Red Lake Falls is a city and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Red Lake County, Minnesota Red Lake County is a county in the Northwestern part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,935, making it the third-least populous county in Minnesota. Its county seat is Red Lake Falls. History Red Lak ...

, United States. The population was 1,339 at the 2020 census. It is the

of Red Lake County. The city lies in the middle of Red Lake Falls Township, from which it was separated when incorporated as a village in 1881. Its status was raised to that of a city in 1898.

History

Red Lake Falls was the site of a

North West Company The North West Company was a Fur trade in Canada, Canadian fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in the regions that later became Western Canada a ...

fur post as early as 1796 or 1797, making it one of the oldest sites of European occupation in the State of

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. A

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

fur trader, Jean Baptiste Cadotte, partner of the noted British-Canadian fur trader,

Alexander Henry the elder Alexander Henry 'The Elder', in French: ''Alexandre Henri Le Vieux'' (August 1739 – 4 April 1824) was an American-born explorer, author, merchant who settled in Quebec following the Conquest of New France (1758–1760), Conquest of New France a ...

, established the post as part of a strategy to ward off

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

intrusion into the

Red River Valley The Red River Valley is a region in central North America that is drained by the Red River of the North; it is part of both Canada and the United States. Forming the border between Minnesota and North Dakota when these territories were admitted ...

. The famous Canadian explorer David Thompson took shelter from a storm in Cadotte's cabin here in March 1798.See D'Arcy Jenish, ''Epic Wanderer: David Thompson & The Mapping of the Canadian West'' (2003), at pages 103-04 The post was abandoned early in the 1800s, as British fur traders withdrew from United States territory. The surrounding territory was homesteaded by French-American settlers led by Pierre Bottineau, who were relocating via ox cart from their temporary stopping points in Ramsey and Hennepin Counties, Minnesota, in 1876. These pioneers were augmented in 1878 by a number of French-Canadian settlers from

Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada () was a Province, part of The Canadas, British Canada established in 1791 by the Kingdom of Great Britain, to govern the central third of the lands in British North America, formerly part of the Province of Queb ...

. The area developed as a grain farming region. In 1878, Earnest Buse and his partner, Otto Kankel, established a flour mill at the confluence of the two rivers. The town of Red Lake Falls soon after was platted by Mr. Buse, who then moved on to other environs. The Kankel family continued as a prominent presence in the town through the 1950s. The town prospered for a time, as both the

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was an important American transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the Western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest between 1864 and 1970. It was approved and chartered b ...

and the Great Northern Railway ran their lines through the town in the 1880s and early 1890s (both lines are now abandoned), and when Red Lake County split off from Polk County, in 1896, Red Lake Falls became the county seat of the newly formed county, a reason for existence that persists to the present day. The population peaked shortly afterward, in 1900, and has been in decline ever since. The last significant historic event in Red Lake Falls occurred on August 27, 1927, when the famous aviator

Charles Lindbergh Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974) was an American aviator, military officer, and author. On May 20–21, 1927, he made the first nonstop flight from New York (state), New York to Paris, a distance of . His aircra ...

and his wife landed at the nearby airport during a barnstorming trip through the Upper Midwest and were taken on automobile rides to Huot and Crookston.

Geography

Red Lake Falls is located on a tributary of the

Red River of the North The Red River (), also called the Red River of the North () to differentiate it from the Red River of the South, Red River in the south of the continent, is a river in the north-central United States and central Canada. Originating at the confl ...

, the Red Lake River, at its confluence with the Clearwater River. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , all land. Minnesota Highway 32 serves as a main route in the city. Minnesota Highway 92 is nearby.

Climate

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 1,427 people, 615 households, and 366 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing 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 geog ...

was . There were 670 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 96.1%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.4%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.5% Native American, 0.3%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.8% from other races, and 2.0% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 4.1% of the population. There were 615 households, of which 29.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.0% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 40.5% were non-families. 33.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.90. The median age in the city was 41.2 years. 24.7% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.6% were from 25 to 44; 27.8% were from 45 to 64; and 17.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.5% male and 50.5% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 1,590 people, 608 households, and 380 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 652 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 94.53%

, 4.53% Native American, 0.13% Asian, 0.31% from other races, and 0.50% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.44% of the population. There were 608 households, out of which 33.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.2% were

living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.5% were non-families. 32.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 3.00. In the city, the population was spread out, with 25.4% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 24.5% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 21.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 92.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.7 males. The median income for a household in the city was $30,536, and the median income for a family was $41,413. Males had a median income of $29,792 versus $20,185 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $15,177. About 8.3% of families and 11.4% 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 11.3% of those under age 18 and 16.9% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Notable people

* Adrian Baril, NFL player * Roxy Beaudro,

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

player

References

External links

City website

History of Red Lake County

Official Red Lake County website
{{authority control Cities in Red Lake County, Minnesota Cities in Minnesota County seats in Minnesota