Lake City is a city in
GoodhueGoodhue County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2000, the population was 44,127. Its county seat is Red Wing. Nearly all of Prairie Island Indian Community is within the county.-Geography:According to the U.S...
and
WabashaWabasha County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota, founded in 1849 As of 2000, the population was 21,610. Its county seat is Wabasha.Wabasha County is part of the Rochester, MN Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:According to the U.S...
counties in the
U.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government . Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile...
of
MinnesotaMinnesota is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. The twelfth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.2 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the...
. It lies along
Lake PepinLake Pepin is a naturally occurring lake, and the widest naturally occurring part of the Mississippi River. It is a widening of the river on the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin. The formation of the lake was caused by the backup of water behind the sedimentary deposits of the Chippewa...
, a wide portion of the
Mississippi RiverThe Mississippi River is the second longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
. The population was 4,950 at the 2000 census. Most of Lake City lies in Wabasha County, with only a small portion of in Goodhue County.
The City of Lake City is located 65 miles South of the Twin Cities at the intersection of highways 61 South and 63 North right on the Mighty Mississippi River at a beautiful spot called Lake Pepin.
Lake City is a city in
GoodhueGoodhue County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2000, the population was 44,127. Its county seat is Red Wing. Nearly all of Prairie Island Indian Community is within the county.-Geography:According to the U.S...
and
WabashaWabasha County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota, founded in 1849 As of 2000, the population was 21,610. Its county seat is Wabasha.Wabasha County is part of the Rochester, MN Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:According to the U.S...
counties in the
U.S. stateA U.S. state is any one of 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government . Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile...
of
MinnesotaMinnesota is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. The twelfth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.2 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the...
. It lies along
Lake PepinLake Pepin is a naturally occurring lake, and the widest naturally occurring part of the Mississippi River. It is a widening of the river on the border between Minnesota and Wisconsin. The formation of the lake was caused by the backup of water behind the sedimentary deposits of the Chippewa...
, a wide portion of the
Mississippi RiverThe Mississippi River is the second longest river in the United States, with a length of from its source in Lake Itasca in Minnesota to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico....
. The population was 4,950 at the 2000 census. Most of Lake City lies in Wabasha County, with only a small portion of in Goodhue County.
History
The City of Lake City is located 65 miles South of the Twin Cities at the intersection of highways 61 South and 63 North right on the Mighty Mississippi River at a beautiful spot called Lake Pepin. Lac de Pleurs (Lake of Tears) was the name given to Lake Pepin by Father Louis Hennepin, who camped on the shore of the lake in 1680. He christened the large body of water Lac de Pleurs after observing his Sioux captors weeping near the lake over the death of a chief's son. The war party of Isanti Sioux had captured Hennepin and his two companions several miles south along the Mississippi and were camping near the lake on their return north to their Sioux villages near present day Mille Lacs.
The first known settler was Jacob Boody, who arrived in 1853. In the years to follow, several explorers passed through this area. The town was platted in 1855. The town supervisors were given special powers by the State Legislature in 1864 to create a port market for grain. At Lake City the waters of Lake Pepin were deep enough to allow for such a port. Soon the town became noted as a profitable market with the volume of trade for the year 1866 bringing in a little over a million and a half dollars.
The City of Lake City became incorporated in 1872 and since has continued to thrive in its location on beautiful Lake Pepin. It is widely known for its attractive surroundings and bountiful fishing for every fresh water species.
Schools
Lake City is the home of Bluffview Elementary, a K-6 public elementary school, Lincoln High School for grades 7-12, and St. John's, a K-8 Lutheran School. In the past the town also was home to a Catholic School named St. Mary's.
Notable people
The city advertises itself as the birthplace of
water skiingthumb|left|Slalom skierWaterskiing is a sport where an individual is pulled behind a motor boat or a cable ski installation on a body of water. The skier is either wearing one or two skis...
, which
Ralph SamuelsonRalph Wilford Samuelson was the inventor of water skiing, which he first performed in the summer of 1922 in Lake City, Minnesota, just before his 19th birthday. Samuelson was already skilled at aquaplaning—standing on a board while being pulled by a powerboat—but he hoped to create...
invented there in 1922. Each year the city celebrates Ralph's invention in a 3 day festival in June. The festival is aptly named "Water Ski Days."
Little
Laura Ingalls WilderLaura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder was an American author who wrote the Little House series of children's books based on her childhood in a pioneer family.-Early life and marriage:...
("Little House on the PrairieLittle House on the Prairie is a children's book by Laura Ingalls Wilder that was published in 1935. It is part of a series of books known collectively as the Little House series....
") and her family spent some time here in 1874, on their way to
Walnut GroveWalnut Grove is a city in Redwood County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 599 at the 2000 census.-History:Walnut Grove is the home of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum, dedicated to the author of the Little House on the Prairie books...
.
Randy Breuer, a now retired NBA center, standing a towering 7'3, was born in Lake City, playing basketball for the local Lake City Tigers, and even lead the team to two state championships in 1978 and 1979, from there he went on to play ball at the University of Minnesota, from there he was drafted 10th overall into the NBA playing throughout his career for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Milwaukee Bucks, and the Sacramento Kings.
Randy BreuerRandall W. Breuer is a retired American professional basketball player who was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1st round of the 1983 NBA Draft. A 7'3" center from the University of Minnesota, Breuer played in 11 NBA seasons from 1983-1994...
Samuel Atkinson Baldwin, American Organist, was born in Lake City, Minnesota on January 25, 1862 and died September 15, 1949.
Geography
According to the
United States Census BureauThe 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. As part of the United States Department of Commerce, the Census Bureau serves as the leading source of quality data about...
, the city has a total area of 4.3
square mileThe square mile is an imperial and US unit of measure for an area equal to the area of a square of one statute mile.
s (11.1 km²), of which, 4.2 square miles (11.0 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (1.40%) is water. U.S. Highways
61U.S. Route 61, is the official designation for a United States highway that runs from New Orleans, Louisiana, to the city of Wyoming, Minnesota, generally following the course of the Mississippi River. As of 2004, the highway's northern terminus in Wyoming, Minnesota, is at an intersection with...
and
63U.S. Route 63 is a 1,286 mile long north-south United States highway primarily in the Midwestern United States. The southern terminus of the route is at Interstate 20 in Ruston, Louisiana. The northern terminus is at U.S. Route 2 in Benoit, Wisconsin, about east of Duluth, Minnesota.-Route...
are two of the main routes in the community.
Demographics
As of the
censusA "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.In other words every 10 years...next one would be in 2010 The term is used mostly in connection with...
of 2000, there were 4,950 people, 2,131 households, and 1,402 families residing in the city. The
population densityPopulation density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans. It is a key term used in geography....
was 1,166.9 people per square mile (450.8/km²). There were 2,347 housing units at an average density of 553.3/sq mi (213.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.81% White, 0.63% African American, 0.40% Native American, 1.11% Asian, 0.28% from
other racesRace and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the United States Census Bureau and the Federal Office of Management and Budget , 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 0.77% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.22% of the population.
There were 2,131 households out of which 26.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.0% were
married couplesMarriage is a social union or legal contract between individuals that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged by a variety of ways, depending on the culture or demographic...
living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.2% were non-families. 29.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.83.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.8% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 19.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $40,637, and the median income for a family was $47,146. Males had a median income of $35,321 versus $24,799 for females. The
per capita incomePer capita income means how much each individual receives, in monetary terms, of the yearly income generated in the country. This is what each citizen is to receive if the yearly national income is divided equally among everyone. Per capita income is usually reported in units of currency per year...
for the city was $20,944. About 3.2% of families and 6.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.7% of those under age 18 and 5.1% of those age 65 or over.
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