Elk River

History

The last glacier to traverse Minnesota is responsible for the creation of the hardwood-forested hills where Elk River is nestled. These hills are made up of coarse materials, which is why gravel mining is so prevalent in Elk River, and also why much of the area is not considered good farmland for culture and agriculture use. To the south of Elk River lies the prairie. This natural boundary between the prairie and woods was also a boundary between Indian nations. Two battles between the Dakota and Ojibwe took place where the Elk River meets the Mississippi in 1772 and 1773. Zebulon Pike passed through the area on his 1805 exploration of the Upper Mississippi River and named the Elk River after the herds of elk he saw in the area. David Frederic Faribault, son of French-Canadian fur trader Jean-Baptiste Faribault, built a trading post near the confluence of the Elk and Mississippi Rivers in 1846, which he sold in 1848 to H. M. Rice and S. P. Folsom. Folsom moved his family to the place and built a log cabin. French fur trader and guide Pierre Bottineau bought the post and cabin from Folsom. The trading post stood on a bluff just north of the present-day bridge across the Elk River on Main Street. In 1850, Bottineau built a hotel on the bank of the Mississippi about half a mile below the mouth of the Elk. The two rivers and the Red River Trail, which passed nearby, made this area a good location for commerce. Silas Lane opened a farm near the old trading post site, making his claim in section 33 in 1850. Many early settlers came from Maine and nearly all of them were experts in lumbering. In 1851, Ard Godfrey and John C. Jamieson, a native of Orono, Maine, saw the potential of the water power of the Elk River and purchased the claim from Lane. They built a dam and a…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , of which is land and (3.39%) is water. Elk River is bordered to the south by the Mississippi River. The Elk River meanders through Sherburne County to its terminus at the Mississippi River through the western side of Elk River, pausing at Lake Orono, created by a dam not far from its conjunction with the Mississippi River.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• ELK RIVER SENIOR HIGH
  High · ELK RIVER · 1,637 students · 32.1:1 ratio
• BIG LAKE SENIOR HIGH
  High · BIG LAKE · 899 students · 30:1 ratio
• LIBERTY ELEMENTARY
  Elementary · BIG LAKE · 806 students · 14.9:1 ratio
• ZIMMERMAN HIGH SCHOOL
  High · ZIMMERMAN · 707 students · 32.1:1 ratio
• TWIN LAKES ELEMENTARY
  Elementary · ELK RIVER · 705 students · 19.6:1 ratio
• BIG LAKE MIDDLE SCHOOL
  Middle · BIG LAKE · 686 students · 28.6:1 ratio
• INDEPENDENCE ELEMENTARY
  Elementary · BIG LAKE · 660 students · 15.7:1 ratio
• SALK MIDDLE SCHOOL
  Middle · ELK RIVER · 657 students · 41.1:1 ratio