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The web site itself may have changed. You can check the current page or check for previous versions at the Internet Archive. Yahoo! is not affiliated with the authors of this page or responsible for its content. Small Towns in Minnesota Are Growing Again 8 CURA REPORTER S mall towns in Minnesota got back
on the growth track during the
1990s, after having been derailed temporarily during the recession years
of the 1980s. The population increased
by 5% or more in half of the free-
standing incorporated places in the
state during the 1990s, and only one-
quarter of these towns lost more than
5%, in sharp contrast to the 1980s when
only one-quarter gained and more than
half lost (Figure 1). I counted clusters of
incorporated placessuch as Brainerd
and Baxter, or all of the separately
incorporated places in built-up areas of
the Twin Citiesas single freestanding
places, and I considered a change of less
than 5% for the decade, or 0.5% a year,
as slight. During the 1980s, virtually the only places that gained population were
within commuting distance of the Twin
Cities or Rochester, or in the lake country north of Brainerd, but during the 1990s
growth was far more widespread (Figure
2). Between 1990 and 2000, most places
within a 50-mile radius of the Twin
Cities gained more than 5%, as did most
places along Interstate 35 from the Twin
Cities north to Duluth, I-94 northwest to
Moorhead, and U.S. Highway 12 west to
Willmar. Other growth strips were along
U.S. Highway 10 from Moorhead to
Brainerd, and U.S. Highway 14 from
Owatonna through Rochester to
Winona. The lake country north of
Brainerd remained a growth area, as did
the Twin CitiesMankatoWinona
triangle. Most of the places that lost more than 5% of their population during the 1990s
were in peripheral areas: the north-
western corner of the state, the Iron
Range, the far southeastern corner, and
southwest of the Minnesota River (Figure
2). These areas also had more than their share of towns whose population
changed only slightly during the decade.
In detail, of course, the pattern of change
is far more complex because most areas in
the state had a mixture of towns that
gained population, towns that lost popu-
lation, and towns whose population
hardly changed at all. As with most previous censuses, for the state as a whole in 2000 the best
statistical predictor of the population of
any place was its population at the
preceding census (Figure 3). The popula-
tion of individual places tends to fluc-
tuatedown at one census, up at the
nextbut within a fairly narrow range,
and with a definitely upward long-term
trend. Although most towns of about the
same population size have grown at
roughly the same pace, some towns that
have grown in population at one census
have lost population at the next, and
vice versa. A few have broken out of the Small Towns in Minnesota Are Growing Again by John Fraser Hart Photo
by
Steve
Schneider SUMMER 2002 9 pack and gained population steadily, but
the majority of freestanding incorporated
towns in Minnesota have showed
remarkable statistical stability (or an
enormous amount of sheer inertia)
during the 1990s, as they have for the
entire 20th century. When places are grouped by the size of their population in 1980 (or in any
other census year), the growth of the
average population of different-sized
groups shows this same statistical stability
(Figure 4). The population in most towns
grew until 1920, but then sagged with the
widespread availability of the automobile and the motor truck, which enabled rural
people to bypass smaller towns nearby for
the greater range of goods and services
that larger towns had to offer (Figure 1).
The 1920s were far and away the worst
decade for small towns in Minnesota
history until the recession of the 1980s. The smallest towns, those with fewer than 350 people, have never recovered
from the setback they suffered in the
1920s. They are still hanging ona
town rarely disappears once it has been
incorporatedbut their growth has been
stunted. They are too tough to die, but
too small to grow. Once a place has attained a population of around 350
people, however, it seems destined to
continue growing, if erratically and spas-
modically. Some decades have proven
better than others, but the growth
curves of places with 500 people or more
are definitely (but not enthusiastically)
moving upward (Figure 4). A towns population size appears to be related to the date on which it was
incorporated. Towns that were incorpo-
rated earliest have had the longest time
to grow, thus they are the largest today.
The largest places in 1900 were still the
largest places in 2000, and the smallest
places in 1900 were still the smallest
places a century later. The basic place
network of Minnesota had been estab-
lished by the turn of the century, or
shortly thereafter, and it has hardly
changed since 1910. More than half of
the incorporated towns in Minnesota
have celebrated their centennial year,
and more than three-quarters had been
incorporated by 1910 (Table 1). The
places that have been incorporated
subsequently have remained small:
three-quarters had not attained a popula-
tion of 500 persons by 2000, and 57%
still had fewer than 250 persons. Railroad companies created the basic place network of Minnesota in the horse-
and-buggy era. The railroads founded
towns as collecting and shipping points
for the products of the surrounding
countryside, and the grain elevator
beside the tracks is still the most
imposing structure in many towns. The
railroads spaced towns at intervals of 6 to Figure 1. Percentage of Incorporated Places in Minnesota by Population Change
per Decade, 18702000 Table 1. Number of Freestanding Incorporated Places in Minnesota by Population Size and Date of Incorporation Date of incorporation Population 1869 or 18701879 18801889 18901899 19001909 1910 or Total in 2000 earlier later 10,000 or more 14 14 2 3 33 2,500 to 9,999 10 33 16 17 7 5 88 1,000 to 2,499 6 14 41 18 14 10 103 750 to 999 1 4 17 13 12 6 53 500 to 749 2 13 17 25 19 10 86 250 to 499 8 13 41 47 30 139 6 to 249 5 5 43 73 100 226 Total 33 91 111 160 172 161 728 10 miles, which allowed country people
to drive their wagons or buggies into
town, do their business, and drive home
again the same day. The railroad sold business lots on the main street to merchants, bankers, and
others who purveyed goods and services
to local people, and Main Street came to
symbolize the town. Places with good
waterpower sites at falls or rapids
became minor manufacturing centers,
and many small towns had creameries,
butcher shops, and other processing
plants that reduced the bulk of
commodities to save the cost of ship-
ping waste. Today the horse-and-buggy spacing of small towns along railroad lines is
much too cramped and congested, and
most small towns are redundant to the
needs of contemporary economy and
society. They have had to change their
function in order to survive and sustain
their growth. Much of this change has
resulted from inexorable economic forces rather than from conscious local
decisions. Originally small towns were
collecting and shipping points, retail and
service centers, and minor processing
centers, but over time some functions
have become obsolete while others have
grown in importance. The grain elevator, for example, is defunct because the prosperity of the
small town is no longer tied to the pros-
perity of the agricultural areas immedi-
ately surrounding it, and agricultural
service is no longer its principal function.
Many of the storefronts along Main
Street are boarded up because the retail
and service function of small towns has
been shriveling ever since the automobile
enabled farmers and townspeople to
travel greater distances in search of the
goods and services they need. Some people still cherish the romantic notion that Main Street is the
heart and symbol of the small town, but
Main Street has been dying a long,
lingering death for more than half a
century. Even in larger places, down-
town has become a place of last resort,
merely a convenience shopping area for
the people who work there, and retail
and other traditional downtown func-
tions have moved to more accessible
sites with easier parking. Many small towns have changed from central hubs serving agricultural
areas into small cogs in the national
manufacturing system. Their new facto-
ries are well-nigh invisible to the casual Figure 3. Scatter Diagram of Population of Minor Civil Divisions in Minnesota,1990
and 2000* * This diagram includes only minor civil divisions with a population of less than 1,000 persons in 1990. Figure 2. Population Change in Minnesota Small Towns, 19902000 SUMMER 2002 11 observer because they are in older build-
ings, such as redundant schoolhouses,
that have been recycled for industrial
use. Some serve homegrown companies,
some are branch plants of firms head-
quartered elsewhere. Much of this new
manufacturing is based on the
processing of locally produced crops and
livestock, but far from all of it, because
the small towns of Minnesota produce a
truly remarkable variety of industrial
products. Some towns have become bedroom or dormitory communities for workers who
commute to jobs in larger places
(witness the growth of places near the
Twin Cities and Rochester; see Figure 2),
but even smaller population centers
have spawned dormitory communities,
especially places near major highways,
which facilitate long-distance
commuting. In northern Minnesota,
some towns have become service centers
for burgeoning resort and retirement
areas, and our rapidly aging population
suggests that these places will continue
to flourish. The function of small towns in Minnesota has changed, and those that
accept and adapt to change will
continue to grow. Their growth will
depend on enlightened leadership that
looks to the future, is aware that Main
Street has had its day, and realizes that
small towns have only tenuous ties to
the agricultural areas around them that
have been losing population fairly
steadily for the last half-century. Small
towns will continue to grow as manufac-
turing centers, as places of residence for
commuters to larger places, and as
service centers for resort and retirement
areas. John Fraser Hart is a professor in the
Department of Geography. This article is
an outgrowth of his long-standing
curiosity about population change in
Minnesotas small towns and villages. He
appreciates the word processing prowess
of Jodi Larson, the cartographic wizardy of
Mark Lindberg and Jeff Matson, and the
support and suggestions of Susy Svatek
Ziegler. Year Figure 4. Mean Population of Incorporated Places in Minnesota, 19002000
(Grouped by Size in 2000) Increasingly, small towns in Minnesota have become bedroom communities for
workers who commute to larger population centers. Photo
by
Steve
Schneider
The web site itself may have changed. You can check the current page or check for previous versions at the Internet Archive. Yahoo! is not affiliated with the authors of this page or responsible for its content. Small Towns in Minnesota Are Growing Again 8 CURA REPORTER S mall towns in Minnesota got back
on the growth track during the
1990s, after having been derailed temporarily during the recession years
of the 1980s. The population increased
by 5% or more in half of the free-
standing incorporated places in the
state during the 1990s, and only one-
quarter of these towns lost more than
5%, in sharp contrast to the 1980s when
only one-quarter gained and more than
half lost (Figure 1). I counted clusters of
incorporated placessuch as Brainerd
and Baxter, or all of the separately
incorporated places in built-up areas of
the Twin Citiesas single freestanding
places, and I considered a change of less
than 5% for the decade, or 0.5% a year,
as slight. During the 1980s, virtually the only places that gained population were
within commuting distance of the Twin
Cities or Rochester, or in the lake country north of Brainerd, but during the 1990s
growth was far more widespread (Figure
2). Between 1990 and 2000, most places
within a 50-mile radius of the Twin
Cities gained more than 5%, as did most
places along Interstate 35 from the Twin
Cities north to Duluth, I-94 northwest to
Moorhead, and U.S. Highway 12 west to
Willmar. Other growth strips were along
U.S. Highway 10 from Moorhead to
Brainerd, and U.S. Highway 14 from
Owatonna through Rochester to
Winona. The lake country north of
Brainerd remained a growth area, as did
the Twin CitiesMankatoWinona
triangle. Most of the places that lost more than 5% of their population during the 1990s
were in peripheral areas: the north-
western corner of the state, the Iron
Range, the far southeastern corner, and
southwest of the Minnesota River (Figure
2). These areas also had more than their share of towns whose population
changed only slightly during the decade.
In detail, of course, the pattern of change
is far more complex because most areas in
the state had a mixture of towns that
gained population, towns that lost popu-
lation, and towns whose population
hardly changed at all. As with most previous censuses, for the state as a whole in 2000 the best
statistical predictor of the population of
any place was its population at the
preceding census (Figure 3). The popula-
tion of individual places tends to fluc-
tuatedown at one census, up at the
nextbut within a fairly narrow range,
and with a definitely upward long-term
trend. Although most towns of about the
same population size have grown at
roughly the same pace, some towns that
have grown in population at one census
have lost population at the next, and
vice versa. A few have broken out of the Small Towns in Minnesota Are Growing Again by John Fraser Hart Photo
by
Steve
Schneider SUMMER 2002 9 pack and gained population steadily, but
the majority of freestanding incorporated
towns in Minnesota have showed
remarkable statistical stability (or an
enormous amount of sheer inertia)
during the 1990s, as they have for the
entire 20th century. When places are grouped by the size of their population in 1980 (or in any
other census year), the growth of the
average population of different-sized
groups shows this same statistical stability
(Figure 4). The population in most towns
grew until 1920, but then sagged with the
widespread availability of the automobile and the motor truck, which enabled rural
people to bypass smaller towns nearby for
the greater range of goods and services
that larger towns had to offer (Figure 1).
The 1920s were far and away the worst
decade for small towns in Minnesota
history until the recession of the 1980s. The smallest towns, those with fewer than 350 people, have never recovered
from the setback they suffered in the
1920s. They are still hanging ona
town rarely disappears once it has been
incorporatedbut their growth has been
stunted. They are too tough to die, but
too small to grow. Once a place has attained a population of around 350
people, however, it seems destined to
continue growing, if erratically and spas-
modically. Some decades have proven
better than others, but the growth
curves of places with 500 people or more
are definitely (but not enthusiastically)
moving upward (Figure 4). A towns population size appears to be related to the date on which it was
incorporated. Towns that were incorpo-
rated earliest have had the longest time
to grow, thus they are the largest today.
The largest places in 1900 were still the
largest places in 2000, and the smallest
places in 1900 were still the smallest
places a century later. The basic place
network of Minnesota had been estab-
lished by the turn of the century, or
shortly thereafter, and it has hardly
changed since 1910. More than half of
the incorporated towns in Minnesota
have celebrated their centennial year,
and more than three-quarters had been
incorporated by 1910 (Table 1). The
places that have been incorporated
subsequently have remained small:
three-quarters had not attained a popula-
tion of 500 persons by 2000, and 57%
still had fewer than 250 persons. Railroad companies created the basic place network of Minnesota in the horse-
and-buggy era. The railroads founded
towns as collecting and shipping points
for the products of the surrounding
countryside, and the grain elevator
beside the tracks is still the most
imposing structure in many towns. The
railroads spaced towns at intervals of 6 to Figure 1. Percentage of Incorporated Places in Minnesota by Population Change
per Decade, 18702000 Table 1. Number of Freestanding Incorporated Places in Minnesota by Population Size and Date of Incorporation Date of incorporation Population 1869 or 18701879 18801889 18901899 19001909 1910 or Total in 2000 earlier later 10,000 or more 14 14 2 3 33 2,500 to 9,999 10 33 16 17 7 5 88 1,000 to 2,499 6 14 41 18 14 10 103 750 to 999 1 4 17 13 12 6 53 500 to 749 2 13 17 25 19 10 86 250 to 499 8 13 41 47 30 139 6 to 249 5 5 43 73 100 226 Total 33 91 111 160 172 161 728 10 miles, which allowed country people
to drive their wagons or buggies into
town, do their business, and drive home
again the same day. The railroad sold business lots on the main street to merchants, bankers, and
others who purveyed goods and services
to local people, and Main Street came to
symbolize the town. Places with good
waterpower sites at falls or rapids
became minor manufacturing centers,
and many small towns had creameries,
butcher shops, and other processing
plants that reduced the bulk of
commodities to save the cost of ship-
ping waste. Today the horse-and-buggy spacing of small towns along railroad lines is
much too cramped and congested, and
most small towns are redundant to the
needs of contemporary economy and
society. They have had to change their
function in order to survive and sustain
their growth. Much of this change has
resulted from inexorable economic forces rather than from conscious local
decisions. Originally small towns were
collecting and shipping points, retail and
service centers, and minor processing
centers, but over time some functions
have become obsolete while others have
grown in importance. The grain elevator, for example, is defunct because the prosperity of the
small town is no longer tied to the pros-
perity of the agricultural areas immedi-
ately surrounding it, and agricultural
service is no longer its principal function.
Many of the storefronts along Main
Street are boarded up because the retail
and service function of small towns has
been shriveling ever since the automobile
enabled farmers and townspeople to
travel greater distances in search of the
goods and services they need. Some people still cherish the romantic notion that Main Street is the
heart and symbol of the small town, but
Main Street has been dying a long,
lingering death for more than half a
century. Even in larger places, down-
town has become a place of last resort,
merely a convenience shopping area for
the people who work there, and retail
and other traditional downtown func-
tions have moved to more accessible
sites with easier parking. Many small towns have changed from central hubs serving agricultural
areas into small cogs in the national
manufacturing system. Their new facto-
ries are well-nigh invisible to the casual Figure 3. Scatter Diagram of Population of Minor Civil Divisions in Minnesota,1990
and 2000* * This diagram includes only minor civil divisions with a population of less than 1,000 persons in 1990. Figure 2. Population Change in Minnesota Small Towns, 19902000 SUMMER 2002 11 observer because they are in older build-
ings, such as redundant schoolhouses,
that have been recycled for industrial
use. Some serve homegrown companies,
some are branch plants of firms head-
quartered elsewhere. Much of this new
manufacturing is based on the
processing of locally produced crops and
livestock, but far from all of it, because
the small towns of Minnesota produce a
truly remarkable variety of industrial
products. Some towns have become bedroom or dormitory communities for workers who
commute to jobs in larger places
(witness the growth of places near the
Twin Cities and Rochester; see Figure 2),
but even smaller population centers
have spawned dormitory communities,
especially places near major highways,
which facilitate long-distance
commuting. In northern Minnesota,
some towns have become service centers
for burgeoning resort and retirement
areas, and our rapidly aging population
suggests that these places will continue
to flourish. The function of small towns in Minnesota has changed, and those that
accept and adapt to change will
continue to grow. Their growth will
depend on enlightened leadership that
looks to the future, is aware that Main
Street has had its day, and realizes that
small towns have only tenuous ties to
the agricultural areas around them that
have been losing population fairly
steadily for the last half-century. Small
towns will continue to grow as manufac-
turing centers, as places of residence for
commuters to larger places, and as
service centers for resort and retirement
areas. John Fraser Hart is a professor in the
Department of Geography. This article is
an outgrowth of his long-standing
curiosity about population change in
Minnesotas small towns and villages. He
appreciates the word processing prowess
of Jodi Larson, the cartographic wizardy of
Mark Lindberg and Jeff Matson, and the
support and suggestions of Susy Svatek
Ziegler. Year Figure 4. Mean Population of Incorporated Places in Minnesota, 19002000
(Grouped by Size in 2000) Increasingly, small towns in Minnesota have become bedroom communities for
workers who commute to larger population centers. Photo
by
Steve
Schneider
