St. Louis County, Minnesota facts for kids

Quick facts for kids St. Louis County
U.S. county
St. Louis County Courthouse in Duluth
Location within the U.S. state of Minnesota
Minnesota's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Minnesota
Founded	February 20, 1855
Named for	St. Louis River
Seat	Duluth
Largest city	Duluth
Area
• Total	6,860 sq mi (17,800 km2)
• Land	6,247 sq mi (16,180 km2)
• Water	612 sq mi (1,590 km2)  8.9%%
Population  (2020)
• Total	200,231
• Estimate  (2023)	200,514
• Density	29.188/sq mi (11.270/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	8th

St. Louis County is a county located in the Arrowhead Region of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 200,231. Its county seat is Duluth. It is the largest county in Minnesota by land area, and the largest in the United States by total area east of the Mississippi River. St. Louis County is included in the Duluth, MN–Superior, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Major industries include pulpwood production and tourism. Open pit mining of taconite and processing it into high grade iron ore remains an important part of the economy of the Iron Range and is directly tied to shipping in the twin ports of Duluth and Superior. Parts of the federally recognized Bois Forte and Fond du Lac Indian reservations are in the county.

History

This area was long inhabited by Algonquian-speaking tribes: the Ojibwe (Chippewa), Ottawa and Potawatomi peoples were loosely affiliated in the Council of Three Fires. As American settlers entered the territory, the Native Americans were pushed to outer areas.

The Minnesota Legislature established St. Louis County on February 20, 1855, as Doty County, and changed its name to Newton County on March 3, 1855. It originally consisted of the area east and south of the St. Louis River, while the area east of the Vermilion River and north of the St. Louis River was part of Superior County. Superior County was renamed St. Louis County.

On March 1, 1856, that St. Louis County was renamed as Lake County. Newton County was renamed as St. Louis County and had that eastern area added to it; it was also expanded westward by incorporating parts of Itasca County, which then also included most of Carlton County. On May 23, 1857, St. Louis County took its current shape when Carlton County was formed from parts of St. Louis and Pine counties.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 6,860 square miles (17,800 km²), of which 6,247 square miles (16,180 km²) is land and 612 square miles (1,590 km²) (8.9%) is water. It is the largest county in Minnesota and the largest (by total area) in the United States east of the Mississippi River. St. Louis County is the only county in the United States which has a coastline and borders both another country and another state.

Voyageurs National Park, established in 1975, is located in its northwestern corner, on the south shore of Rainy Lake on the Canada–US border; it is popular with water enthusiasts and fishers. The county includes parts of Superior National Forest, established in 1909, and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness on the border, established in 1978. The BWCAW is a 1,090,000-acre (4,400 km²) wilderness area designated for fishing, camping, hiking, and canoeing, and is one of the most visited wilderness areas in the United States. St. Louis County has more than 500 lakes. The largest lakes are Pelican and Vermilion.

The "Hill of Three Waters" on the Laurentian Divide lies northeast of Hibbing. Rainfall on this hill runs to three watersheds: Hudson Bay to the north, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the east (via Lake Superior), or the Gulf of Mexico to the south and west (via the Mississippi River). The county is drained by the St. Louis, Vermilion, and other rivers.

Duluth on Lake Superior is one of the most important fresh-water ports in the United States.

The county encompasses part of the Iron Range. It has had a significant taconite mining industry, with active mines located in Hibbing, Mountain Iron, Eveleth, Virginia, and Babbitt, in addition to Keewatin in Itasca County.

Major highways

Adjacent counties

• Rainy River District, Ontario, Canada (north)
• Lake County (east)
• Douglas County, Wisconsin (southeast)
• Carlton County (south)
• Aitkin County (southwest)
• Itasca County (west)
• Koochiching County (northwest)

National protected areas

• Superior National Forest (part)
  • Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (part)
• Voyageurs National Park (part)

Climate and weather

The county has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb), slightly moderated by its proximity to Lake Superior. Winters are long, snowy, and very cold, normally seeing maximum temperatures remaining below 32 °F (0 °C) on 106 days. Due to global warming, in January 2019 Tracy Twine, professor at the University of Minnesota's Department of Soil, Water and Climate, said "we just don't expect temperatures to be below 10 degrees Fahrenheit in Duluth anymore." Public schools and other government offices shut down on January 29–30, 2019 because of wind chills of −70 °F or −56.7 °C. This apparent anomaly was attributed to changes in the global jet stream due to the climate change.

Demographics

2020 census

Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 200,226 people in the county. The racial makeup of the county was 94.0% White, 2.2% Native American, 0.4% Black or African American, 0.9% Asian, 0.2% of some other race and 2.3% of two or more races. 1.2% were Hispanic or Latino (of any race). According to the 2010–2015 American Community Survey, the ancestral makeup was 24.3% German, 15.9% Norwegian, 13.0% Swedish, and 10.2% Irish.

Communities

Cities

Townships

Unorganized territories

Census-designated places

• Mahnomen
• Nett Lake
• Soudan

Unincorporated communities

Ghost towns

• Carson Lake
• Costin Village
• Elcor
• Fermoy
• Spina

See also

In Spanish: Condado de St. Louis (Minnesota) para niños