St. Cloud, Minnesota


St. Cloud is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the largest population center in the state's central region. Its population is 68,462 according to the 2019 US census estimates, making it Minnesota's tenth largest city. St. Cloud is the county seat of Stearns County and was named after the city of Saint-Cloud, France, which was named after the 6th-century French monk Clodoald.
Though mostly in Stearns County, St. Cloud also extends into Benton and Sherburne counties, and straddles the Mississippi River. It is the center of a small, contiguous urban area totaling over 120,000 residents, with Waite Park, Sauk Rapids, Sartell, St. Joseph, Rockville, and St. Augusta directly bordering the city, and Foley, Rice, Kimball, Clearwater, Clear Lake, and Cold Spring nearby. With 189,093 residents at the 2010 census, the St. Cloud metropolitan area is the fourth-largest in Minnesota, behind Minneapolis–St. Paul, Duluth–Superior, and Rochester.
St. Cloud is northwest of the Twin Cities of Minneapolis–St. Paul along Interstate 94, U.S. Highway 52, U.S. Highway 10, Minnesota State Highway 15, and Minnesota State Highway 23. The St. Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area is made up of Stearns and Benton Counties.
The city was included in a newly defined Minneapolis–St. Paul–St. Cloud Combined Statistical Area in 2000. St. Cloud as a whole has never been part of the 13-county MSA comprising Minneapolis, St. Paul, Bloomington and parts of western Wisconsin, although its Sherburne County portion is considered part of the Twin Cities metropolitan area by Census Bureau definition.
St. Cloud State University, 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 and are part of a state-designated 12-mile stretch of wild and scenic river.
St. Cloud owns and operates a hydroelectric dam on the Mississippi that can produce up to ten megawatts of electricity.

History

What is now the St. Cloud area was occupied by various indigenous peoples for thousands of years. Europeans encountered the Ottawa, Ojibwe, and Winnebago when they started to trade with Native American peoples.
Minnesota was organized as a territory in 1849. The St. Cloud area was opened up to settlers in 1851 after treaty negotiations with the Winnebago tribe in 1851 and 1852. John Wilson, a Maine native with French Huguenot ancestry and an interest in Napoleon, named the settlement St. Cloud after Saint-Cloud, the Paris suburb where Napoleon had his favorite palace.
St. Cloud was a waystation on the Middle and Woods branches of the Red River Trails used by Métis traders between the Canada–US border at Pembina, North Dakota and St. Paul. The cart trains often consisted of hundreds of oxcarts. The Métis, bringing furs to trade for supplies to take back to their rural settlements, would camp west of the city and cross 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 were established by European-American settlers starting in 1853. Remnants of the deep ravines that separated the three are still visible today. Middle Town was settled primarily by Catholic German immigrants and migrants from eastern states, who were recruited to the region by Father Francis Xavier Pierz, 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 and the mid-Atlantic states, including former residents of upstate New York.
Upper Town, or Arcadia, was plotted by General Sylvanus Lowry, a slaveholder and trader from Kentucky who brought slaves with him, although Minnesota was organized as a free territory. He served on the territorial Council from 1852 to 1853 and was elected St. Cloud's first mayor in 1856, serving for one year.
Jane Grey Swisshelm, an abolitionist newspaper editor who had migrated from Pittsburgh, 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 Mississippi River. Lowry started a rival paper, The Union.
The US Supreme Court's 1857 decision in the Dred Scott case ruled that slaves could not file freedom suits, as well as declaring the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, so the territory's prohibition against slavery became unenforceable. Nearly all Southerners left the St. Cloud area when the Civil War broke out, taking their slaves with them. Lowry died in the city in 1865.
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 businessman", lawyer, writer, active abolitionist, and personal friend of Alexander Ramsey. He was on the state's Republican electoral ticket with Abraham Lincoln in 1860.
Steamboats 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 in 1912–14. Granite 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. Pandolfo claimed his Pan-Cars would make St. Cloud the new Detroit but the company failed at a time when resources were directed toward the World War I effort. He was later convicted and imprisoned for attempting to defraud investors.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of ; is land and is water. The city is bisected by the Mississippi River, and part of the Sauk River runs along its northern edge. Just south of downtown, near Technical High School, is the 7-acre, 35-feet-deep Lake George.

Climate

St. Cloud lies in the warm summer humid continental climate zone, with warm summers and cold winters with moderate to heavy snowfall. The monthly normal daily mean temperature ranges from in January to in July.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 65,842 people, 25,439 households, and 13,348 families residing in the city. The population density was. There were 27,338 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the city was 84.6% White, 7.8% African American, 0.7% Native American, 3.7% Asian, 0.8% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races. Hispanic 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 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

St. Cloud is the principal city of the St. Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area, a metropolitan area that covers Sherburne, Benton and Stearns counties and had a combined population of 167,392 at the 2000 census.
In the 2000 census, 27.3% of St. Cloud households had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.4% were married couples 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% White, 2.4% African American, 0.7% Native American, 3.1% Asian, 0.7% other races, and 1.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.3% of the population.
The median income for a household in the city was $37,346, and the median income for a family was $50,460. Males had a median income of $33,670 versus $23,759 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,769. About 5.0% of families and 13.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.0% of those under age 18 and 9.9% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Top employers

According to St. Cloud's 2018 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,
the top employers in the city are:
#Employer# of Employees
1*CentraCare Health System St. Cloud Hospital6,257
2State of Minnesota / St. Cloud State University2,311
3St. Cloud VA Medical Center1,725
4** St. Cloud School District1,166
5Fullfillment Distribution Center851
6New Flyer of America Inc.800
7Capital One780
8Electrolux Home Products 760
9Coborns Inc.721
10*** Stearns County704

Figures reflect only full-time employees. Several businesses have a significant part-time staff.
* 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 based International Awards for Liveable Communities, one of several most livable cities 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. The international organization praised the city for its focus on improving parkland and trails, as well as its enhancements and maintenace of 96 parks. The city 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

The city is home to:
The city maintains 95 parks, totaling more than and ranging in size from 80 "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

The mayor of St. Cloud is Dave Kleis, who won reelection in 2012 running unopposed. St. Cloud is in Minnesota's 6th congressional district, represented by Tom Emmer. St. Cloud is partly in Minnesota House of Representatives district 14A, represented by Tama Theis, and partly in 14B, represented by Dan Wolgamott. State Senate District 14 is represented by Jerry Relph.
In the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama and Joe Biden won 54% of the vote in the city, and John McCain and Sarah Palin 46%.
Past :Category:Mayors of St. Cloud, Minnesota|mayors of St. Cloud include:
St. Cloud was recognized in 2016 for its efforts to convert to clean renewable energy, converting from 5 to 80 percent renewable energy in three years, utilizing solar gardens, street light improvements, biogas and other energy efficiency initiatives.

Education

The city of St. Cloud is part of the St. Cloud Area School District, which serves St. Cloud, St. Augusta, Clearwater, Waite Park, St. Joseph, Haven Township, and parts of Sauk Rapids. The district 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 is the older of the two, opening in 1917, and is just west of downtown on the city's south side. Apollo opened in 1970 and serves the expanding north side of the city. Other high schools and secondary schools that serve the city of 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 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 University. St. Cloud State's fall 2013 enrollment was 16,245, including 1,604 graduate students, 1,025 international students and 700 veteran students.
Other post-secondary institutions and campuses in St. Cloud include St. Cloud Technical and Community College, and Rasmussen College. Neighboring Sartell is home to a campus of the Duluth-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 is the St. Cloud Times, a Gannett daily newspaper. The St. Cloud Diocese also publishes the St. Cloud Visitor, which serves the regional Catholic community.
St. Cloud is part of the Twin Cities television market. One full-power station, the Ion-owned KPXM-TV, 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-LP was a station licensed to St. Cloud that has since gone silent. Additionally, St. Cloud State University students operate cable-only UTVS, which includes local news and broadcasts from a studio on campus.
Radio stations include:

FM

AM

Infrastructure

Transportation

St. Cloud is a regional transportation hub within Minnesota. Major roadways including Interstate Highway 94, U.S. Highway 10, and Minnesota State Highways 15 and 23 pass through the city.
Bus service within the city and to neighboring Sartell, Sauk Rapids, and Waite Park 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 in the downtown area is also shared with Jefferson Lines, providing national bus service.
Bus service links downtown St. Cloud and St. Cloud State University with the western terminus of the Northstar Commuter Rail 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 Minneapolis.
Several rail lines run through the city, which is a stop on Amtrak's Empire Builder passenger rail line.
St. Cloud is also home to St. Cloud Regional Airport, from which daily connecting flights to Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport were made on Delta Connection, operated by Mesaba Airlines, 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 McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft.

Major highways