St. Cloud or Saint Cloud (; ) is a

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

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 ...

and the largest population center in the state's central region. The population was 68,881 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota's 12th-largest city. St. Cloud is 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 ...

Stearns County Stearns County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,292. Its county seat and largest city is St. Cloud. Included within the Minnesota Territory since 1849, the county was founded by Europe ...

and was named after the city of

Saint-Cloud Saint-Cloud () is a French commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, from the centre of Paris. Like other communes of Hauts-de-Seine such as Marnes-la-Coquette, Neuilly-sur-Seine and Vaucresson, Saint-Cloud is one of France's wealthie ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

(in Île-de-France, near Paris), which was named after the 6th-century French monk

Clodoald Clodoald (; reconstructed Frankish: ''*Hlōdōwald''; 522 – ), better known as Saint Cloud (), was a Merovingian prince, grandson of Clovis I and son of Chlodomer, who preferred to renounce royalty and became a hermit and monk. Clodoald found ...

. Though mostly in Stearns County, St. Cloud also extends into Benton and Sherburne counties, and straddles the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. It is the center of a contiguous

urban area An urban area is a human settlement with a high population density and an infrastructure of built environment. Urban areas originate through urbanization, and researchers categorize them as cities, towns, conurbations or suburbs. In urbani ...

, with

Waite Park Waite Park is a city in Stearns County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 8,341 at the 2020 census. History Waite Park was incorporated in 1893. It was named for Henry Chester Waite, a state legislator. A post office was establis ...

, Sauk Rapids, Sartell, St. Joseph, Rockville, and St. Augusta directly bordering the city, and Foley,

Rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

, Kimball, Clearwater, Clear Lake, and Cold Spring nearby. The St. Cloud metropolitan area had a population of 199,671 at the 2020 census. It has been listed as the fifth-largest metro with a presence in Minnesota, behind Minneapolis–St. Paul,

Duluth–Superior The Duluth MN–WI Metropolitan Area, commonly called the Twin Ports, is a small metropolitan area centered around the cities of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin. The Twin Ports are located at the western part of Lake Superior (the west ...

, Fargo-Moorhead, and Rochester. But the entire St. Cloud area is within Minnesota, while most of Fargo-Moorhead's population is in North Dakota and Superior, Wisconsin, contributes significant population to the Duluth area. St. Cloud is northwest of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis–St. Paul along

Interstate 94 Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern ter ...

, U.S. Highway 52 (conjoined with I-94), U.S. Highway 10,

Minnesota State Highway 15 Minnesota State Highway 15 (MN 15) is a highway in south-central and central Minnesota, which runs from Iowa Highway 15 at the Iowa state line and continues north to its northern terminus at its interchange with U.S. Highway 10 outside of S ...

, and

Minnesota State Highway 23 Minnesota State Highway 23 (MN 23) is a state highway that stretches from southwestern to northeastern Minnesota. At in length, it is the second longest state route in Minnesota, after MN 1. This route, signed east–west, runs roug ...

. The St. Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is made up of Stearns and Benton Counties. The city was included in a newly defined Minneapolis–St. Paul–St. Cloud Combined Statistical Area (CSA) in 2000. St. Cloud as a whole has never been part of the 13-county MSA comprising

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

St. Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

, Bloomington and parts of western

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, though the Sherburne County portion is part of the 13-county MSA.

St. Cloud State University St. Cloud State University (SCSU) is a public university in St. Cloud, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1869, the university is one of the largest institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. In the fall of 2023, it ...

, Minnesota's third-largest public university, is located between the downtown area and the Beaver Islands, which form a maze for a two-mile stretch of the Mississippi. The approximately 30 undeveloped islands are a popular destination for kayak and canoe enthusiasts during safe river levels and flow. and are part of a state-designated 12-mile stretch of wild and scenic river. St. Cloud owns and operates a

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

dam on the Mississippi, the state's largest city-owned hydro facility, that can produce almost nine

megawatts The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named in honor o ...

of electricity, about 10% of the total electricity generated by 11 Mississippi hydro dams in Minnesota.

History

What is now the St. Cloud area was occupied by various indigenous peoples for thousands of years.

Voyageurs Voyageurs (; ) were 18th- and 19th-century French and later French Canadians and others who transported furs by canoe at the peak of the North American fur trade. The emblematic meaning of the term applies to places (New France, including the ...

and

coureurs des bois A coureur des bois (; ) or coureur de bois (; ) were independent entrepreneurial French Canadians, French Canadian traders who travelled in New France and the interior of North America, usually to trade with Indigenous peoples of the Americas, ...

from

New France New France (, ) was the territory colonized by Kingdom of France, France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Kingdom of Great Br ...

first encountered the

Ojibwe The Ojibwe (; Ojibwe writing systems#Ojibwe syllabics, syll.: ᐅᒋᐺ; plural: ''Ojibweg'' ᐅᒋᐺᒃ) are an Anishinaabe people whose homeland (''Ojibwewaki'' ᐅᒋᐺᐘᑭ) covers much of the Great Lakes region and the Great Plains, n ...

and

Dakota Dakota may refer to: * Dakota people, a sub-tribe of the Sioux ** Dakota language, their language Dakota may also refer to: Places United States * Dakota, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Dakota, Illinois, a town * Dakota, Minnesota ...

through the highly profitable

North American fur trade The North American fur trade is the (typically) historical Fur trade, commercial trade of furs and other goods in North America, beginning in the eastern provinces of French Canada and the northeastern Thirteen Colonies, American colonies (soon- ...

with local Native American peoples.

Minnesota Territory The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Minnesota and the w ...

was organized in 1849. The St. Cloud area opened up to

homesteading Homesteading is a lifestyle of self-sufficiency. It is characterized by subsistence agriculture, home preservation of food, and may also involve the small scale production of textiles, clothing, and craft work for household use or sale. H ...

after the

Treaty of Traverse des Sioux The Treaty of Traverse des Sioux () was signed on July 23, 1851, at Traverse des Sioux in Minnesota Territory between the United States government and the Dakota people, Upper Dakota Sioux bands. In this land cession treaty, the Sisseton and Wahpe ...

was signed with the

Dakota people The Dakota (pronounced , or ) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe (Native American), tribe and First Nations in Canada, First Nations band government in North America. They compose two of the three main subcultur ...

in 1851. John L. Wilson, a

Yankee The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Their various meanings depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, the Northeastern United Stat ...

homesteader from Columbia, Maine, with French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

ancestry and an interest in

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, named the settlement St. Cloud after

, the

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

suburb where Napoleon had his favorite palace. St. Cloud was a waystation on the Middle and Woods branches of the

Red River Trails The Red River Trails were a network of Red River ox cart, ox cart routes connecting the Red River Colony (the "Selkirk Settlement") and Fort Garry in Canada under British Imperial control (1764-1867), British North America with the head of naviga ...

used by

Métis The Métis ( , , , ) are a mixed-race Indigenous people whose historical homelands include Canada's three Prairie Provinces extending into parts of Ontario, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the northwest United States. They ha ...

traders between the Canada–U.S. border at Pembina, North Dakota, and

. The cart trains often consisted of hundreds of oxcarts. The Métis, bringing furs to trade for supplies to take back to their rural settlements, camped west of the city and crossed the Mississippi in St. Cloud or just to the north in Sauk Rapids. The City of St. Cloud was incorporated in 1856. It developed from three distinct settlements, known as Upper Town, Middle Town, and Lower Town, that European-American settlers established starting in 1853. Remnants of the deep ravines that separated the three are still visible today. Middle Town was settled primarily by

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Catholic immigrants and migrants from eastern states, who were recruited to the region by Father

Francis Xavier Pierz Francis Xavier Pierz ( or ''Franc Pirec''; ) (November 20, 1785 – January 22, 1880) was a Slovenian-American Roman Catholic priest and missionary to the Ottawa (tribe), Ottawa and Ojibwe Indians in present-day Michigan, Wisconsin, Ontario, and ...

, a Catholic priest who also ministered as a missionary to Native Americans. Lower Town was founded by settlers from the Northern Tier of

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

and the

mid-Atlantic states The Mid-Atlantic is a region of the United States located in the overlap between the nation's Northeastern and Southeastern states. Traditional definitions include seven U.S. states: New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virg ...

, including former residents of upstate New York. Its Protestant settlers opposed slavery. Upper Town, or Arcadia, was plotted by

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Sylvanus Lowry, a slaveholder and trader from

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

who brought

slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

with him, although Minnesota was organized as a free territory."Sylvanus Lowry"
, Minnesota Legislators Past and Present, accessed July 4, 2012 He served on the territorial council from 1852 to 1853 and was elected president of the newly formed town council in 1856, serving for one year (the office of mayor did not yet exist). Jane Grey Swisshelm, an abolitionist newspaper editor who had migrated from

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, repeatedly attacked Lowry in print. At one point Lowry organized a "Committee of Vigilance" that broke into Swisshelm's newspaper office and removed her press, throwing it into the

. Lowry started a rival paper, ''The Union''.Ambar Espinoza, "St. Cloud professor unearths history of slavery in Minnesota"
, Minnesota Public Radio, May 7, 2010, accessed July 4, 2012 The U.S. Supreme Court's 1857 decision in ''

Dred Scott Dred Scott ( – September 17, 1858) was an enslaved African American man who, along with his wife, Harriet, unsuccessfully sued for the freedom of themselves and their two daughters, Eliza and Lizzie, in the '' Dred Scott v. Sandford'' case ...

'' ruled that slaves could not file

freedom suits Freedom suits were lawsuits in the Thirteen Colonies and the United States filed by enslaved people against slaveholders to assert claims to freedom, often based on descent from a free maternal ancestor, or time held as a resident in a free st ...

and found the

Missouri Compromise The Missouri Compromise (also known as the Compromise of 1820) was federal legislation of the United States that balanced the desires of northern states to prevent the expansion of slavery in the country with those of southern states to expand ...

unconstitutional, so the territory's prohibition against slavery became unenforceable. Nearly all Southerners left the St. Cloud area when the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

broke out, taking their slaves with them. The total number of slaves in the community was estimated in single digits at the 1860 census. Lowry died in the city in 1865. Many young men from St. Cloud and the surrounding area served in the Union Army during the American Civil War. After it ended, many local Civil War veterans remained heavily involved in St. Cloud's chapter of the

Grand Army of the Republic The Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) was a fraternal organization composed of veterans of the Union Army (United States Army), Union Navy (United States Navy, U.S. Navy), and the United States Marine Corps, Marines who served in the American Ci ...

, and raised money for the building of a statue in memory of

U.S. President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the 16th president of the United States, serving from 1861 until Assassination of Abraham Lincoln, his assassination in 1865. He led the United States through the American Civil War ...

that still stands near the St. Germain Street bridge. Beginning in 1864, Stephen Miller served a two-year term as Minnesota governor, the only citizen of St. Cloud ever to hold the office. Miller was a "

Pennsylvania German The Pennsylvania Dutch (), also referred to as Pennsylvania Germans, are an ethnic group in Pennsylvania in the United States, Ontario in Canada, and other regions of both nations. They largely originate from the Palatinate region of Germany ...

businessman", lawyer, writer, active abolitionist, and personal friend of

Alexander Ramsey Alexander Ramsey (September 8, 1815 April 22, 1903) was an American politician, who became the first Minnesota Territorial Governor and later became a U.S. Senator. He served as a Whig and Republican over a variety of offices between the 18 ...

. He was on the state's Republican electoral ticket with Lincoln in 1860.

Steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

s regularly docked at St. Cloud as part of the fur trade and other commerce, although river levels were not reliable. This ended with the construction of the

Coon Rapids Dam The Coon Rapids Dam is a concrete gravity dam on the Mississippi River located in Brooklyn Park and Coon Rapids, Minnesota. It is approximately north of downtown Minneapolis. Between 1914 and 1966, it provided hydroelectric power generation ...

in 1912–14.

Granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

quarries have operated in the area since the 1880s, giving St. Cloud its nickname, "The Granite City." In 1917, Samuel Pandolfo started the Pan Motor Company in St. Cloud. He claimed his Pan-Cars would make St. Cloud the new

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

, but the company failed at a time when resources were directed toward the

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

effort. He was later convicted and imprisoned for attempting to defraud investors. According to documents at the Stearns History Museum, more than 2,000 residents from the heavily German-American St. Cloud area served in the

U.S. military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. U.S. federal law names six armed forces: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the Coast Guard. Since 1949, all of the armed forces, except th ...

against their ancestral homeland during

. On 26 January 1918, President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was the 28th president of the United States, serving from 1913 to 1921. He was the only History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democrat to serve as president during the Prog ...

wrote a letter to Bishop Joseph Francis Busch thanking him for his support of the war effort.

Geography

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 an area of ; is land and is water. The city developed on both sides of the

. Part of the Sauk River runs along its northern edge. Just south of downtown is the 7-acre, 35-feet-deep Lake George. In 2021, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) credited decade-long city investments in stormwater filtration with reducing Lake George's phosphorus levels well below the state standard. It called Lake George one of three "success stories" in the state, and planned to remove it from a list of impaired waters. Granite bedrock quarried in the area has been estimated to be 1.7 billion years old and was exposed after several miles of rock above it eroded. The city lies on a band of modern Mississippi river sediment surrounded by land scoured several times by Wisconsin Age glaciers beginning about 35,000 years ago, ending with the Lake Superior St. Croix lobe. The later Des Moines lobe created glacial moraines and drift south and east of the city.

Climate

St. Cloud lies in the warm summer

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 cold ...

zone (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: ''Dfb''), with warm summers and cold winters with moderate to heavy snowfall. The monthly normal daily mean temperature ranges from in January to in July. The record high temperature is . The record low temperature is .

Demographics

Race and ethnicity

Over the past two decades, the racial and ethnic landscape of St. Cloud has experienced significant changes. In the year 2000, the population was predominantly White. However, by 2020, this percentage had dropped to 67%. The Black or African American demographic saw a substantial increase from 2% in 2000 to nearly 20% in 2020, marking the most significant growth among all groups. Other racial groups such as Asian Americans have maintained a stable presence. The Hispanic or Latino population nearly tripled in size.

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 65,842 people, 25,439 households, and 13,348 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 27,338 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 84.6%

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 ...

, 7.8%

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 ...

, 0.7% Native American, 3.7% Asian, 0.8% from other races, and 2.5% 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 2.4% of the population. There were 25,439 households, of which 25.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.6% 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, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 47.5% were non-families. 30.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.95. The median age in the city was 28.8 years. 18.9% of residents were under the age of 18; 23.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.5% were from 25 to 44; 21.5% were from 45 to 64; and 10.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 51.5% male and 48.5% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, 27.3% of St. Cloud households had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.4% were

living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.9% were non-families. 30.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 3.00. The racial makeup of the city was 91.7%

, 2.4%

, 0.7% Native American, 3.1% Asian, 0.7% other races, and 1.4% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 1.3% of the population.

Immigration

St. Cloud has been a significant destination for immigrants throughout its history, beginning with

settlers in the late 19th century. This was followed by waves of Polish, Irish, and other European immigrants in the early 20th century. In the late 20th and early 21st century, the nature of immigration to St. Cloud has undergone a dramatic shift. New residents of the city have predominantly been from

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, and particularly, from the war-torn country of

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

. Unofficial estimates suggest that the number of

Somalis The Somali people (, Wadaad's writing, Wadaad: , Arabic: ) are a Cushitic peoples, Cushitic ethnic group and nation native to the Somali Peninsula. who share a common ancestry, culture and history. The Lowland East Cushitic languages, East ...

in St. Cloud and the surrounding cities like Waite Park, St. Joseph, Sartell, and Sauk Rapids could be as high as 25,000, with approximately half of this population having moved to the city between 2009 and 2013. About 15% of the local school district being Somali and a large segment of Somalis currently enrolled in high schools, colleges, and universities. Home ownership among St. Cloud's Somali community is considerably lower than other populations.

Average income

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of May 2020 the annual mean wage for 99,600 employees across all occupations in St. Cloud was $50,800. The median hourly wage was $24.42.

Top employers

According to the 2024 City of St. Cloud Economic Development Authority Employment Report, the city's top employers are: Figures reflect only full-time employees. * Includes employees at sites outside of St. Cloud. ** Business has significant part-time staff in addition to the full-time employee count indicated. *** Does not include Stearns County full-time employees now working at county satellite offices outside of the City of St. Cloud.

Arts, culture, and events

In 2019 the city of Saint Cloud, Minnesota, was awarded three first places awards from the

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

based International Awards for Liveable Communities (LivCom), one of several ''

most livable cities City Quality of Life Indices are lists of cities that are ranked according to a defined measure of living conditions. In addition to considering the provision of clean water, clean air, adequate food and shelter, many indexes also measure more ...

'' awards. The city won the first-place whole city award for its size and first place for cities of all sizes for enhancement of landscapes and public spaces, arts, culture, and heritage management and Community participation and empowerment. LivCom praised the city for its focus on improving parkland and trails, as well as its enhancements and maintenance of 96 parks. St. Cloud has been a finalist at the LivCom awards four times since 2007. The St. Cloud Area Convention and Visitors Bureau promotes an area events calendar, dining and lodging information. The city-owned St. Cloud River's Edge Convention Center hosts a variety of events including regional conferences, consumer/trade shows, small group meetings and social events.

Sites of interest

* Cathedral of Saint Mary, the largest church serving the oldest

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

in the community, built in the 1920s in the Italian Romanesque style. The cathedral is the mother church of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Cloud The Diocese of Saint Cloud () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in central Minnesota in the United States. It is a suffragan see, suffragan diocese of the metropolitan Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The mother church o ...

. * The St. Cloud Commercial Historic District is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. St. Cloud is a Preserve America Community. *

* Great River Regional Library, a six-county regional system serving 32 communities. The system houses nearly 1 million books, CDs, and DVDs, and 250 public computers. It schedules a list of events. * Munsinger Gardens and Clemens Gardens, extensive flower gardens dating from the 1930s. In 2023, the website Good Plant Care ranked the gardens 100th on a list of best public gardens in the nation. * Quarry Park and Nature Preserve, a public park in neighboring

that features 20 granite quarries, hiking, biking and ski trails. It is part of the Stearns County park system. * Paramount Theatre and Visual Arts Center, a restored 706-seat theater, built in 1921. * St. Cloud Hospital, part of CentraCare Health, was founded in 1886 as St. Benedict's Hospital. The regional health system also includes six Critical Access hospitals, Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar, and numerous outreach and outpatient clinics and services. * Stearns History Museum, with two floors of exhibits, a research area, a museum store, and a nature park. Accredited by the

American Alliance of Museums The American Alliance of Museums (AAM), formerly the American Association of Museums, is a non-profit association whose goal is to bring museums together. Founded in 1906, the organization advocates for museums and provides "museum professionals w ...

. * Minnesota Amateur Baseball Hall of Fame, dedicated to preserving Minnesota's baseball history. * St. Cloud River's Edge Convention Center, a meeting center overlooking the

* St. Cloud Regional Airport, providing scheduled commercial turboprop passenger service, private, corporate, cargo and military operations * St. Cloud Technical and Community College, a member of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System * Minnesota Correctional Facility – St. Cloud, built in 1889, housing nearly 1,000 prisoners * Midtown Square Mall, a shopping mall with more than 50 tenants * Crossroads Center, a shopping mall with more than 100 tenants File:Stearns County Courthouse.jpg, Stearns County Courthouse, 2013. File:Cathedral of St Mary.jpg, Cathedral of Saint Mary (St. Cloud, Minnesota), 2013. File:Clemens Gardens.JPG, Munsinger and Clemens Gardens, 1997. File:StGermain Paramount.jpg, The Paramount Theater on Saint Germain Street, 2008. File:2013-0408-StCloudVA.jpg, The St. Cloud VA Medical Center. File:Great River Regional Library St. Cloud Minnesota.jpg, Great River Regional Library GRRL, 2020 File:First National Bank, St Cloud MN.jpg, First National Bank, 2013. File:Michael Majerus House.jpg, alt=Michael Majerus House, Michael Majerus House (now Victorian Oaks Bed & Breakfast), 2016

Sports

The city is home to: * the

Division I

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 ...

teams. Men's Husky Hockey competes in the

National Collegiate Hockey Conference The National Collegiate Hockey Conference (NCHC) is an NCAA men's Division I hockey conference. The league was formed on July 9, 2011 and began playing for the 2013–14 season, the same season that the Big Ten Conference began competition, as a ...

. Women's Husky Hockey competes in the

Western Collegiate Hockey Association The Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) is a college ice hockey conference which operates in the Midwestern United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I as a women's-only conference. From 1951 to 1999, it operated as a me ...

. The men's team has made nine NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Championship appearances, notably advancing to the 2021 championship game in Pittsburgh, Penn. The 2012–13 team's co-captain and fifth-year forward, Drew LeBlanc, was named WCHA Player of the Year and earned numerous national honors, including the

Hobey Baker Award The Hobey Baker Award is an annual award given to the top National Collegiate Athletic Association men's ice hockey player. It has been awarded 44 times. It is named for Hall of Famer Hobey Baker, who played college hockey at Princeton Universit ...

, the most prestigious award in men's college hockey. The 2013 team also earned a share of the WCHA league title and its symbol, the century-old

MacNaughton Cup The MacNaughton Cup is a trophy awarded annually to the regular season conference champion of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA). The trophy is named after James MacNaughton of Calumet, Michigan, who was a supporter of amateur ice h ...

. The Huskies play in the 5,763-seat Herb Brooks National Hockey Center, which underwent a $18 million renovation and expansion in 2012–13. * the St. Cloud Norsemen, a Tier II junior hockey team at the Municipal Athletic Complex. * the

Granite City Lumberjacks The Granite City Lumberjacks are a Tier III Junior A ice hockey team playing in the North American 3 Hockey League (NA3HL) and plays their home games at the Armadillo Deck Sports Arena, located in Sauk Rapids, Minnesota. The Lumberjacks play 48 ...

, a Tier III junior hockey team in nearby Sauk Rapids. * the St. Cloud Rox (formerly the River Bats) of the

Northwoods League The Northwoods League is a collegiate summer baseball wooden bat league. All players in the league must have National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate. The league is amateur, and players are not ...

, a collegiate summer baseball league. The Rox play at Joe Faber Field in St. Cloud and were founded in 2012. * the Saint Cloud Area Roller Dolls, a flat-track roller derby league founded in 2011. * the Saint Cloud River Runners club, who put on the

Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon The Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon is a 26.2 mile foot race from Holdingford, Minnesota, to St. Joseph, Minnesota, on a paved trail called the Lake Wobegon Trail. The course is USATF-certified, making it a qualifying race for the Boston Marathon. ...

, an annual event in central Minnesota. The race is used as a Boston-qualifying event for runners who want a straight, quiet, scenic, mostly flat route in the early spring. * the Granite City FC is a minor league soccer team founded in 2016. It currently plays in the United Premier Soccer League (UPSL).

Parks and recreation

The city maintains 95 parks, totaling more than and ranging in size from "neighborhood and mini parks" to . The largest developed park, Whitney Memorial Park, is the former location of the city airport. It features a recreation center for senior citizens, a dog park, and numerous softball, baseball, and soccer fields.

Government

Since 2025, St. Cloud's mayor has been Jake Anderson. St. Cloud has been moved by Congressional redistricting to a wide variety of Minnesota regions, including northern, south central, northwest and southwest. In Congressional district maps in effect since 2003, it has been grouped with rural areas and suburbs north and west of the Twin Cities. The district had only minor changes in a 2022 map drawn by a five-judge panel based on the 2020 census. As of the 2020 census, the city of St. Cloud is the second largest in Minnesota's 6th congressional district, represented by Republican

Tom Emmer Thomas Earl Emmer Jr. (born March 3, 1961) is an American attorney, lobbyist, and politician who has served as majority whip in the United States House of Representatives since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, he has represented since 2 ...

. The St. Cloud, Minnesota metropolitan area that includes adjacent communities has about a quarter of the 6th district population, though some of the area lies outside the district. The city makes up the majority of population of Minnesota State Senate District 14, which straddles the Mississippi River and includes parts of three counties, represented by Aric Putnam. Minnesota House District 14A includes generally western parts of the city as well as

, St. Augusta and adjacent rural areas, represented by Bernie Perryman. District 14B includes east central and northeast St. Cloud, neighboring Sauk Rapids and parts of rural Benton and Sherburne Counties, represented by Dan Wolgamott. In 2016, St. Cloud converted from 5% to 80% renewable energy by using solar gardens, street light improvements, bio-gas, and other energy efficiency initiatives. St. Cloud's wastewater plant converts sugar-laden liquids from local food and beer manufacturers into fuel and fertilizer. Since 2020, the city has produced more energy than it consumes. Past mayors of St. Cloud include: * Sylvanus B. Lowry (1856), selected by town council members as council president (office of mayor did not yet exist) * John L. Wilson (1857–1858) * E. O. Hamlin (1868) * J. A. McDonald (1900) * J. R. Boyd (1901) * J. E. C. Robinson (1902–1905 and 1906) * J. N. Bensen (1905) * David McCarty (1907) * Louis Brown (1907) * Hugh Evans (1908–1909) * D. H. Freeman (1910 and 1916–1919) * P. J. Seberger (1911–1912) * H. J. Limperich (1919) * W. W. Matson (1920–1924). 19th Amendment gives women the right to vote. * J. Arthur Bensen (1924–1928) * James H. Murphy (1928–1932, 1945–1948) * Phil Collignon (1932–1945) * Mathew Malisheski (1948–1952) * Lawrence A. Borgert (1952). City Charter revised, creating current "standard mayor form" of government. * George Byers (1953–1960) * Thomas E. Mealey (1960–1964) *

Ed Henry Edward Michael Henry Jr. (born July 20, 1971) is an American journalist. Henry was the co-host of ''America's Newsroom'' on the Fox News Channel, along with Sandra Smith. On June 20, 2011, he left CNN, to become the Fox News White House Corresp ...

(1964–1971) * Al Loehr (1971–1980) * Sam Huston (1980–1989) * Chuck Winkelman (1989–1997) * Larry Meyer (1997–2001) * John Ellenbecker (2001–2005) * Dave Kleis (2005–2025)

Politics

Kamala Harris Kamala Devi Harris ( ; born October 20, 1964) is an American politician and attorney who served as the 49th vice president of the United States from 2021 to 2025 under President Joe Biden. She is the first female, first African American, and ...

won St. Cloud in the

2024 presidential election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. *2024 United Nations Security Council election *2024 national electoral calendar *2024 local electoral ...

, defeating

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, 48.69% to 46.64%. Trump's share of the city's vote was similar to his performance statewide. Harris's share of the city's vote was about two percentage points lower than her statewide performance.

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

won St. Cloud in the 2020 presidential election by a margin of 9%, higher than his statewide margin of 7.12%. In

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, Trump won St. Cloud by 1.75% over Democratic nominee

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...

Education

Almost all of St. Cloud, including the portions in Stearns and Sherburne Counties, and much the portion in Benton County, is in the St. Cloud Public School District. Part of the Benton County portion is in the Sauk Rapids-Rice Public Schools district. The St. Cloud Area School District serves St. Cloud, St. Augusta, Clearwater, Waite Park, St. Joseph, Haven Township, and parts of Sauk Rapids. It has eight elementary schools, a new K-8 school in St. Joseph, and two major public high schools, St. Cloud Technical High School and St. Cloud Apollo High School. St. Cloud also has a major private high school, Cathedral High School. Both public high schools offer a broad selection of Advanced Placement courses and rank high in the state in the number of AP tests taken and of test takers. St. Cloud Tech opened in 1917 across from a city park and Lake George. In 2019, it moved to a new 69-acre, $104 million facility on the southwest edge of the city. The historic 1917 building has been acquired for use by city government. Apollo opened in 1970 and serves the expanding north side of the city. Other high schools and secondary schools that serve St. Cloud include St. Robert Bellarmine's Academy, St. Cloud Christian School, Immaculate Conception Academy, St. John's Preparatory School, St. Cloud Alternative Learning Center, and the charter school STRIDE Academy, which is K-8. The nearby cities of Sauk Rapids and Sartell also have their own school districts and high schools, bringing the number of public high schools in the metropolitan area to four.

Colleges

St. Cloud is home to several higher education institutions, including Minnesota's third-largest university,

. St. Cloud State's fall 2020 enrollment was 12,607, in a year affected by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. St. Cloud's other post-secondary institutions and campuses include St. Cloud Technical and Community College (SCTCC) and Rasmussen College. Neighboring Sartell is home to a campus of the

Duluth Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

-based College of St. Scholastica, and the College of St. Benedict and St. John's University are in neighboring St. Joseph and nearby Collegeville, respectively.

Media

The main

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

is the '' St. Cloud Times'', a

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as several ...

daily newspaper. In the early 2020s, Gannett severely downsized the paper, eliminating most local news reporting. St. Cloud is part of the Twin Cities television market. One full-power station, the

Ion An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by convent ...

-owned KPXM-TV (channel 41), is licensed to the city, but moved its transmitter to the Twin Cities in 2009 as part of the digital transition, and maintains no presence in the city. WCMN-LD (channel 13) is a low-power station licensed to St. Cloud that broadcasts in

ATSC 3.0 ATSC 3.0 is a major version of the ATSC standards for terrestrial television broadcasting created by the Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC). The standards are designed to offer support for newer technologies, including High Effici ...

. Additionally,

students operate cable-only UTVS (channel 180), which includes local news and broadcasts from a studio on campus.

Radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

stations include:

FM

AM

Infrastructure

Transportation

St. Cloud is a regional transportation hub within Minnesota. Major roadways including

, U.S. Highway 10, and Minnesota State Highways 15 and 23 pass through the city.

Bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a motor vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van, but fewer than the average rail transport. It is most commonly used ...

service within the city and to neighboring Sartell, Sauk Rapids, and

is offered through St. Cloud Metro Bus, which was recognized in 2007 as the best transit system of its size in North America. An innovative system gives transit buses a slight advantage at stoplights in order to improve efficiency and on-time performance. The Metro Bus Transit Center in the downtown area is also shared with

Jefferson Lines Jefferson Lines (JL or JLI) is a regional intercity bus company operating in 14 states in the Midwest and the West of the United States. History The company is operated by Jefferson Partners L.P., located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Jefferson P ...

, providing national bus service. Bus service links downtown St. Cloud and St. Cloud State University with the western terminus of the

Northstar Commuter Rail The Northstar Line is a commuter rail route in the US state of Minnesota. Northstar runs from Big Lake to downtown Minneapolis at Target Field using existing track and right-of-way owned by the BNSF Railway. Passenger service began on Nove ...

line in Big Lake, by the way of Northstar Link Commuter Bus, which in turn links to the Metro Transit bus and light rail system at Target Field Station in downtown

. Several rail lines run through the city, which is a stop on

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 intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

's ''

Empire Builder The ''Empire Builder'' is a daily long-distance passenger train operated by Amtrak 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 North ...

'' passenger rail line. St. Cloud is home to St. Cloud Regional Airport, from which daily connecting flights to

Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport — also less commonly known as Wold–Chamberlain Field — is a joint civil-military public international airport serving the Twin Cities in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is located in Fort ...

were made on

Delta Connection Delta Connection is a brand name under which Delta Air Lines has air service agreements with domestic regional air carriers that feed traffic to their network by serving passengers primarily in small and medium-sized cities in the domestic mark ...

, operated by

Mesaba Airlines Mesaba Aviation, Inc. (operating as Mesaba Airlines) was a regional airline in the United States that operated from 1944 until it merged with Pinnacle Airlines in 2012 to form Endeavor Air. It was based in Eagan, Minnesota From 2010 to 2012, the ...

, until January 1, 2010, when the service was discontinued. On December 15, 2012, Allegiant Air began nonstop flights between St. Cloud Regional Airport and Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, on Airbus 319 aircraft.

Major highways

U.S. Highway 10 * MN-15

Notable people

Halima Aden Halima Aden (; born September 19, 1997) is an American fashion model. She is noted for being the first woman to wear a hijab in the Miss Minnesota USA 2016 pageant, where she was a semi-finalist. Following her participation in the pageant, Halim ...

, model and first

Somali-American Somali Americans are Americans of Somali ancestry. The first ethnic Somalis to arrive in the U.S. were sailors who came in the 1920s from British Somaliland. They were followed by students pursuing higher studies in the 1960s and 1970s, by the la ...

to compete for

Miss Minnesota The Miss Minnesota competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Minnesota in the Miss America pageant. Women from Minnesota have won the Miss America crown on three occasions. The most recent winner was Gretchen ...

Mathew Ahmann Mathew H. Ahmann (September 10, 1931 – December 31, 2001) was an American Catholic layman and civil rights activist. He was a leader of the Catholic Church's involvement in the civil rights movement, and in 1960 founded and became the execu ...

, civil rights activist * George Annas,

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

Professor and Director of the Center for Health Law, Ethics & Human Rights * Raymond H. Bares, Minnesota state senator and educator *

Tom Burgmeier Thomas Henry Burgmeier (born August 2, 1943) is a former Major League Baseball relief pitcher who played for the California Angels, Kansas City Royals, Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox and Oakland A's from 1968 to 1984. He has also served as the ...

, Major League Baseball player; grew up in St. Cloud and attended Cathedral High School * Loren W. Collins, Minnesota jurist and legislator; mayor of St. Cloud *

David Durenberger David Ferdinand Durenberger (August 19, 1934 – January 31, 2023) was an American politician and attorney from Minnesota who served as a Republican member of the United States Senate from 1978 to 1995. He left the Republican Party in 2005 and ...

, U.S. senator from Minnesota *

Jim Eisenreich James Michael Eisenreich ( ; born April 18, 1959) is an American former Major League Baseball player with a 15-year career from 1982 to 1984 and 1987 to 1998. He played for the Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals of the American League, and th ...

, MLB player * Janice Ettle, middle-distance and

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength. Within endurance ru ...

* Jim Fahnhorst, NFL player * Keith Fahnhorst, NFL player * Howard M. Fish, retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant general, former assistant vice chief of staff of Air Force * Charles A. Gilman, ninth lieutenant governor of Minnesota * Janey Gohl, 1978

Miss Minnesota USA The Miss Minnesota USA competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of Minnesota in the Miss USA pageant. It is directed by Future Productions based in Savage, Minnesota since its inception in 1995, which also dire ...

* Lawrence M. Hall, longest-serving

Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives This is a list of speakers of the Minnesota House of Representatives. The speaker of the House is usually the leader of the majority party, and is the most powerful figure in the House. Territorial State {, class=wikitable style="text-al ...

* Keith F. Hughes, Minnesota state senator and lawyer * Jack I. Kleinbaum, businessman, St. Cloud City Council member, and Minnesota state legislator * Dave Kleis, mayor of St. Cloud * Jim Knoblach, Republican member of the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the U.S. state of Minnesota's Minnesota Legislature, legislature. It operates in conjunction with the Minnesota Senate, the state's upper chamber, to write and pass legislation, whic ...

* Franklin J. Knoll, Minnesota state legislator, lawyer, and judge *

June Marlowe June Marlowe (born Gisela Valaria Goetten, November 6, 1903 – March 10, 1984) was an American film actress who began her career during the silent film era. She was best known for her role as "Miss Crabtree" in the ''Our Gang'' short subj ...

, actress notable for playing Miss Crabtree in short-film series ''

Our Gang ''Our Gang'' (also known as ''The Little Rascals'' or ''Hal Roach's Rascals'') is an American series of comedy short films chronicling a group of poor neighborhood children and their adventures. Created by film producer Hal Roach, who also pr ...

'' *

John McMartin John Francis McMartin (August 21, 1929 – July 6, 2016) was an American actor of stage, film, and television. He made his off-Broadway debut in '' Little Mary Sunshine'' in 1959, and acted on Broadway for more than 50 years. He won a Theatre W ...

, film, television and stage actor * Stephen Miller, abolitionist, Civil War veteran, Republican politician, fourth

governor of Minnesota The governor of Minnesota is the head of government of the U.S. state of Minnesota, leading the state's executive branch. Forty people have been governor of Minnesota, though historically there were also three governors of Minnesota Territory ...

* Edgar G. Mills, Wisconsin state assemblyman and senator * William P. Murphy, associate justice of

Minnesota Supreme Court The Minnesota Supreme Court is the highest court in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The court hears cases in the Supreme Court chamber in the Minnesota State Capitol or in the nearby Minnesota Judicial Center. History The court was first assemb ...

* Jim Pehler, Minnesota state legislator *

Tom Petters Thomas Joseph Petters is a former American businessman and chairman and CEO of Petters Group Worldwide, a company which stole over $2 billion in a Ponzi scheme. He was convicted of massive business fraud in 2009 and was imprisoned at the United ...

, former CEO and chair of

Petters Group Worldwide Petters Group Worldwide was an American diversified company based in Minnetonka, Minnesota that was turned into a $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme by its founder and CEO, Tom Petters. It had 3,200 employees and investments or full ownership in 60 compani ...

Nicole Muehlhausen
BIO: Tom Petters
, KSTP.com, September 24, 2008, Accessed October 8, 2008, * Reynold Philipsek, gypsy jazz guitarist * Dewey H. Reed, educator and politician * Michael Sauer, NHL player *

Anne Schleper Anne Kathryn Schleper (born January 30, 1990) is an American women's ice hockey player for the Buffalo Beauts of the National Women's Hockey League. She played college hockey for the Minnesota Golden Gophers women's ice hockey program and made h ...

, women's hockey Olympic silver medalist, 2014 *

Nate Schmidt Nathan Thomas Schmidt (born July 16, 1991) is an American professional ice hockey Defenceman, defenseman for the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played for the Washington Capitals, Vegas Golden Knights, Vancouv ...

, NHL player *

Stephen Sommers Stephen Sommers (born March 20, 1962) is an American film director, screenwriter and producer, best known for big-budget action films, such as ''The Mummy (1999 film), The Mummy'' (1999), its sequel, ''The Mummy Returns'' (2001), ''Van Helsing ( ...

, film director, alumnus of Cathedral High School and St. John's University * Charles Thomas Stearns, politician * Jane Swisshelm, newspaper owner, editor and abolitionist *

Gene Waldorf Eugene Thomas "Gene" Waldorf (February 25, 1936 – February 29, 2020) was an American electrical engineer and politician. Waldorf was born in St. Cloud, Minnesota. He graduated from Cathedral High School in St. Cloud. Waldorf served in the ...

, electrical engineer and politician *

Alise Willoughby Alise Rose Willoughby (née Post, born January 17, 1991) is an American professional "Current School" BMX racing racer who has been racing competitively since 2002. She uses the moniker "The Beast". Career Originally a state-champion gymnast, ...

BMX BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation. History BMX began during the ea ...

racer and Olympic silver medalist. *

Nate Wolters Nate Wolters (born May 15, 1991) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for South Dakota State University and was an All-American for the Jackrabbits in 2013. He was selected by the Washington Wizards w ...

, professional basketball player *

Gig Young Gig Young (born Byron Elsworth Barr; November 4, 1913 – October 19, 1978) was an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in '' Come Fill the Cup'' ...

, Academy Award-winning actor, film and television star; born in St. Cloud

Sister cities

Spalt Spalt ( Franconian dialect: ''Schbåld'') is a town in the district of Roth, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 19 km southwest of Schwabach. Spalt is famous for growing hops for brewing beer. Geography Spalt is situated between Nuremberg, ...

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, Germany * Akita, Japan *

, Ile-de-France, France

In popular culture

* Courtroom scenes in the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

Film '' The Mighty Ducks'' were filmed in St. Cloud, and a few scenes were filmed at the Municipal Athletic Complex (MAC) but did not make the final film. *

Al Franken Alan Stuart Franken (born May 21, 1951) is an American politician, comedian, and actor who served from 2009 to 2018 as a United States senator from Minnesota. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he worked as an ...

and Tom Davis's '' One More Saturday Night'' is set in St. Cloud, but was not filmed there. * The movie ''

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods * ''Juno'' (film), the 2007 film Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, a character in the book ''Juno of ...

'' was partially set in St. Cloud, which is referred to as "East Jesus Nowhere", though no filming took place in the city. * The 1989 drag-racing film ''

Catch Me If You Can ''Catch Me If You Can'' is a 2002 American crime comedy-drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks with Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Nathalie Baye, Amy Adams, and James Brolin in ...

'', directed by

, was both set and filmed in St. Cloud. *

Marshall Eriksen Marshall Eriksen is a fictional character on the CBS sitcom ''How I Met Your Mother'', portrayed by Jason Segel. Series co-creator Craig Thomas explained that he based Marshall and Lily on himself and his wife Rebecca. Character overview The ...

, one of the main characters in the sitcom ''

How I Met Your Mother ''How I Met Your Mother'' (often abbreviated as ''HIMYM'') is an American sitcom created by Craig Thomas (screenwriter), Craig Thomas and Carter Bays for CBS. The series, which aired from September 19, 2005, to March 31, 2014, follows main char ...

'', was born and raised in St. Cloud. Many scenes detailing his childhood, as well as later visits to his hometown, are set in St. Cloud, though no filming occurred there.

References

External links

City Website

St. Cloud Area Chamber of Commerce

St. Cloud News on WJON Radio

St. Cloud News on KNSI Radio

St. Cloud News online Minneapolis Star Tribune

St. Cloud News on St Cloud Live

St. Cloud News on Forth
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Cloud, Minnesota Cities in Benton County, Minnesota Cities in Minnesota Cities in Sherburne County, Minnesota Cities in Stearns County, Minnesota County seats in Minnesota Minnesota populated places on the Mississippi River Populated places established in 1853 St. Cloud, Minnesota metropolitan area 1853 establishments in Minnesota Territory