Tower, Minnesota facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tower, Minnesota
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| City of Tower | |
.jpg)
A sunset over Lake Vermilion
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| Motto(s):
Lake Vermilions harbor city
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Location of the city of Tower
within Saint Louis County, Minnesota |
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| Country | United States |
| State | Minnesota |
| County | Saint Louis |
| Incorporated | March 13, 1889 |
| Area | |
| • Total | 2.92 sq mi (7.56 km2) |
| • Land | 2.92 sq mi (7.56 km2) |
| • Water | 0.00 sq mi (0.00 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,398 ft (426 m) |
| Population
(2020)
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| • Total | 430 |
| • Density | 147.31/sq mi (56.88/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| ZIP codes |
55790
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| Area code(s) | 218 |
| FIPS code | 27-65272 |
| GNIS feature ID | 0662661 |
Tower is a city in Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States. In 2020, about 430 people lived there. Tower is located on the southern shore of Lake Vermilion. You can reach Tower by State Highways 1 (MN 1), 169 (MN 169), and 135 (MN 135).
Contents
History of Tower
Tower became a city on March 13, 1889. This makes it the oldest city in the Arrowhead region of Minnesota. The city was founded because of the Soudan Mine. It was named after a person who helped fund the mine, Charlemagne Tower.
You can visit the Tower Train Museum in the city. Near the museum, there is a monument for former U.S. President William McKinley. This monument was built shortly after he passed away in 1901. President McKinley was in office from 1897 to 1901.
Tower holds the record for the coldest temperature ever recorded in Minnesota. On February 2, 1996, the temperature dropped to -60°F (-51°C). This was the lowest temperature ever recorded in the United States east of the Great Plains. Tower and the Embarrass Valley nearby are known as some of the coldest places where people live in the Lower 48 states during winter.
Geography and Climate
Tower is a city with a total area of about 3.41 square miles (8.83 square kilometers). Most of this area is land, about 3.00 square miles (7.77 square kilometers). The rest, about 0.41 square miles (1.06 square kilometers), is water.
Tower's Weather
Tower has a type of weather called a humid continental climate. This means it has long, very cold, and dry winters. The summers are warm.
In January, the average temperature is about 4.9°F (-15.1°C). The temperature drops below 0°F (-18°C) on about 67 nights each year. During December, January, and February, the temperature only reaches above freezing (32°F or 0°C) for about 18 to 19 days. Tower gets a lot of snow, about 68.7 inches (1.75 meters) each winter. This means the snow stays on the ground for a long time.
Spring and autumn are short seasons, but they are usually mild. In July, the average temperature is about 64.0°F (17.8°C). The temperature only reaches 90°F (32°C) about 3.2 days a year. Even on warm summer days, the nights are cool. Freezing temperatures can happen from late August to late June.
Tower gets about 28.18 inches (71.6 centimeters) of rain and snow each year. Most of this precipitation happens in the warmer months. The highest temperature ever recorded in Tower was 101°F (38°C). The lowest was -60°F (-51°C). This is a huge difference of 161°F (90°C)!
| Climate data for Tower, Minnesota (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1895–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 52 (11) |
59 (15) |
77 (25) |
87 (31) |
95 (35) |
101 (38) |
101 (38) |
98 (37) |
95 (35) |
88 (31) |
75 (24) |
57 (14) |
101 (38) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 38.2 (3.4) |
44.9 (7.2) |
58.3 (14.6) |
71.7 (22.1) |
83.9 (28.8) |
86.8 (30.4) |
89.4 (31.9) |
88.0 (31.1) |
83.7 (28.7) |
74.4 (23.6) |
55.1 (12.8) |
40.6 (4.8) |
91.4 (33.0) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 16.8 (−8.4) |
23.1 (−4.9) |
36.3 (2.4) |
49.6 (9.8) |
63.3 (17.4) |
72.7 (22.6) |
77.1 (25.1) |
75.5 (24.2) |
66.6 (19.2) |
51.4 (10.8) |
35.0 (1.7) |
22.0 (−5.6) |
49.1 (9.5) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 4.9 (−15.1) |
9.1 (−12.7) |
22.7 (−5.2) |
37.0 (2.8) |
49.9 (9.9) |
59.7 (15.4) |
64.0 (17.8) |
61.9 (16.6) |
54.0 (12.2) |
41.0 (5.0) |
26.4 (−3.1) |
12.5 (−10.8) |
36.9 (2.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | −7 (−22) |
−4.9 (−20.5) |
9.2 (−12.7) |
24.3 (−4.3) |
36.4 (2.4) |
46.7 (8.2) |
51.0 (10.6) |
48.3 (9.1) |
41.5 (5.3) |
30.6 (−0.8) |
17.9 (−7.8) |
3.1 (−16.1) |
24.8 (−4.0) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | −36.0 (−37.8) |
−32.4 (−35.8) |
−21.3 (−29.6) |
4.2 (−15.4) |
20.1 (−6.6) |
29.0 (−1.7) |
36.3 (2.4) |
33.3 (0.7) |
23.9 (−4.5) |
14.7 (−9.6) |
−7.1 (−21.7) |
−27.4 (−33.0) |
−38.3 (−39.1) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −57 (−49) |
−60 (−51) |
−42 (−41) |
−22 (−30) |
10 (−12) |
18 (−8) |
24 (−4) |
12 (−11) |
11 (−12) |
−7 (−22) |
−39 (−39) |
−52 (−47) |
−60 (−51) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 0.76 (19) |
0.75 (19) |
0.91 (23) |
1.85 (47) |
3.01 (76) |
3.96 (101) |
4.31 (109) |
3.46 (88) |
3.92 (100) |
2.75 (70) |
1.55 (39) |
0.95 (24) |
28.18 (716) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 13.4 (34) |
10.8 (27) |
7.9 (20) |
8.0 (20) |
0.4 (1.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
2.4 (6.1) |
11.0 (28) |
14.8 (38) |
68.7 (174) |
| Average extreme snow depth inches (cm) | 19.5 (50) |
22.5 (57) |
17.9 (45) |
8.9 (23) |
0.3 (0.76) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
1.9 (4.8) |
8.3 (21) |
13.1 (33) |
24.7 (63) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 7.3 | 6.5 | 6.3 | 7.9 | 12.4 | 13.1 | 12.6 | 10.2 | 11.8 | 10.4 | 8.9 | 8.1 | 115.5 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 7.6 | 6.7 | 4.4 | 3.1 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.3 | 6.2 | 8.1 | 37.6 |
| Source: NOAA | |||||||||||||
Fun and Games in Tower
A few miles west of Tower, you can find the Fortune Bay Resort and Casino. It is located near Lake Vermilion, which is a very popular lake for both visitors and local people. The Bois Forte Band of Chippewa owns and runs the casino.
Tower has a simple sports ground with bleacher stands near the Tower School. A running tournament named after Lake Vermilion is held there every year.
Schools in Tower
Tower is part of the St. Louis County school district. This district is based in Virginia, Minnesota. In Tower, there is the Tower-Soudan Elementary School. This school teaches students from kindergarten to 6th grade. Students in grades 7-12 go to other nearby secondary schools.
There is also a public charter school in Tower called Vermilion Country School. This school is for students in grades 7-12. It is located in the old PowerRain building. Parents and people from the town started this school because they wanted a local secondary school. It opened in 2013 and had its first graduating class in May 2014.
Population of Tower
| Historical population | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1890 | 1,110 | — | |
| 1900 | 1,366 | 23.1% | |
| 1910 | 1,111 | −18.7% | |
| 1920 | 706 | −36.5% | |
| 1930 | 801 | 13.5% | |
| 1940 | 820 | 2.4% | |
| 1950 | 773 | −5.7% | |
| 1960 | 878 | 13.6% | |
| 1970 | 699 | −20.4% | |
| 1980 | 640 | −8.4% | |
| 1990 | 502 | −21.6% | |
| 2000 | 479 | −4.6% | |
| 2010 | 500 | 4.4% | |
| 2020 | 430 | −14.0% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census | |||
In 2020, the census showed that 430 people lived in Tower. They lived in about 240 homes.
In 2010, there were 500 people living in Tower. There were 265 homes, and 126 of these were families. The city had about 166.7 people per square mile (64.4 per square kilometer). Most people living in Tower were White (94.6%). A small number were Native American (2.4%) or Asian (0.6%).
About 20.4% of homes had children under 18 living there. The average age of people in Tower was 48.4 years old. About 18.8% of residents were under 18. About 24% were 65 years old or older. The population was almost evenly split between males (50.8%) and females (49.2%).
Local News
Tower has a newspaper called the Timberjay. It has won awards and is published every week. More than 1,000 copies are printed for people to read.
