 1848, many Germans emigrated to the United States.