Bloomington

History

In the 1780s, a village called Titanka Tannina existed in what is now Bloomington, at the mouth of Nine Mile Creek. 'Titanka Tannina' is Dakota for 'the Old Village', likely meaning that Titanka Tannina was the first Dakota community on the Minnesota River. The Chief at that time was Penasha, who would be succeeded by his son, Takuni Phephe Sni. He would then be succeeded by his son, Good Road, in 1833. In 1839, with renewed conflict with the Ojibwe nation, Chief Cloud Man relocated his band of the Mdewakanton Sioux from Bde Maka Ska in Minneapolis to an area named Oak Grove in southern Bloomington, close to present-day Portland Avenue. In 1843, Peter and Louisa Quinn, the first European settlers to live in Bloomington, built a cabin along the Minnesota River in the area. The government had sent them to teach the Native Americans European-derived farming methods. Gideon Hollister Pond, a missionary who had been following and recording the Dakota language from Cloud Man's band, relocated later that year, establishing Oak Grove Mission, his log cabin. Pond and his family held church services and taught the Dakota school subjects and Western farming. Passage across the Minnesota River in Bloomington came in 1849 when William Chambers and Joseph Dean opened the Bloomington Ferry. It remained operational until 1889, when the Bloomington Ferry Bridge was built. After the Treaty of Traverse des Sioux in 1851, the territory west of the Mississippi River, including Bloomington, was opened to settlers. At this time, native Dakota villages such as Titanka Tannina were abandoned. A group of pioneers settled in Bloomington, including the Goodrich, Whalon, and Ames families. They named the area Bloomington after the city they were from, Bloomington, Illinois. Most early jobs were…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , of which is land and or 9.73% is water. | date = August 2010 | source = | width = 100% }} The city is informally divided by Interstate 35W into "West Bloomington" and "East Bloomington". West Bloomington is mostly residential with newer housing stock, along with multi-story office high-rises along Interstate Highway 494 in the north, whereas East Bloomington contains more industry, destination retail centers, and the majority of Bloomington's less expensive housing. The dividing line may be placed as far west as France Avenue, where the high school attendance boundaries meet.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  102,371
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  99,371
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  88,242
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  79,056
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  78,728
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  74,458
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  74,178
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  70,364

Largest nearby schools

• EDEN PRAIRIE SENIOR HIGH
  High · EDEN PRAIRIE · 2,833 students · 18.3:1 ratio
• EDINA SENIOR HIGH
  High · EDINA · 2,720 students · 20.5:1 ratio
• CENTRAL MIDDLE SCHOOL
  Middle · EDEN PRAIRIE · 1,909 students · 14.7:1 ratio
• JEFFERSON SENIOR HIGH
  High · BLOOMINGTON · 1,637 students · 34.8:1 ratio
• KENNEDY SENIOR HIGH
  High · BLOOMINGTON · 1,601 students · 29.1:1 ratio
• Washburn High
  High · MINNEAPOLIS · 1,582 students · 27.3:1 ratio
• Southwest High
  High · MINNEAPOLIS · 1,484 students · 28:1 ratio
• ST. LOUIS PARK SENIOR HIGH
  High · SAINT LOUIS PARK · 1,483 students · 22.5:1 ratio