|
Floodwood is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. Population was 528 at the 2010 census. Originally a logging community, it was a dairy community for most of its history, but could now be best described as a bedroom community, since most of its working population finds employment in nearby Duluth, Grand Rapids, Hibbing and Cloquet. The city describes itself as "''The Catfish Capital of the World''", a nickname it gave to itself following the introduction of the community's annual ''Catfish Days'' festival. U.S. Highway 2 and State Highway 73 (MN 73) are two of the main routes in Floodwood. ==History== Long before the city of Floodwood existed, its strategic location at the intersection of the East Savanna River with the Saint Louis River made what would later become the city of Floodwood a strategic economic location. The Savanna Portage was a major route for transportation in the southern Arrowhead, but its importance was magnified greatly with the arrival of European fur traders, who used the route to access rich resources of beaver and other fur animals in the upper Mississippi valley. As early as 1679, Europeans were passing by the modern location of Floodwood as they turned from the Saint Louis River to the East Savanna River on their way to the portage. However, it was not until the late 19th century that homesteads began to appear in the area. In 1889, it was announced that a railroad would pass through the area. This announcement led to a local population boom in anticipation of the opportunities the railroad would bring. In 1890 J. C. Campbell began large-scale logging operations in the area and the C. N. Nelson Lumber Company of Cloquet built a logging railroad in the area (albeit, the logging railroad only operated in the winter - during the summer, the logging operations took advantage of the Saint Louis River to transport timber to mills in Cloquet). In 1893, the year that local government was first organized, the first Floodwood School building was constructed of logs. The following year, the Nelson Company was purchased by what would, six years later, become the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company, continuing the intensification of logging activities in the area. The community continued to grow and, in 1899, was finally incorporated. By the time the 1900 United States Census was conducted, Floodwood had a population of 224, which, within the next 10 years, more than doubled to 481.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Census Data for Floodwood (City) )〕 In 1911, the Floodwood School, which had previously been a county school, became Independent School District No. 19 (after 1958, Independent School District 698), and a new, six room, brick building was built for it. The community continued to grow until the 1918 Cloquet Fire nearly ended the city's history. Floodwood, like most of its neighbors, survived the fire and began a slow recovery. However, the practical importance of the rivers, and thus Floodwood's greatest economic resource, ended. By 1926, the era of large-scale timber operations in the area had come to a close. With the logging operations gone, Floodwood's survival was again in peril. The solution had already been present since 1911: as the surrounding areas had pastures suitable for supporting dairy cattle, the focus of the community's economy turned to dairy production following the exit of the timber companies. In 1911, the Floodwood Creamery Cooperative was organized. The creamery became the main support of the local economy, selling local dairy products across the world until it closed in the late 1960s. Dairy cattle are still a major part of the local economy. The 1970 Census showed, for the first time since 1920, that Floodwood's population had decreased. This began a trend that has endured to the present - the last time a census showed an increase in Floodwood's population was in 1960. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Floodwood, Minnesota」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|