Detroit Lakes, Minnesota

Detroit Lakes, Minnesota
—  City  —
Downtown Detroit Lakes on Washington Avenue
Seal
Location in Minnesota
Coordinates: 46°48′48″N 95°50′41″W / 46.81333°N 95.84472°W / 46.81333; -95.84472
Country	United States
State	Minnesota
County	Becker
Government
– Mayor	Matt Brenk
Area
– Total	12.3 sq mi (31.9 km2)
– Land	7.5 sq mi (19.4 km2)
– Water	4.8 sq mi (12.5 km2)
Elevation	1,368 ft (417 m)
Population (2010)[1]
– Total	8,569
– Density	980.4/sq mi (378.3/km2)
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
– Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP codes	56501, 56502
Area code(s)	218
FIPS code	27-15832[2]
GNIS feature ID	0642777[3]
Website	www.ci.detroit-lakes.mn.us, www.detroitlakes.com

Detroit Lakes is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Becker County. The population was 8,569 at the 2010 census.^[1] Its unofficial population during summer months is much higher, estimated by citizens to peak at 13,000 midsummer, due to seasonal residents and tourists.

U.S. Routes 10 and 59, and Minnesota State Highway 34 serve as the primary arterial routes through the city. Detroit Lakes is located 45 miles east of the Fargo-Moorhead ND-MN statistical metropolitan area. The nearest major metropolitan area with a population over 300,000 is Minneapolis-St.Paul, which is approximately 205 miles southeast of Detroit Lakes.

Detroit Lakes is a regional summer and winter recreation destination, attracting large amounts of tourists and seasonal residents each year. Its economy is fueled by seasonal population increases, with tourism being the area's chief industry along with agriculture.

History

The city of Detroit Lakes was founded by Colonel George Johnston in 1871. The city grew quickly with the construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad. In 1877, an election finally decided that Detroit Lakes, then known as Detroit, was to become the county seat. Detroit won the election by a ninety percent majority. The nearby cities of Frazee, Lake Park, and Audubon were also in the running for the county seat. By 1884, Detroit Lakes had many businesses, including the Hotel Minnesota, the Lakes Hotel, a bank, a newspaper, and an opera house. The first county courthouse was built in Detroit Lakes that year also.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.3 square miles (32 km²), of which, 7.5 square miles (19 km²) of it is land and 4.8 square miles (12 km²) of it (39.25%) is water.

Climate

Climate data for Detroit Lakes, Minnesota
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °F (°C)	16 (−9)	24 (−4)	37 (3)	55 (13)	69 (21)	76 (24)	80 (27)	79 (26)	69 (21)	56 (13)	35 (2)	21 (−6)	51
Average low °F (°C)	−4 (−20)	3 (−16)	17 (−8)	31 (−1)	44 (7)	53 (12)	58 (14)	57 (14)	47 (8)	36 (2)	20 (−7)	4 (−16)	31
Precipitation inches (mm)	0.76 (19.3)	0.57 (14.5)	1.15 (29.2)	1.54 (39.1)	2.97 (75.4)	4.41 (112)	4.03 (102.4)	3.67 (93.2)	3.02 (76.7)	2.50 (63.5)	1.10 (27.9)	0.64 (16.3)	26.36 (669.5)
Source: Weather.com[4]

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1890	1,510		—
1900	2,060		36.4%
1910	2,807		36.3%
1920	3,426		22.1%
1930	3,675		7.3%
1940	5,015		36.5%
1950	5,787		15.4%
1960	5,633		−2.7%
1970	5,797		2.9%
1980	7,106		22.6%
1990	6,635		−6.6%
2000	7,348		10.7%
2010	8,569		16.6%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the official census^[2] of 2000, there were 7,348 people, 3,319 households, and 1,845 families permanently residing in the city. The population density was 980.4 people per square mile (378.3/km²). There were 3,782 housing units at an average density of 504.6 per square mile (194.7/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.98% White, 4.50% Native American, 0.53% Asian American, 0.42% African American, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.59% from other races, and 1.96% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.20% of the population.

There were 3,319 households out of which 26.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.6% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.4% were non-families. 40.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 21.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.13 and the average family size was 2.86.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.8% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 21.6% from 45 to 64, and 23.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 84.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 81.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $29,264, and the median income for a family was $42,267. Males had a median income of $28,939 versus $21,439 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,509. About 9.9% of families and 15.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 22.2% of those under age 18 and 13.9% of those age 65 or over.

Government

Detroit Lakes is the county seat of Becker County, with the county courthouse and law enforcement center being located there. District headquarters for the Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Minnesota State Highway Patrol are also located in the city.

A 9-member City Council serves the city, with Mayor Matt Brenk serving as the 10th voting member. There are four election wards, with two council members serving each of the three primary wards with three serving the "at large" area.^[5]

14 city boards and commissions are currently in operation, including the Park Board, Library Board, Public Utilities Commission, Planning Commission, Police Civil Service Commission, the Housing and Redevelopment Authority, the Airport Commission, and the Tourism Bureau.^[5]

Detroit Lakes is located in Minnesota's 7th congressional district, represented by Collin Peterson (DFL), the current chairman of the House Agriculture Committee who resides in Detroit Lakes. The city is in Minnesota Senate district 9, represented by Keith Langseth (DFL), and Minnesota House district 9B, represented by Paul Marquart (DFL).

Education

Higher education

The Detroit Lakes campus of the Minnesota State Community and Technical College system is one of four campus locations (others are in Moorhead, Fergus Falls, and Wadena). The Detroit Lakes campus, located on Minnesota Highway 34 , enrolls approximately 650 students in 25 different degree programs. The college offers both classroom and online distance education programs and grants AAS, AS, diploma, certificate, and AFA degrees.^[6]

K-12

• Rossman Elementary School (K-5)
• Roosevelt Elementary School (K-5)
• Detroit Lakes Middle School (6–8)
• Detroit Lakes High School (9–12)
• Lakes Area Learning Center Alternative High School (ALC) (9–12)
• Holy Rosary Catholic School (K-8) (Private)
• Faith Christian School (K-8) (Private)
• Adventist Christian School (K-8) (Private)

Carnegie Library

Built in 1913 with a $10,000 grant from the Andrew Carnegie Foundation, the Detroit Lakes Public Library is a branch of the Lake Agassiz Regional Library Network (LARL). Originally 4,142 square feet (384.8 m²) on two floors, the library was designed by the architectural firm of Claude and Starck of Madison, Wisconsin. The building today is on the National Register of Historic Places. Most notably, the building features a Louis Sullivan exterior frieze, lead and stained glass windows and doors, and a completely open and unobstructed interior. The building, designed in the prairie school architectural style popularized by such architects as Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright, is also noted for its orange clay-tiled hip roof that defies regional construction convention. In 1985, due to space issues, the original Carnegie building was expanded.^[7]

Architecture

National Register of Historic Places

Historic Detroit Lakes Amtrak Depot in winter

Numerous works of architecture and engineering in Detroit Lakes have been added to the National Register of Historic Places. The Detroit Lakes Carnegie Library of the Prairie School architectural style, by architects Claude and Starck and significant of the period from 1900–1924, was added to the Register in 1976. The Graystone Hotel, significant of the periods 1900–1924 and 1925–1949, was added in 1999. The Amtrak Depot, formerly the Northern Pacific Passenger Depot and later the Burlington Northern Depot, significant of the periods 1900–1924 and 1925–1949, now primarily serving as a small shop and eatery, was added in 1988. The Homer E. Sargent House on Lake Avenue, currently a privately-owned domestic dwelling of the Queen Anne architectural style and significant of the periods 1875–1899 and 1900–1924, was added to the Register in 1988. The Edgewater Beach Cottages, also known as Stovewood Cottages, by architects George Jewell and Frederick Wright and significant of the period 1925–1949, were added in 1989. Fairyland Cottages Historic District on W. Lake Shore Drive, significant of the period 1925–1949, were added to the National Register in 1989. Finally, the Holmes Block (also known as the Opera House Block), including downtown commercial buildings occupying addresses 710–718 Washington Avenue, are significant of various historical periods ranging from 1875 to 1974. The downtown block was added to the National Register in 2001.^[8]

Economy

The city's economy is largely driven by summer tourism and seasonal population increases. A variety of health care services, retail stores, and service businesses are available to area residents and tourists. Detroit Lakes is home to approximately 15 chain and independent hotels. Numerous resorts in the area provide many additional units. The city's downtown offers a 135,000-square-foot (12,500 m²) shopping center, including Washington Square Mall. Most newer chain retail businesses, including discount and home centers, restaurants, and strip malls, are located along Highways 10 and 59. The city is also home to a number of various businesses servicing tourism ranging from sporting goods retailers to amusement parks and river tubing companies. With two industrial parks in the city's outskirts, it is also home to many manufacturing and industrial businesses, including Snappy, BTD Manufacturing, Friesens, Inc., Swheat Scoop Cat Litter, Hartman Hide and Fur, Lakeshirts, and Land O' Lakes Feed.^[5]

Recreation

In and around Detroit Lakes are several lakes used for fishing, boating, wake sports, sailing, jet-skiing, swimming, and freshwater scuba diving. Most prominent and heavily used is Lake Detroit, which features the mile-long city beach. The beach annually hosts the city's Independence Day celebration and fireworks display. In and around Detroit Lakes are 14 golf courses. The area also features an amusement park, a paintball arena, two river tubing companies, and a horseback riding ranch. The city also hosts the annual Becker County Fair. The Shrine Circus performs in Detroit Lakes each year at the Kent Freeman Arena. In the winter off-season, the area remains a popular recreation destination for ice fishing, snowmobiling, and skiing.

Culture

Historic Holmes Theatre

Main entrance to the Historic Holmes Theatre in winter

The Historic Holmes Theatre, a physical and organizational branch of the Detroit Lakes Community and Cultural Center complex, is a recently renovated Art Deco theatre that hosts year-round music, drama and dance performances. With seating for nearly 1,000, the theatre features a wide variety of professional national and international touring shows (including Arlo Guthrie, the Chinese Golden Acrobats, the New York Theatre Ballet, and the Guthrie Theatre), local performing groups (Playhouse 412, Fargo/Moorhead Jazz Arts Group, Wadena Madhatters) and events (wedding receptions, business meetings, and Detroit Lakes' Annual Festival of the Birds).^[9]

Music festivals

Each July, the city hosts the 10,000 Lakes Festival, a large music festival with past acts including The Dave Matthews Band, Widespread Panic, Phil Lesh, The String Cheese Incident, Trey Anastasio, The Black Crowes, the Allman Brothers, Ratdog, and others. The three-day concert attracts around 25,000 people and is held annually at the Soo Pass Ranch on Highway 59 south of Detroit Lakes. Each August since 1983 the city has hosted WE Fest, a prominent country music festival. Campgrounds packed with tents surround a large stage, and the three-day concert attracts around 50,000 music-lovers each summer. In 2007, the attendance reached a record high of 83,000 people over the weekend at the themed "Heavin in '07" concert. The music festival is held annually at the Soo Pass Ranch on Highway 59 south of Detroit Lakes. The 2008 lineup included Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney, Taylor Swift, Brad Paisley, Billy Ray Cyrus, LeAnn Rimes and other stars of country music.

As of December 18, 2009, 10,000 Lakes Festival has been put on official hiatus status until further notice. According to 10KLF.com the festival could not grow to financial success. http://www.10klf.com/

Community & Cultural Center

A recently-built Community & Cultural Center serves Detroit Lakes, incorporating a new fitness center with the completely renovated brick building that once was the Holmes School. The fitness and aquatic area features an 8-lane Olympic regulation pool, an indoor track, a fieldhouse featuring 2 basketball courts, a weight room, cardio fitness center, racquetball courts, and a golf driving/putting range. The old 1931 school building houses the renovated 837-seat Historic Holmes Theatre featuring orchestra and balcony level seating, conference rooms, and the Lakes Area Learning Center and Alternative High School. When completed in 2001, a building of 105,000 square feet (9,800 m²) was the result of $9.5 million dollars in expenses.^[10]

Religion

Detroit Lakes is a heavily Protestant Christian city. In greatest number are Lutheran churches of varied synod affiliations. Exceptions to this are two Roman Catholic parishes and an Episcopal church of the Anglican rite. The city's oldest standing church building is the Congregational Church of the United Church of Christ, anchoring the corner of Lake Avenue and Holmes Street since 1893. The building has since seen multiple renovations and restorations.

Denominational Statistics – Places of Worship

• Lutheran – 10
• Roman Catholic, Baptist, Non-denominational Christian – 2
• Episcopal Church, United Methodist, Assemblies of God, United Church of Christ, Mennonite, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventist Church, Evangelical, Vineyard Church – 1

Local media

Radio

Detroit Lakes Stations:

• 1340 KDLM Adult Contemporary
• 102.3 KRCQ-FM Country
• 104.1 KBOT Country

Other area ststions:

• 870 KPRM Classic Country and News/Talk
• 1070 KVKK Country
• 1570 KAKK Oldies
• 92.5 KXKK Country
• 94.7 KSKK Adult Contemporary
• 97.5 KDKK Music of Your Life

Television

• TV3: Lakes Area Television (News/Local Programming)

TV3 is a "commercial supported Public-access television cable TV station" that broadcasts out of Detroit Lakes for the regional Arvig Communication Cable System.

Newspaper

Forum Communications Company of Fargo, North Dakota, owns and operates the Detroit Lakes Newspapers and also provides the regional daily newspaper, The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, with coverage spanning the Fargo-Moorhead metropolitan area and much of northwest Minnesota and northeast North Dakota.

• The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead (daily)
• Detroit Lakes Tribune (weekly)
• Becker County Record (weekly)
• Lake Area Press (weekly)

Transportation

• Amtrak's Empire Builder (stops daily at Detroit Lakes' Amtrak station)
• Jefferson Lines Motorcoach
• Detroit Lakes Airport
• DL Taxi Services
• Becker County Transit
• Clay County Rural Transit
• White Earth Transit

In popular culture

Detroit Lakes is referred to in the author John Steinbeck's book, Travels with Charley, as he and his dog Charley drove through the upper midwestern United States. A fictional version of its courthouse and rural countryside are also featured in director Ali Selim's 2006 independent film Sweet Land, a love story revolving around a German immigrant's settlement in rural Becker County, Minnesota in the aftermath of World War I. A postcard depicting the Fairyland Cottages in Detroit Lakes appear in the opening credits of the 1983 movie National Lampoon's Vacation, though the cabins no longer stand.

Notable residents

• Dick Beardsley, champion marathon runner, motivational speaker and author, 3rd-fastest American born male marathon runner, Grandma's Marathon record holder, Boston Marathon silver medalist (1982), founder of Dick Beardsley Running Company, formerly resided in Detroit Lakes
• Jason Blake, current National Hockey League player, Anaheim Ducks left/right wing, currently resides in Detroit Lakes
• Phil Hansen, retired American football player for the National Football League, Buffalo Bills defensive end 1991–2001, 3-time Super Bowl participant, currently resides in Detroit Lakes
• Collin Peterson, current United States Congressman, chairman of House Agriculture Committee, Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, 7th Congressional District of Minnesota, currently resides in Detroit Lakes
• Dave Reichert, current United States Congressman, Republican Party, 8th Congressional District of Washington, was born in Detroit Lakes
• Ed Schultz, syndicated talk radio host, cable news anchor of The Ed Show on MSNBC, seasonally resides in Detroit Lakes
• Jessica Lange, actress, briefly lived in Detroit Lakes where she attended her junior year of high school (ca. 1968).

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "2010 Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File". American FactFinder. U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census. http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_PL_GCTPL2.ST13&prodType=table. Retrieved 23 April 2011. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
3. ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
4. ^ "Average Weather of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota". The Weather Channel. http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/USMN0256?par=usatoday&site=www.usatoday.com&promo=0&cm_ven=USAToday&cm_cat=www.usatoday.com&cm_pla=WxPage&cm_ite=CityPage. Retrieved 5-29 2009. 
5. ^ ^{a b c} information/main.htm "Community Information for the City of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota". http://www.ci.detroit-lakes.mn.us/community information/main.htm. 
6. ^ 2006-11-14 "MSCTC General Information". Minnesota State College System. http://www.minnesota.edu/campuses/detroit_lakes/= 2006-11-14. 
7. ^ "Lake Agassiz Regional Library Branch Info". Lake Agassiz Regional Library Network. http://www.larl.org/branch/detroit_lakes_about.html. Retrieved 2007-05-06. 
8. ^ "Architecturally Significant Places". National Register of Historic Places. http://www.nationalregisterofhistoricplaces.com/MN/Becker/state.html. Retrieved 2008-03-22. 
9. ^ "Historic Holmes Theater". Art Circle of the Lakes. http://artcircleofthelakes.org/html/historic_holmes.html. Retrieved 2007-11-13. 
10. ^ "Detroit Lakes Community & Cultural Center Information". www.dlcc.org. Archived from the original on 2007-02-09. http://web.archive.org/web/20070209140727/http://www.dlccc.org/aboutus.htm. Retrieved 2007-05-06. 

External links

• City of Detroit Lakes, MN – Official website
• Detroit Lakes Regional Chamber of Commerce website
• Detroit Lakes website
• WE-FEST website
• 10,000 Lakes Festival website
• Minnesota State Community & Technical College website
• Detroit Lakes Public Library website
• Detroit Lakes Photo Gallery

Coordinates: 46°49′02″N 95°50′43″W / 46.81722°N 95.84528°W / 46.81722; -95.84528