Knowing Where You Are
It's time for Mississippi River towns to re-assert their identities.
St. Cloud
Population (2010) 65,842 Introduction St. Cloud, a city split between three counties, emerged from the union of three distinct cities: one founded by a slave-owning southerner, one founded by an abolitionist Protestant, and one created just to build a sawmill. It’s a wonder the place ever came up with
Sauk Rapids
Population (2010) 12,773 Introduction Sauk Rapids is located along what was once known as “Third Rapids”, because, well, they were the third set of rapids upriver from St. Anthony Falls. Those rapids are now obscured by a dam, and those two small towns have in recent years developed into
Little Falls
Population (2010) 8,343 Introduction Little Falls is a picturesque small city along the boundary where the forest and the prairie meet. Go west twenty miles west and you’ll be in farm country, but if you go twenty miles north, you’ll be in the pine forest. The folks are friendly and
Brainerd
Population (2010) 13,590 Introduction Brainerd is at the center of a vast resort area that spreads out around the city. I confess I have mixed feelings about Brainerd, and not just because this was the place where I dropped my smartphone into the toilet. While the city has an interesting
Aitkin
Population (2010) 2,165 Visitor Information Direct your questions to the Aitkin Area Chamber of Commerce (301 Minnesota Ave. N; 218.927.2316). History Aitkin owes it early growth to the logging industry. When it was founded in 1871 (when the Great Northern Railroad built a station here),