Devils Lake is a city in Ramsey County,

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...

, United States. It is the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Ramsey County. The population was 7,192 at the 2020 census. It is named after the nearby body of water called Devils Lake. The first house in Devils Lake was built in 1882. It was surveyed in 1883 and named Creelsburg and later Creel City, after the surveyor, Heber M. Creel. In 1884 it was renamed Devils Lake.Ramsey County History
The local paper is the '' Devils Lake Journal''.

Devils Lake Municipal Airport Devils Lake Regional Airport is a public use airport located two nautical miles (4 km) west of the central business district of Devils Lake, a city in Ramsey County, North Dakota, United States. It is owned by the Devils Lake Airport ...

serves the city. Devils Lake is home to

Lake Region State College Lake Region State College (LRSC) is a public junior college in Devils Lake, North Dakota. It was founded in 1941 as an extension of the public school system and first known as Devils Lake Junior College and Business School. Several name changes ...

and the

North Dakota School for the Deaf The North Dakota School for the Deaf (NDSD) is a state-funded residential school located in Devils Lake, North Dakota that provides services to meet the educational needs of children who are deaf and hard of hearing. NDSD is under the direction, c ...

History

The present site of Devils Lake was, historically, a territory of the Dakota people. However, the Sisseton, Wahpeton, and Cut-Head bands of the Dakotas were relocated to the Spirit Lake Reservation as a result of the 1867 treaty between the United States and the Dakota that established a reservation for those who had not been forcibly relocated to Crow Creek Reservation in what is now South Dakota.http://www.spiritlakenation.com/history/ Spirit Lake Nation 2017, accessed July 5, 2017.February 19, 1867 "Treaty With the Sioux--Sisseton and Wahpeton Bands, 1867," http://digital.library.okstate.edu/kappler/vol2/treaties/sio0956.htm. The name "Devils Lake" is a

calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language wh ...

of the Dakota phrase ''mni wak’áŋ'' (literally translating to spirit water), which is also reflected in the names of the Spirit Lake Tribe and the nearby town of Minnewaukan. Heber M

The Dakota called the lake ''mni wak’áŋ'', which separately translates as ''mni'' (water) and ''wak’áŋ'' (literally meaning "pure source" but often translated as "spirit" or "sacred"). The European-American settlers misconstrued this name to mean "Bad Spirit Lake" or "Devils Lake." The "bad" referred to the high

salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal ...

of the lake, making it unfit to drink, and "spirit" referenced the

mirage A mirage is a naturally-occurring optical phenomenon in which light rays bend via refraction to produce a displaced image of distant objects or the sky. The word comes to English via the French ''(se) mirer'', from the Latin ''mirari'', meanin ...

s often seen across the water. The Christian concept of the

devil A devil is the personification of evil as it is conceived in various cultures and religious traditions. It is seen as the objectification of a hostile and destructive force. Jeffrey Burton Russell states that the different conceptions of t ...

was not present in the Dakota philosophy and religious practices. The

Hidatsa The Hidatsa are a Siouan people. They are enrolled in the federally recognized Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. Their language is related to that of the Crow, and they are sometimes considered a parent t ...

name for the lake is ''mirixubaash'' ( meaning " sacred water"). The first post office was founded November 15, 1882, and was originally named Creelsburg. It was founded by Lieutenant Heber M. Creel, a

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

graduate and topographical engineer stationed at nearby Fort Totten. After resigning from the U.S. Army, he surveyed the land and established the townsite. The surrounding Creel Township is named for Mr. Creel. The name was later changed to Creel City and expanded by the Great Northern Railway. When the village was incorporated in 1884, the name was changed to City of Devils Lake and then shortened to Devils Lake. During a period of increased rainfall, beginning in the 1990s and unprecedented in the history of North Dakota, caused the nearby lake, which has no natural outlet, to rise. The surface area has quadrupled, and the higher water has resulted in the moving or destruction of over 400 houses. Wea01360 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library

Geography and climate

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Like all of North Dakota, Devils Lake has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

''Dfb'') with very cold winters with frequent light snowfall, and warm to very warm, wetter summers with most rain from convective

thunderstorms A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorms are someti ...

. During the

1936 North American cold wave The 1936 North American cold wave ranks among the most intense cold waves in the recorded history of North America. The Midwestern United States and the Canadian Prairies were hit the hardest. Only the Southwestern United States and California larg ...

, the town was one of the coldest places south of the Canada–US border, averaging for the five weeks ending February 21, 1936 (though at a different site from that now in use). On average 53.4 nights fall to or below , 104.1 days fail to top freezing, and 184.5 nights fall below . In the winter, only 17.5 days on average top freezing, and in severe winters months can pass without even a minor thaw. Extreme heat is rare in summer, with only one day in three years topping , and only 9.3 topping . Devils Lake hydrograph

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2010, there were 7,141 people, 3,229 households, and 1,712 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was . There were 3,481 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 82.9%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 0.5%

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 12.5% Native American, 0.4%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.3% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 3.4% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race were 1.3% of the population. There were 3,229 households, of which 26.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.0% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 47.0% were non-families. 41.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.07 and the average family size was 2.80. The median age in the city was 40.4 years. 21.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.3% were from 25 to 44; 26.1% were from 45 to 64; and 19.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.1% male and 51.9% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 7,222 people, 3,127 households, and 1,773 families living in the city. The

was . There were 3,508 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 89.23%

, 0.22%

, 7.84% Native American, 0.28%

, 0.21% from

, and 2.23% from two or more races.

of any race were 0.55% of the population. The top 6 ancestry groups in the city are

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

(43.9%),

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

(33.4%),

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

(7.6%),

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

(4.7%),

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

(4.5%),

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

(2.7%). There were 3,127 households, out of which 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.2% were

living together, 11.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.3% were non-families. 37.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.87. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.0% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 25.6% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 21.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $31,250, and the median income for a family was $39,541. Males had a median income of $27,972 versus $18,000 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $17,741. About 11.2% of families and 16.1% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 22.7% of those under age 18 and 8.6% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Public school building in Devils Lake, N

K–12

The city of Devils Lake is served by

Devils Lake Public Schools Devils Lake Public School District 1, also known as Devils Lake Public Schools, is a school district serving Devils Lake, North Dakota. In Ramsey County the district serves Devils Lake and Crary. It also includes a section of Benson County. ...

. This system operates Sweetwater Elementary School, Prairie View Elementary School, Minnie H Elementary School, Central Middle School, and

Devils Lake High School Devils Lake High School is a public high school located in Devils Lake, North Dakota. It is part of the Devils Lake Public Schools Devils Lake Public School District 1, also known as Devils Lake Public Schools, is a school district serving Devi ...

. A private school, St. Joseph's Catholic School (of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Fargo The Diocese of Fargo ( la, Dioecesis Fargensis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in North Dakota, United States. The cathedra is found within the Cathedral of St. Mary, in the episcopal see of Fargo ...

), is also located in Devils Lake.

Higher education

Sports

* Devils Lake Storm of North Dakota American Legion Baseball * Devils Lake Firebirds * Lake Region State College Royals – NJCAA

Media

Print

* '' Devils Lake Journal''

Television

* 8

WDAZ WDAZ-TV (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Devils Lake, North Dakota, United States, serving the Grand Forks area as an affiliate of ABC. It is owned by the Forum Communications Company, which also owns the ''Grand Forks Herald''. ...

(8.1

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, 8.2

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

, 8.3 Weather) – digital only –

licensed A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit). A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...

to Devils Lake with news bureau in

Grand Forks Grand Forks is the third-largest city in the state of North Dakota (after Fargo and Bismarck) and the county seat of Grand Forks County. According to the 2020 census, the city's population was 59,166. Grand Forks, along with its twin city o ...

, but based at

WDAY-TV WDAY-TV (channel 6) is a television station in Fargo, North Dakota, United States, affiliated with ABC. It serves as the flagship television property of locally based Forum Communications Company, which also owns WDAY radio (970 AM) and ''The F ...

in Fargo * 25 KMDE (25.1 & 25.2

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

Prairie Public Television Prairie Public Television is a state network of public television stations operated primarily by Prairie Public Broadcasting. It comprises all of the PBS member stations in the U.S. state of North Dakota. The state network is available via flags ...

, 25.3

Minnesota Channel The Minnesota Channel is an American free-to-air television channel originating at Twin Cities Public Television. It features programming related to Minnesota (and some related to Wisconsin and North Dakota), plus coverage of the Minnesota Legis ...

) – digital only

Radio

:FM * 89.9 KDVI

American Family Radio American Family Radio (AFR) is a network of more than 180 radio stations broadcasting Christian Conservative Christianity, Christian-oriented programming to over 30 states.Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

) * 90.7 KABU ( Tribal radio – Spirit Lake Indian Reservation) * 91.7 KPPD

Prairie Public Radio Prairie Public is a network of ten North Dakota radio stations. It is a service of Prairie Public Broadcasting, in association with North Dakota State University in Fargo. Prairie Public maintains active studios in Grand Forks, Fargo, and Bism ...

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

(

Public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichkei ...

/ Classical/

Jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

) * 95.3

KKWZ KKWZ (95.3 FM) is a radio station broadcasting an adult contemporary format. KKWZ is licensed to the city of Rugby, North Dakota Rugby is a city in, and the county seat of, Pierce County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 2,509 ...

(owned by

De La Hunt Broadcasting De La Hunt Broadcasting is a small market radio broadcasting company based in Park Rapids, Minnesota. It is owned by Ed and Carol De La Hunt and was founded in 1962. The corporate offices and Park Rapids studios are located on the east side of Park ...

) * 96.7 KQZZ "The Mix" (

Hot Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quiet ...

) * 99.7

KDLR KDLR (1240 AM) is an American commercial radio station licensed to serve Devils Lake, North Dakota. The station is owned by Double Z Broadcasting, Inc., and operated along with its three sister stations under the collective name Lake Region Radi ...

(

Classic country Classic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country and western music hits from past decades. Repertoire The radio format specializes in hits from the 1950s through the early 1980s, and focus primarily on innov ...

) * 102.5 KDVL "Cruiser 102" (

Classic Hits Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes songs from the top 40 music charts from the late 1960s to the early 2000s, with music from the 1980s serving as the core of the format. Music that was popularized by MTV in the early 1980s ...

) * 103.5 KZZY "Double Z Country" (

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

) * 104.5 K283AM

broadcast translator A broadcast relay station, also known as a satellite station, relay transmitter, broadcast translator (U.S.), re-broadcaster (Canada), repeater (two-way radio) or complementary station (Mexico), is a broadcast transmitter which repeats (or tran ...

KHRT-FM KHRT-FM (106.9 FM) is a Christian radio station located in Minot, North Dakota. It is one of two religious stations, along with KHRT, owned and operated in Minot by Faith Broadcasting. KHRT-FM concentrates on a Christian hot AC format, and a ...

Minot, ND Minot ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ward County, North Dakota, United States, in the state's north-central region. It is most widely known for the Air Force base approximately north of the city. With a population of 48,377 at the 20 ...

(

contemporary Christian music Contemporary Christian music, also known as CCM, Christian pop, and occasionally inspirational music is a genre of modern popular music, and an aspect of Christian media, which is lyrically focused on matters related to the Christian faith and s ...

)

Transportation

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

, the U.S. national passenger rail system, serves Devils Lake, operating its

Empire Builder The ''Empire Builder'' is an Amtrak long-distance passenger train that operates daily between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great Northe ...

daily in both directions between

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

and

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. SkyWest Air Lines also operates two flights daily to the

from Denver International Airport.

Sites of interest

* Devils Lake Town and Country Club * Devils Lake Basin Joint Water Resource Board http://www.dlbasin.com

Notable people

* *

Phyllis Frelich Phyllis Annetta Frelich (February 29, 1944 – April 10, 2014) was a Tony Award-winning deaf American actress. She was the first deaf actor or actress to win a Tony Award. Early life Frelich was born to deaf parents Esther (née Dockter) and Ph ...

, Tony Award-winning deaf actress *

William L. Guy William Lewis Guy (September 30, 1919 – April 26, 2013) was an American politician who was the List of Governors of North Dakota, governor of the U.S. state of North Dakota from 1961 to 1973. Guy was North Dakota's longest-serving governor in ...

Governor of North Dakota The governor of North Dakota is the head of government of North Dakota and serves as the commander-in-chief of the state's military forces. The Constitution of North Dakota specifies that "the executive power is vested in the governor" in Secti ...

Rick Helling Ricky Allen Helling (born December 15, 1970) is an American former Major League Baseball pitcher. High school and college Helling attended Lakota High School in Lakota, North Dakota for three years, before graduating from Shanley High School in ...

, Pitcher with several

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

teams * Ralph Maxwell, North Dakota state court judge and athlete *

Mary Wakefield Mary Wakefield (born August 12, 1954) is an American nurse and health care administrator, who served in the Obama administration as acting United States Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services from 2015 to 2017, and as head of the Health ...

, Administrator of

Health Resources and Services Administration The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services located in North Bethesda, Maryland. It is the primary federal agency for improving access to health care services for peop ...

Owen Webster Owen Wright Webster (March 25, 1929 – April 13, 2018) was a distinguished member of the organic and polymer chemistry communities. His polymerization technique for making block copolymer dispersing agents is used by DuPont to make ink-jet printe ...

, Organic and polymer chemist

References

External links

City of Devils Lake
official website
Devils Lake Chamber of Commerce

Mother Nature In Charge: Devils Lake The Dilemma
Documentary produced by

A bicentennial history of Devils Lake, North Dakota (1976)
from th
Digital Horizons websiteDevils Lake's seventy-five years :official souvenir program (1957)
from th
Digital Horizons website
{{authority control Cities in North Dakota Cities in Ramsey County, North Dakota County seats in North Dakota Populated places established in 1882 1882 establishments in Dakota Territory