Brainerd, Minnesota
Encyclopedia
Brainerd is a city in Crow Wing County
, Minnesota
, United States
. The population was 13,590 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat
of Crow Wing County
and one of the largest cities in Central Minnesota
. Brainerd straddles the Mississippi River
several miles upstream from the confluence
with the Crow Wing River
, having been founded as a site for a railroad crossing above that confluence. Brainerd is the principal city of the Brainerd Micropolitan Area, a micropolitan area
that covers Cass
and Crow Wing counties and had a combined population of 91,067 at the 2010 census
. The Brainerd area serves as a major tourist destination for Minnesota, and Baxter
is a regional retail center.
Brainerd is the home to one of five medevac
helicopter flight stations in the state for "AirCare," operated by North Memorial Medical Center
in Robbinsdale, a Level 1 Trauma Center. This station covers the central part of Minnesota
. The city is also known for the Brainerd International Raceway
, which hosts races frequently throughout the year and has a national drag racing meet annually in August.
stopped there while searching for the headwaters
of the Mississippi River. Crow Wing Village, a fur and logging community near Fort Ripley, brought settlers to the area in the mid-19th century.
In those early years the relationship between the settlers and the Indians was complicated. The most famous example of this tenuous relationship was the so-called "Blueberry War" of 1872. Two Ojibwe were hanged for allegedly murdering a missing girl. When a group of Indians approached the town, troops from nearby Fort Ripley were called to prevent a potential reprisal. As it turned out, however, the Ojibwe only wanted to sell blueberries
and the settlers avoided a bloody misunderstanding. Guilt of the two Indians was never proven.
Brainerd was the brainchild of Northern Pacific railroad president John Gregory Smith, who in 1870 named the township
after his wife, Anne Eliza Brainerd Smith, and father-in-law, Lawrence Brainerd
. The company built a bridge over the Mississippi seven miles north of Crow Wing Village and used the Brainerd station as a machine and car shop, prompting many to move north and abandon Crow Wing. Brainerd was organized as a city
on March 6, 1873.
On January 11, 1876, the state legislature revoked Brainerd's charter for six years, as a reaction to the election of local handyman Thomas Lanihan as mayor instead of Judge C.B. Sleeper. Brainerd once again functioned as a township in the interim.
In 1881, the railroad, and with it the town, expanded. Lumber and paper, as well as agriculture in general, were important early industries, but for many decades Brainerd remained a railroad town: in the 1920s roughly 90 percent of Brainerd residents were dependent on the railroad. Participation in the nationwide railroad strike
on July 1, 1922, left the majority of Brainerd residents unemployed and embittered many of those involved.
On October 27, 1933, the First National Bank of Brainerd became briefly famous when it was held up by Baby Face Nelson
and his gang.
Over the years, increased efficiency and the better positioning of the more centralized Livingston
, Montana
, shops led to a decline in the importance of a railroad station that once employed over a thousand and serviced locomotive
s for the whole Northern Pacific line. Despite this, the BNSF Railway
(successor to the Northern Pacific) continues to employ approximately 70 people in Brainerd at a maintenance-of-way equipment shop responsible for performing repairs and preventative maintenance to track and equipment.
The Northwest Paper Company built Brainerd's first paper mill
in 1903 and with the steady increase in tourism
since the early 20th century the paper and service industries have become Brainerd's primary employers. The town's coating mill was sold by Potlatch to Sappi Limited
in 2002 and then by Sappi Limited to Wausau Paper in 2004.
Brainerd itself is now heavily developed into commercial and residential areas and most new construction in the area takes place in neighboring Baxter
.
Of interest is the outbreak of the Brainerd diarrhea
that involved 122 people in 1983. Unpasteurized milk was implicated as the cause, and no fear of reemergence exists.
area created by the Superior Lobe of the Labradorian ice sheet. The town occupies land on both sides of the Mississippi River
, though the older parts of Brainerd are almost all to the east.
Though the city itself has relatively few lakes, there are over 460 lakes within 25 miles (40.2 km) of Brainerd, located mostly to the north. For this reason, Crow Wing County and parts of the adjoining counties are often collectively referred to as the Brainerd Lakes Area.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 8.4 square miles (21.8 km²), of which 8 square miles (20.7 km²) is land and 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²) (5.57%) is water.
Minnesota State Highways 18
, 25
, 210
, and 371
are four of the main routes in the community.
Brainerd has been assigned ZIP code
56401 by the USPS
.
, there were 13,178 people, 5,623 households and 3,036 families residing in the city. The population density
was 1,652.8 per square mile (638.4/km²). There were 5,847 housing units at an average density of 733.3 per square mile (283.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.83% White, 0.71% African American, 1.44% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.26% from other races
, and 1.29% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.86% of the population. 31.4% were of German
, 28.1% were Finnish, 17.7% Norwegian, 7.1% Swedish, 6.8% Irish
, and 6.1% United States
or American ancestry according to Census 2000.
There were 5,623 households of which 29.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.8% were married couples
living together, 14.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.0% were non-families. 37.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.94.
Age distribution was 25.1% under the age of 18, 13.7% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 16.8% from 45 to 64, and 18.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 85.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.4 males.
The median household income
was $26,901, and the median family income was $35,212. Males had a median income of $27,677 versus $21,217 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $15,744. About 11.8% of families and 17.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.5% of those under age 18 and 16.0% of those age 65 or over.
in nearby Baxter, was moved a few miles east of the town to This Old Farm after the amusement center closed in 2003.
Much of the Coen brothers' 1996 movie Fargo
takes place in a fictional version of Brainerd. The critically acclaimed film, produced by MGM, was ranked #84 on the American Film Institute's "100 Years...100 Movies" list in 1998, although it was removed from the 2007 version, and #93 on its "100 Years...100 Laughs" list. The landmarks pictured in the film (the Blue Ox Bar, the Paul Bunyan statue) are not, however, those actually located in Brainerd. The scenes set on the highway near Brainerd, most likely highway 210, in the movie were filmed in Bathgate, North Dakota
.
On June 30, 1999, then-21-year-old Farrah Slad of Brainerd won what was Minnesota's
largest lottery prize, $150 million in the multi-state Powerball
game. (The state record was broken on May 3, 2008, by a ticket purchased in Faribault).
Brainerd is mentioned in the title and lyrics of the song "ToolMaster of Brainerd" by Trip Shakespeare
.
In sports, Brainerd is home to the Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers
of the Northwoods League
, a collegiate summer baseball league. The Lunkers play at Mills Field
in Brainerd.
Brainerd is home to a landfill gas
collection system that reduces methane gas that would otherwise go into the atmosphere. The collected gas is used in a boiler, replacing natural gas as the source of heat. This project has received carbon credits from TerraPass
as its sole source of revenue.
Crow Wing County, Minnesota
Crow Wing County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 62,500. Its county seat is Brainerd.-Geography:...
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The population was 13,590 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of Crow Wing County
Crow Wing County, Minnesota
Crow Wing County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 62,500. Its county seat is Brainerd.-Geography:...
and one of the largest cities in Central Minnesota
Central Minnesota
Central Minnesota is the name of the region consisting of the central portion of the state of Minnesota. Although no specific boundaries of the region exist, most definitions of what makes up the region would generally consist of the vast swath of land north of Interstate 94, east of U.S. Highway...
. Brainerd straddles the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
several miles upstream from the confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...
with the Crow Wing River
Crow Wing River
The Crow Wing River is a tributary of the Mississippi River approximately in length. The river arises in a chain of 11 lakes in southern Hubbard County, Minnesota and flows generally southeast, entering the Mississippi at Crow Wing State Park, northwest of Little Falls, Minnesota. Its name is a...
, having been founded as a site for a railroad crossing above that confluence. Brainerd is the principal city of the Brainerd Micropolitan Area, a micropolitan area
United States micropolitan area
United States Micropolitan Statistical Areas , as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget, are urban areas in the United States based around a core city or town with a population of 10,000 to 49,999. The micropolitan area designation was created in 2003...
that covers Cass
Cass County, Minnesota
Cass County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 28,567. Its county seat is Walker. A portion of the Leech Lake Indian Reservation is in the county.-Geography:...
and Crow Wing counties and had a combined population of 91,067 at the 2010 census
United States Census, 2010
The Twenty-third United States Census, known as Census 2010 or the 2010 Census, is the current national census of the United States. National Census Day was April 1, 2010 and is the reference date used in enumerating individuals...
. The Brainerd area serves as a major tourist destination for Minnesota, and Baxter
Baxter, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 5,555 people, 1,921 households, and 1,586 families residing in the city. The population density was 320.7 people per square mile . There were 1,979 housing units at an average density of 114.3 per square mile...
is a regional retail center.
Brainerd is the home to one of five medevac
MEDEVAC
Medical evacuation, often termed Medevac or Medivac, is the timely and efficient movement and en route care provided by medical personnel to the wounded being evacuated from the battlefield or to injured patients being evacuated from the scene of an accident to receiving medical facilities using...
helicopter flight stations in the state for "AirCare," operated by North Memorial Medical Center
North Memorial Medical Center
North Memorial Medical Center, sometimes referred to as North Memorial, is a hospital located in Robbinsdale, Minnesota. It is one of four level one trauma facilities in the Minnesota. North Memorial Medical Center also owns and operates ground based ambulances and emergency medical helicopters...
in Robbinsdale, a Level 1 Trauma Center. This station covers the central part of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. The city is also known for the Brainerd International Raceway
Brainerd International Raceway
Brainerd International Raceway is a road course, dragstrip and kart track near Brainerd, Minnesota, USA. The raceway hosts the National Hot Rod Association Nationals.-History:...
, which hosts races frequently throughout the year and has a national drag racing meet annually in August.
History
Originally Ojibwe territory, Brainerd was first seen by white men on Christmas Day in 1805, when Zebulon PikeZebulon Pike
Zebulon Montgomery Pike Jr. was an American officer and explorer for whom Pikes Peak in Colorado is named. As a United States Army captain in 1806-1807, he led the Pike Expedition to explore and document the southern portion of the Louisiana Purchase and to find the headwaters of the Red River,...
stopped there while searching for the headwaters
Source (river or stream)
The source or headwaters of a river or stream is the place from which the water in the river or stream originates.-Definition:There is no universally agreed upon definition for determining a stream's source...
of the Mississippi River. Crow Wing Village, a fur and logging community near Fort Ripley, brought settlers to the area in the mid-19th century.
In those early years the relationship between the settlers and the Indians was complicated. The most famous example of this tenuous relationship was the so-called "Blueberry War" of 1872. Two Ojibwe were hanged for allegedly murdering a missing girl. When a group of Indians approached the town, troops from nearby Fort Ripley were called to prevent a potential reprisal. As it turned out, however, the Ojibwe only wanted to sell blueberries
Blueberry
Blueberries are flowering plants of the genus Vaccinium with dark-blue berries and are perennial...
and the settlers avoided a bloody misunderstanding. Guilt of the two Indians was never proven.
Brainerd was the brainchild of Northern Pacific railroad president John Gregory Smith, who in 1870 named the township
Township (United States)
A township in the United States is a small geographic area. Townships range in size from 6 to 54 square miles , with being the norm.The term is used in three ways....
after his wife, Anne Eliza Brainerd Smith, and father-in-law, Lawrence Brainerd
Lawrence Brainerd
Lawrence Brainerd was a businessman, abolitionist and United States Senator from Vermont. He was the father of Anne Eliza Brainerd Smith and the father-in-law of Vermont Governor J. Gregory Smith....
. The company built a bridge over the Mississippi seven miles north of Crow Wing Village and used the Brainerd station as a machine and car shop, prompting many to move north and abandon Crow Wing. Brainerd was organized as a city
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
on March 6, 1873.
In 1881, the railroad, and with it the town, expanded. Lumber and paper, as well as agriculture in general, were important early industries, but for many decades Brainerd remained a railroad town: in the 1920s roughly 90 percent of Brainerd residents were dependent on the railroad. Participation in the nationwide railroad strike
Great Railroad Strike of 1922
The Great Railroad Strike of 1922 was a nationwide railroad shop workers strike in the United States. The action began on July 1 and was the largest railroad work stoppage since 1894.-History:...
on July 1, 1922, left the majority of Brainerd residents unemployed and embittered many of those involved.
On October 27, 1933, the First National Bank of Brainerd became briefly famous when it was held up by Baby Face Nelson
Baby Face Nelson
Lester Joseph Gillis , known under the pseudonym George Nelson, was a bank robber and murderer in the 1930s. Gillis was known as Baby Face Nelson, a name given to him due to his youthful appearance and small stature...
and his gang.
Over the years, increased efficiency and the better positioning of the more centralized Livingston
Livingston, Montana
-Geography:Livingston is located at , at an altitude of 4.501 feet .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and 0.38% is waters.-Climate:-Demographics:...
, Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
, shops led to a decline in the importance of a railroad station that once employed over a thousand and serviced locomotive
Locomotive
A locomotive is a railway vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. The word originates from the Latin loco – "from a place", ablative of locus, "place" + Medieval Latin motivus, "causing motion", and is a shortened form of the term locomotive engine, first used in the early 19th...
s for the whole Northern Pacific line. Despite this, the BNSF Railway
BNSF Railway
The BNSF Railway is a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It is one of seven North American Class I railroads and the second largest freight railroad network in North America, second only to the Union Pacific Railroad, its primary...
(successor to the Northern Pacific) continues to employ approximately 70 people in Brainerd at a maintenance-of-way equipment shop responsible for performing repairs and preventative maintenance to track and equipment.
The Northwest Paper Company built Brainerd's first paper mill
Paper mill
A paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from vegetable fibres such as wood pulp, old rags and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier machine or other type of paper machine.- History :...
in 1903 and with the steady increase in tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
since the early 20th century the paper and service industries have become Brainerd's primary employers. The town's coating mill was sold by Potlatch to Sappi Limited
Sappi
Sappi Limited is a global pulp and paper company group.Sappi is a producer of coated fine paper and chemical cellulose. The company conducts its business through three business units: Sappi Fine Paper, Sappi Forest Products and Sappi Trading....
in 2002 and then by Sappi Limited to Wausau Paper in 2004.
Brainerd itself is now heavily developed into commercial and residential areas and most new construction in the area takes place in neighboring Baxter
Baxter, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 5,555 people, 1,921 households, and 1,586 families residing in the city. The population density was 320.7 people per square mile . There were 1,979 housing units at an average density of 114.3 per square mile...
.
Of interest is the outbreak of the Brainerd diarrhea
Brainerd diarrhea
Brainerd diarrhea is a sudden-onset watery, explosive diarrhea that lasts for months and does not respond to antibiotics; the cause of Brainerd diarrhea is unknown. Brainerd diarrhea was first described in Brainerd, Minnesota in 1983....
that involved 122 people in 1983. Unpasteurized milk was implicated as the cause, and no fear of reemergence exists.
Geography
Brainerd is located just north of the geographical center of Minnesota, in a relatively hilly terminal moraineTerminal moraine
A terminal moraine, also called end moraine, is a moraine that forms at the end of the glacier called the snout.Terminal moraines mark the maximum advance of the glacier. An end moraine is at the present boundary of the glacier....
area created by the Superior Lobe of the Labradorian ice sheet. The town occupies land on both sides of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
, though the older parts of Brainerd are almost all to the east.
Though the city itself has relatively few lakes, there are over 460 lakes within 25 miles (40.2 km) of Brainerd, located mostly to the north. For this reason, Crow Wing County and parts of the adjoining counties are often collectively referred to as the Brainerd Lakes Area.
According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 8.4 square miles (21.8 km²), of which 8 square miles (20.7 km²) is land and 0.5 square miles (1.3 km²) (5.57%) is water.
Minnesota State Highways 18
Minnesota State Highway 18
Minnesota State Highway 18 is a highway in east-central Minnesota, which runs from its intersection with State Highway 25 in Brainerd and continues east to its eastern terminus at its intersection with State Highway 23 in Finlayson Township near Askov and Sandstone...
, 25
Minnesota State Highway 25
Minnesota State Highway 25 is a highway in Minnesota, which runs from its interchange with U.S. Highway 169 in Belle Plaine and continues north to its northern terminus at its intersection with State Highway 210 in Brainerd.The route is in length....
, 210
Minnesota State Highway 210
Minnesota State Highway 210 is a highway in west-central, central, and northeast Minnesota, which runs from North Dakota Highway 210 at the North Dakota state line , and continues east to its eastern terminus at its intersection with State Highway 23 in Duluth near the Saint Louis River.The route...
, and 371
Minnesota State Highway 371
Minnesota 371 was originally designated as US 371 from 1931 to 1973. During 1973, US 371 was re-designated Minnesota 371. The former US 371 designation was concurrent with US 2 from 1931 to 1973 between Cass Lake and Bemidji with a terminus at US 71.Subsequently,...
are four of the main routes in the community.
Brainerd has been assigned ZIP code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
56401 by the USPS
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
.
Demographics
At the 2000 censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
, there were 13,178 people, 5,623 households and 3,036 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 1,652.8 per square mile (638.4/km²). There were 5,847 housing units at an average density of 733.3 per square mile (283.3/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 95.83% White, 0.71% African American, 1.44% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.26% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 1.29% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.86% of the population. 31.4% were of German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
, 28.1% were Finnish, 17.7% Norwegian, 7.1% Swedish, 6.8% Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
, and 6.1% United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
or American ancestry according to Census 2000.
There were 5,623 households of which 29.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 35.8% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 14.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.0% were non-families. 37.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.94.
Age distribution was 25.1% under the age of 18, 13.7% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 16.8% from 45 to 64, and 18.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 85.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.4 males.
The median household income
Median household income
The median household income is commonly used to generate data about geographic areas and divides households into two equal segments with the first half of households earning less than the median household income and the other half earning more...
was $26,901, and the median family income was $35,212. Males had a median income of $27,677 versus $21,217 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $15,744. About 11.8% of families and 17.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.5% of those under age 18 and 16.0% of those age 65 or over.
Culture
Brainerd claims lumberjack Paul Bunyan as its native; the world's largest animated statue of him, once located at Paul Bunyan Amusement CenterPaul Bunyan Land
Paul Bunyan Land is an amusement park located in Brainerd, Minnesota, on This Old Farm. Its trademark is the animated and talking statue of Paul Bunyan. As children enter, Paul welcomes them by name. The amusement park has 27 rides for children and is surrounded by 30 buildings.The park,...
in nearby Baxter, was moved a few miles east of the town to This Old Farm after the amusement center closed in 2003.
Much of the Coen brothers' 1996 movie Fargo
Fargo (film)
Fargo is a 1996 American dark comedy-crime film produced, directed and written by brothers Joel and Ethan Coen. It stars Frances McDormand as a pregnant police chief who investigates a series of homicides, William H...
takes place in a fictional version of Brainerd. The critically acclaimed film, produced by MGM, was ranked #84 on the American Film Institute's "100 Years...100 Movies" list in 1998, although it was removed from the 2007 version, and #93 on its "100 Years...100 Laughs" list. The landmarks pictured in the film (the Blue Ox Bar, the Paul Bunyan statue) are not, however, those actually located in Brainerd. The scenes set on the highway near Brainerd, most likely highway 210, in the movie were filmed in Bathgate, North Dakota
Bathgate, North Dakota
As of the census of 2000, there were 66 people, 25 households, and 18 families residing in the city. The population density was 206.2 people per square mile . There were 28 housing units at an average density of 87.5 per square mile...
.
On June 30, 1999, then-21-year-old Farrah Slad of Brainerd won what was Minnesota's
Minnesota State Lottery
The Minnesota Lottery is the official lottery association in Minnesota. The minimum age to purchase Minnesota Lottery tickets is 18.As a result of the 2011 Minnesota state government shutdown, sales of Minnesota Lottery tickets were suspended on July 1, 2011...
largest lottery prize, $150 million in the multi-state Powerball
Powerball
Powerball is an American lottery game sold in 44 jurisdictions as a shared jackpot game. It is coordinated by the Multi-State Lottery Association , a non-profit organization formed by an agreement with lotteries. Powerball is a game whose advertised jackpot starts at $20 million and can roll into...
game. (The state record was broken on May 3, 2008, by a ticket purchased in Faribault).
Brainerd is mentioned in the title and lyrics of the song "ToolMaster of Brainerd" by Trip Shakespeare
Trip Shakespeare
Trip Shakespeare was a Minneapolis-based alternative rock band of the late 1980s/early 1990s.-Origins:The band originated when Harvard University English student Matt Wilson teamed up with Elaine Harris , a Harvard grad student in biological anthropology, in the early 1980s...
.
In sports, Brainerd is home to the Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers
Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers
The Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers are a baseball team that plays in the Northwoods League, an collegiate summer baseball league. Their home games are played at Mills Field in Brainerd, Minnesota.-History:...
of the Northwoods League
Northwoods League
The Northwoods League is a collegiate summer baseball league comprising teams of the top college players from North America and beyond. All players in the league must have NCAA eligibility remaining in order to participate...
, a collegiate summer baseball league. The Lunkers play at Mills Field
Mills Field
Mills Field is a baseball stadium in Brainerd, Minnesota. It is primarily used for baseball, and is the home field of the Brainerd Lakes Area Lunkers baseball team. It was built in 1994 holds 2,500 people....
in Brainerd.
Brainerd is home to a landfill gas
Landfill gas
Landfill gas is a complex mix of different gases created by the action of microorganisms within a landfill.-Production:Landfill gas production results from chemical reactions and microbes acting upon the waste as the putrescible materials begins to break down in the landfill...
collection system that reduces methane gas that would otherwise go into the atmosphere. The collected gas is used in a boiler, replacing natural gas as the source of heat. This project has received carbon credits from TerraPass
TerraPass
TerraPass is a social enterprise that provides carbon offsetting products to individuals and businesses. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, TerraPass uses proceeds from member purchases to fund greenhouse gas reduction projects such as wind farms and methane digesters...
as its sole source of revenue.
Notable residents
- C. Elmer AndersonC. Elmer AndersonClyde Elmer Anderson , more commonly known as C. Elmer Anderson, was an American politician. Born in Brainerd, Minnesota, he served as the 28th Governor of Minnesota from September 27, 1951 to January 5, 1955....
- Governor of Minnesota 1951 - 1955 - Bill Baker- defensive player for 1980 U.S Olympic Hockey Team at Lake Placid
- Bullet Joe BushBullet Joe BushLeslie Ambrose "Bullet Joe" Bush born in Brainerd, Minnesota was a pitcher for the Philadelphia Athletics , Boston Red Sox , New York Yankees , St. Louis Browns , Washington Senators , Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Giants...
- professional baseball player 1912 - 1928 - Linda EderLinda EderLinda Eder is an American singer and actress. She made her Broadway debut in the musical Jekyll & Hyde, for which she received 1997 Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Nominations, as well as the Theatre World Award for Best Actress in a Musical...
- Broadway actress - Brock LarsonBrock LarsonBrock Orville Larson is an American mixed martial artist from Brainerd, Minnesota. He most recently competed in the welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Larson also competed in World Extreme Cagefighting, before it discontinued its welterweight division, and on the...
- accomplished mixed martial arts fighter, currently competing in the UFCUltimate Fighting ChampionshipThe Ultimate Fighting Championship is the largest mixed martial arts promotion company in the world that hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport... - John MoenJohn MoenJohn Moen is a musician and member of The Decemberists, Boston Spaceships, and Perhapst. He sings, plays the drums, five banjos, the melodica, occasionally the keyboard, and dances around with a floor tom...
- drummer for the popular Indie rockIndie rockIndie rock is a genre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Indie rock is extremely diverse, with sub-genres that include lo-fi, post-rock, math rock, indie pop, dream pop, noise rock, space rock, sadcore, riot grrrl and emo, among others...
group, The DecemberistsThe DecemberistsThe Decemberists are an indie folk rock band from Portland, Oregon, United States, fronted by singer/songwriter Colin Meloy. The other members of the band are Chris Funk , Jenny Conlee , Nate Query , and John Moen .The band's...
(born in Brainerd) - Jammie Thomas-Rasset - defendant in file-sharing lawsuit brought by the RIAA regarding music downloaded from KazaaKazaaKazaa Media Desktop started as a peer-to-peer file sharing application using the FastTrack protocol licensed by Joltid Ltd. and operated as Kazaa by Sharman Networks...
- Babe WinkelmanBabe WinkelmanBabe Winkelman is a world-renowned Minnesota-based professional fisherman, first coming into the national spotlight with "Babe Winkelman's Good Fishing" television program, which was first syndicated nationwide in the mid-1980s...
- fisherman
Points of interest
- Cuyuna Country State Recreation AreaCuyuna Country State Recreation AreaCuyuna Country State Recreation Area is a state park unit of Minnesota, USA, being developed to rehabilitate a portion of the Cuyuna Range where mining pits and piles of waste rock were left behind after decades of open-pit mining for iron ore...
- Northland ArboretumNorthland ArboretumThe Northland Arboretum is a non-profit arboretum and nature reserve located on NW 7th Street in Brainerd, Minnesota....
- Brainerd International RacewayBrainerd International RacewayBrainerd International Raceway is a road course, dragstrip and kart track near Brainerd, Minnesota, USA. The raceway hosts the National Hot Rod Association Nationals.-History:...
Radio stations
- FM radio
- 89.9 KAXEKAXEKAXE is a community licensed public radio station serving Northern Minnesota communities, including Grand Rapids, Brainerd, Bemidji, Virginia, Chisholm and Hibbing. The station airs locally produced news, talk, and music programming. It is a member of Independent Public Radio, a group of public...
Community radioCommunity radioCommunity radio is a type of radio service, that offers a third model of radio broadcasting beyond commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting. Community stations can serve geographic communities and communities of interest... - 93.3 KBLBKBLBKBLB is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Nisswa, Minnesota, USA, the station serves the Brainerd area. The station is currently owned by BL Broadcasting, Inc...
CountryCountryA country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with a previously... - 94.7 KSKKKSKKKSKK is a adult contemporary music formatted radio station in Wadena, Minnesota and the Brainerd Lakes Area. . The Arrow is owned by De La Hunt Broadcasting...
Soft RockSoft rockSoft rock is a style of music which uses the techniques of rock music to compose a softer, more toned-down sound. Soft rock songs generally tend to focus on themes like love, everyday life and relationships. The genre tends to make heavy use of acoustic guitars, pianos, synthesizers and sometimes... - 95.9 WWWI-FMWWWI-FMWWWI-FM is a conservative radio station licensed to Pillager, Minnesota, and serves the Brainerd Lakes Area. The station is owned by Tower Broadcasting Corporation, located at 305 West Washington Street...
News & talk - 100.1 WZFJ ChristianChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
- 101.5 KFGIKFGIKFGI-FM 101.5 has a "Variety Hits" format, known locally as "Sam FM." The station serves the Brainerd and Baxter region of central Minnesota. It's studios are at 212 N 5th Street, in Brainerd. The transmitter site is on County 6, between Crosby and Emily....
Classic rockClassic rockClassic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the... - 102.7 KTIG ChristianChristianA Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
- 103.5 KUAL Oldies
- 104.3 KLKSKLKS (FM)KLKS is a radio station owned by the Lakes Broadcasting Group and located in Breezy Point, Minnesota. It serves the Brainerd Lakes Area....
Easy listeningEasy listeningEasy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres... - 106.7 WJJYWJJY-FMWJJY-FM is a radio station that is located in Baxter, Minnesota with an adult contemporary format.WJJY is a sister station to KVBR 1340 , KLIZ 1380 , KBLB 93.3 , KUAL 103.5 , and KLIZ-FM 107.5...
Adult contemporary - 107.5 KLIZ-FMKLIZ-FMKLIZ-FM is a classic rock music formatted radio station serving the Brainerd Lakes area from Baxter, Minnesota. Its owner is Paul Bunyan Broadcasting, which owns sixteen other radio stations around northern Minnesota....
Classic rockClassic rockClassic rock is a radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format features music ranging generally from the late 1960s to the late 1980s, primarily focusing on the hard rock genre that peaked in popularity in the...
- 89.9 KAXE
- AM radio
- 870 KPRMKPRMKPRM is a radio station in Park Rapids, Minnesota. It has a classic country format, from Dial Global. Locally, it broadcasts the popular "Coffee Talk" morning show, and is currently simulcasted on KDKK, WBKK and KAKK....
Classic countryClassic countryClassic country is a music radio format that specializes in playing mainstream country hits from past decades.This genre generally follows one of two formats: those specializing in hits from the 1920s through the early 1970s, and focus primarily on innovators and artists from country music's Golden... - 1070 KVKKKVKKKVKK is a radio station licensed to serve Verndale, Minnesota, USA. The station is owned by De La Hunt Broadcasting and the broadcast license is held by DJ Broadcasting Corp....
TalkTalkTalk may refer to:* Conversation, interactive communication between two or more people* Speech, the production of a spoken language* Interaction, face to face conversations-Software:* Google Talk, a Windows- and web-based instant messaging program... - 1270 WWWI News & talk
- 1340 KVBRKVBRKVBR is a radio station broadcasting a news talk information format. Licensed to Brainerd, Minnesota, USA, the station serves the Brainerd area...
News & Talk - 1380 KLIZ Sports
- 870 KPRM