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Cloquet

Mookomaan-onigamiing
Downtown Cloquet
Downtown Cloquet
Location of the city of Cloquetwithin Carlton County, Minnesota
Location of the city of Cloquet
within Carlton County, Minnesota
Country United States
State Minnesota
County Carlton
Incorporated (village) 1884
Incorporated (city) 1904
Area
 • Total 36.00 sq mi (93.23 km2)
 • Land 35.20 sq mi (91.17 km2)
 • Water 0.80 sq mi (2.06 km2)  2.14%
Elevation
1,207 ft (368 m)
Population
 (2010)
 • Total 12,124
 • Estimate 
(2019)
12,009
 • Density 341.16/sq mi (131.72/km2)
Time zone UTC−6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST) UTC−5 (CDT)
ZIP code
55720
Area code(s) 218
FIPS code 27-12160
GNIS feature ID 0641345
Website www.ci.cloquet.mn.us

Cloquet ( kloh-KAY) is a city in Carlton County, Minnesota, United States, located at the junction of Interstate 35 and Minnesota State Highway 33. A portion of the city lies within the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation and serves as one of three administrative centers for the Indian Reservation. The population was 12,124 at the 2010 census.

History

CON-WED PLANT AT CLOQUET, MINNESOTA., DISCHARGES "WHITE WATER" INTO A SIDE CHANNEL OF THE ST. LOUIS RIVER. CON-WED... - NARA - 551569
Former Con-Wed plant (now a USG Corporation facility) in Cloquet, 1973

Cloquet began as a group of small settlements around three sawmills: Shaw Town, Nelson Town, and Johnson Town. These later became known as Knife Falls after a local waterfall over sharp slate rocks, and later as Cloquet. The area was platted in 1883 and the village of Cloquet was incorporated from the three settlements in 1884. It became a city with a mayor and city council in 1904. The word "Cloquet" first appeared on a map of the area by Joseph N. Nicollet in 1843 which named the Cloquet River, a tributary of the Saint Louis River, and the Cloquet Rapids to the north. "Cloquet" is a French surname but historians researching the name of the river and city have found no definitive answer, and are reduced to speculations. One of these is that the river might have been named after 19th century French scientists, the Cloquet brothers Hipployte and Jules, with the settlement later being named after the river.

The area was the site of the 1918 Cloquet Fire, which destroyed much of the town and killed approximately 500 people.

Cloquet is famed in American economic history because before and after WWII it was home of the strongest consumers cooperative of the country. The Cloquet Coöperative Society (founded 1910) operated two cooperative stores which handled food, hardware, shoes, dry goods, and furniture. Other cooperative services included a building supply store, a coal yard, a mortuary, an auto repair shop and a gas service station.

In 1939, the co-op did 35% of the business in the town, and 18% in Carlton County. By the mid-1950s, the consumer society had a membership of 4,262 out of a population of 8,500. This was a national record, given the fact that the total business of all American co-ops combined represented only 0.5% of the economy. The Finnish cooperative groups of the area also had an influence on the American cooperative movement in general.

Architecture

Cloquet is home to the R.W. Lindholm Service Station, the only gas station designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright and a structure now on the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 35.97 square miles (93.16 km2), of which, 35.20 square miles (91.17 km2) is land and 0.77 square miles (1.99 km2) is water.

Cloquet is located along the Saint Louis River, 20 miles southwest of the city of Duluth.

Climate

Cloquet has a Humid continental climate (Köppen Climate Classification Dfb) typical of its location in northern Minnesota, with warm summers and long, cold winters.

Climate data for Cloquet, Minnesota (1981–2010)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 52
(11)
57
(14)
79
(26)
88
(31)
94
(34)
98
(37)
105
(41)
98
(37)
96
(36)
86
(30)
70
(21)
57
(14)
105
(41)
Average high °F (°C) 20.4
(−6.4)
26.5
(−3.1)
37.9
(3.3)
53.5
(11.9)
66.9
(19.4)
75.2
(24.0)
80.0
(26.7)
77.7
(25.4)
68.0
(20.0)
53.5
(11.9)
36.5
(2.5)
23.2
(−4.9)
51.6
(10.9)
Average low °F (°C) 1.4
(−17.0)
5.4
(−14.8)
16.5
(−8.6)
28.5
(−1.9)
38.6
(3.7)
47.7
(8.7)
54.0
(12.2)
53.3
(11.8)
45.3
(7.4)
34.2
(1.2)
21.7
(−5.7)
7.0
(−13.9)
29.5
(−1.4)
Record low °F (°C) −45
(−43)
−41
(−41)
−35
(−37)
−7
(−22)
8
(−13)
24
(−4)
30
(−1)
26
(−3)
19
(−7)
0
(−18)
−24
(−31)
−37
(−38)
−45
(−43)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 0.95
(24)
0.83
(21)
1.49
(38)
2.32
(59)
3.23
(82)
4.24
(108)
4.21
(107)
4.00
(102)
4.34
(110)
3.12
(79)
1.96
(50)
1.14
(29)
31.51
(800)
Average snowfall inches (cm) 13.9
(35)
11.0
(28)
10.4
(26)
3.7
(9.4)
0.1
(0.25)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
0
(0)
1.2
(3.0)
9.8
(25)
14.0
(36)
66.7
(169)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) 10 8 9 9 12 13 12 10 12 12 9 11 124
Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) 13 9 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 13 51
Source: NOAA (extremes 1911–present)

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1880 93
1890 2,530 2,620.4%
1900 3,072 21.4%
1910 7,031 128.9%
1920 5,127 −27.1%
1930 6,782 32.3%
1940 7,304 7.7%
1950 7,685 5.2%
1960 9,013 17.3%
1970 8,699 −3.5%
1980 11,142 28.1%
1990 10,885 −2.3%
2000 11,201 2.9%
2010 12,124 8.2%
2019 (est.) 12,009 −0.9%
U.S. Decennial Census

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 12,124 people, 4,959 households, and 3,126 families residing in the city. The population density was 344.4 inhabitants per square mile (133.0/km2). There were 5,235 housing units at an average density of 148.7 per square mile (57.4/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 84.4% White, 0.4% African American, 10.8% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 0.1% from other races, and 3.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.3% of the population.

There were 4,959 households, of which 32.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.1% were married couples living together, 14.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 37.0% were non-families. 30.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.9% 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 2.96.

The median age in the city was 37 years. 25.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.5% were from 25 to 44; 25% were from 45 to 64; and 15.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.7% male and 51.3% female.

Education

Most of Cloquet is zoned to Cloquet Public School District while small portions are zoned to Carlton Public School District.

There is a K-12 tribal school, Fond du Lac Ojibwe School, affiliated with the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE).

Infrastructure

Major highways

  • I-35.svg Interstate 35
  • MN-33.svg Minnesota State Highway 33

Notable people

  • U.W. "Judge" Hella, Director of Minnesota State Parks
  • Jerry Knickerbocker, Minnesota state legislator and businessman
  • Jessica Lange, actress
  • Jamie Langenbrunner, former NHL player
  • Clarence Larson, chemist, Commissioner, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
  • Corey Millen, former NHL player. Former head coach with Minnesota Wilderness
  • Barbara Payton, actress
  • Derek Plante, former NHL player. Currently an assistant coach with Minnesota-Duluth
  • Daren Streblow, standup comedian
  • Lawrence Yetka, Associate Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Cloquet para niños

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