Crosby is a city in
Crow Wing County
Crow Wing County is a county in the East Central part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 66,123. Its county seat is Brainerd. The county was formed in 1857, and was organized in 1870.
Crow Wing County i ...
,
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the List of U.S. states and territories by population, 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minne ...
, United States. The population was 2,386 at the
2010 census.
It is part of the
Brainerd Micropolitan Statistical Area. Crosby is adjacent to its
twin city of
Ironton, in the
Cuyuna iron range.
History
Crosby was built for the sole purpose of mining. It was named for George H. Crosby, a businessman in the mining industry.
Crosby was the location of Minnesota's worst mining disaster, the
Milford Mine
The Milford Mine produced high manganese-content iron ore
in Wolford Township, Minnesota, United States. On February 5, 1924, it was the site of the Milford Mine Disaster, the worst mining accident in Minnesota history, when it was flooded by wa ...
disaster. On February 5, 1924, a new tunnel was blasted too close to nearby Foley Lake, and water rushed in, killing 41 miners.
In the 1932 local elections,
Karl Emil Nygard was elected president of Crosby's Village Council, making it the first city in the United States to have a
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...
mayor.
In August 1957,
David G. Simons
David Goodman Simons (June 7, 1922 – April 5, 2010) was an American physician turned U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel who, as part of Project Manhigh, set a high-altitude balloon flight record in 1957 at above the Earth in an aluminum capsule s ...
, a 35-year-old Air Force major, climbed to nearly above the earth as part of
Project Manhigh. The flight, which was launched from Crosby's
Portsmouth Mine Pit Lake, helped the United States take its fledgling steps into space exploration. Simons returned to Crosby in 2007 to mark the 50th anniversary of the project.
Geography
Crosby is in eastern
Crow Wing County
Crow Wing County is a county in the East Central part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 66,123. Its county seat is Brainerd. The county was formed in 1857, and was organized in 1870.
Crow Wing County i ...
at the intersection of Minnesota Highways
6 and
210
Year 210 ( CCX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Faustinus and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 963 ''Ab urbe condita ...
.
Ironton is adjacent to the west and
Deerwood lies to the east along route 210.
Serpent Lake is adjacent to the southeast and the
Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area is to the northwest. The
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it ...
flows by four miles to the north.
[''Minnesota Atlas & Gazetteer,'' Delorme, 9th ed., 2016, p. 54 ]
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
An economy is an area of th ...
, the city has an area of , of which is land and is water.
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 in ...
of 2010, there were 2,386 people, 1,065 households, and 552 families living in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), 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 ...
was . There were 1,241 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 96.3%
White
White is the lightness, 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 diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...
, 0.4%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
, 1.1%
Native American, 0.6%
Asian, 0.1% from
other races, and 1.5% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, 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 viceroyalties for ...
or
Latino of any race were 1.3% of the population.
There were 1,065 households, of which 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.3% 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, 13.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 48.2% were non-families. 42.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 22.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.13 and the average family size was 2.88.
The median age in the city was 43.2 years. 23.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 20.5% were from 25 to 44; 24.3% were from 45 to 64, and 24.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 46.7% male and 53.3% female.
2000 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 in ...
of 2000, there were 2,299 people, 989 households, and 554 families living in the city. The
population density
Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), 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 ...
was 755.0 people per square mile (292.0/km
2). There were 1,081 housing units at an average density of 355.0 per square mile (137.3/km
2). The racial makeup of the city was 97.69%
White
White is the lightness, 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 diffuse reflection, reflect and scattering, scatter all the ...
, 0.04%
African American
African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
, 0.91%
Native American, 0.22%
Asian, 0.09%
Pacific Islander
Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of Ocea ...
, 0.35% from
other races, and 0.70% from two or more races.
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, 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 viceroyalties for ...
or
Latino of any race were 1.00% of the population. 23.9% were of
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 ...
, 14.1%
Norwegian, 11.7%
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 ...
, 9.6%
American and 7.0%
English ancestry according to
Census 2000
The United States census of 2000, conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2 percent over the 248,709,873 people enumerated during the 1990 c ...
.
There were 989 households, out of which 27.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.3% 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, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.9% were non-families. 39.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.2% 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 2.93.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.4% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 21.9% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 25.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.5 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $24,053, and the median income for a family was $31,629. Males had a median income of $28,879 versus $20,842 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 $15,465. About 15.6% of families and 16.9% 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 ...
, including 17.8% of those under age 18 and 12.9% of those age 65 or over.
Notable people
*
Nick Anderson, pitcher for the
Atlanta Braves
The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in B ...
*
Anthony "The Bullet" Bonsante, boxer
*
Robert A. Good
Robert Alan Good NAM, NAS, AAAS (May 21, 1922 – June 13, 2003) was an American physician who performed the first successful human bone marrow transplant between persons who were not identical twins. He is regarded as a founder of modern immu ...
, physician
*
Leon S. Kennedy
is a character in '' Resident Evil'' (''Biohazard'' in Japan), a survival horror video game series created by Japanese company Capcom. He debuted as one of the two player characters of the video game '' Resident Evil 2'' (1998), alongside C ...
, actor
*
Rick Nolan, politician
*
Karl Emil Nygard, first
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...
mayor in the United States
*
Thomas W. Simons Jr.
Thomas Winston Simons Jr. (born September 4, 1938) is an American diplomat and academic. He served as ambassador to Poland from 1990 to 1993, and ambassador to Pakistan from 1996 to 1998.
Born in Crosby, Minnesota, Simons is of German, English ...
, U.S. Ambassador to Poland and Pakistan
*
Howard E. Smith, businessman and Minnesota state legislator
References
External links
City of Crosby, MN – Official WebsiteCuyuna Lakes Chamber of Commerce – Visitor Information site
{{authority control
Cities in Minnesota
Minnesota populated places on the Mississippi River
Cities in Crow Wing County, Minnesota
Brainerd, Minnesota micropolitan area
Mining communities in Minnesota