Coon Rapids, Minnesota

Coon Rapids is a northern suburb of Minneapolis, and is the second-largest city by population in Anoka County, Minnesota, United States.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The population was 63,599 at the 2020 census,<ref name="2020 Census (City)">Template:Cite web</ref> making it the fifteenth largest city in Minnesota and the seventh largest Twin Cities suburb.

File:Coon Rapids Water Tower Looking Towards Downtown Minneapolis.jpg

2024 New Coon Rapids Water Tower with Minneapolis Skyline

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of Template:Convert, of which Template:Convert is land and Template:Convert is water.<ref name="Gazetteer files">Template:Cite web</ref> Recreational lakes in the city include Cenaiko Lake and Crooked Lake, two-thirds of which is in Coon Rapids. The other third is in the city of Andover, immediately to the north.

History

In 1835, the Red River Ox Cart Trail was laid to establish military and trade connections between Minneapolis and Anoka. The first industries of Coon Rapids sprung up around the road, including the prominent Anoka Pressed Brick and Terra Cotta Company, founded by Dr. D.C. Dunham in 1881. The clay excavation site – known locally as the “Clay Hole” – is one of the lasting reminders of Coon Rapids’ industrial history. Today, the vital Red River Ox Cart Trail is known as Coon Rapids Boulevard and remains an important commercial corridor for the city.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1912, construction began on the Coon Rapids Dam and the influx of laborers and engineers increased the city's population to over 1,000 for the first time. Completed in 1914, the dam functioned as a regional power source for the Northern States Power Company until it was sold to the Hennepin County Park Board in 1969 and incorporated into the Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

When the dam was built, Anoka Township renamed itself Coon Creek Rapids, later shortened to Coon Rapids. In 1959, the Village of Coon Rapids voted to incorporate as a city and the City of Coon Rapids was born. The city's population increased from 14,000 in 1959 to more than 62,785 in 2022, making it the 15th largest city in Minnesota.

Transportation

Coon Rapids Dam

Coon Rapids Dam

While commercial traffic on the Mississippi River once passed through Coon Rapids - steamboats could reach as far north as St. Cloud under certain conditions <ref name="MVT1001">Template:Cite web</ref> the completion of the Coon Rapids Dam in 1914 established the city as the northernmost navigable point of the Mississippi river.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

U.S. Highway 10 and Minnesota State Highways 47 and 610 are three of the main routes in the city.

Coon Rapids Riverdale Station is served by the Northstar Commuter Rail line connecting the northwest suburbs and downtown Minneapolis; the line opened in November 2009.<ref name="ST121107">Template:Cite web</ref>

The Burlington Northern/Santa Fe mainline railroad from Seattle to Chicago travels directly through Coon Rapids, and the commuter rail runs on these tracks.

Economy

Coon Rapids is home to the headquarters of medical device manufacturer RMS Company, healthcare and housing provider, Mary T, Inc., furniture retailer HOM Furniture, and printers/publishers John Roberts Company and ECM Publishers.

Largest employers

According to the City's 2014 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> the city's largest employers are:

#	Employer	# of Employees
1	Mercy Health (Allina Health System)	1,860
2	Independent School District #11	1,238
3	Mary T, Inc.	1,120
4	RMS Company	672
5	Honeywell Aerospace	600
6	Anoka-Ramsey Community College	403
7	HOM Furniture	300
8	Target	300
9	City of Coon Rapids	285
10	Menards	220
11	Walmart	200

Government

Template:Unsourced The city of Coon Rapids has a nonpartisan Council–manager government, and its mayor is Jerry Koch. The city is divided into 5 Wards, each represented on the City Council by its own Councilmember, with one at-Large Councilmember.

As of the 2022 election, Coon Rapids is represented in the State House by districts 35A (Zack Stephenson, Democrat), 35B (Jerry Newton, Democrat), and 34B (Melissa Hortman, Democrat); and in the State Senate by districts 35 (Jim Abeler, Republican), and 36 (John Hoffman, Democrat).

Coon Rapids is in Minnesota's 3rd congressional district, represented by Democrat Kelly Morrison.

Mayors and local government

Since its incorporation as a city in 1952, Coon Rapids, Minnesota has had 15 mayors:

Joe Nelson (1952–1953) Glenn Haven (1954–1955) Leslie B. Mason (1956–1958) Irving Nelson (1958–1959) Joe Craig (1960–1967)

Robert Voss (1968–1971) Donald Erlandson (1972–1975) George White (1976–1979) David S. McCauley (1980–1981) Robert B. Lewis (1982–1989)

Richard S. Reiter (1990–1991) William F. Thompson (1992–1998) Ilona McCauley (1999–2002) Tim Howe (2003–2014) Jerry Koch (2015–present)

The next mayoral election is in 2026.
As of the 2025, the members of the Coon Rapids City Council are:

Ward 1: Brad Greskowiak (Term Expires December 31, 2028) Ward 2: Peter Butler (Term Expires December 31, 2028) Ward 3: Sean Novack (Term Expires December 31, 2026) Ward 4: Christopher Geisler (Term Expires December 31, 2028) Ward 5: Brian Armstrong (Term Expires December 31, 2026) At-Large: Pat Carlson (Term Expires December 31, 2028)

Precinct General Election Results<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Year	Republican	Democratic	Third parties
style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|2020	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|45.1% 16,154	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|52.2% 18,707	2.7% 980
style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|2016	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|47.0% 15,427	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|43.4% 14,237	9.6% 3,137
style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|2012	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|46.5% 16,064	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|51.0% 17,617	2.5% 852
style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|2008	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|47.4% 16,317	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|50.5% 17,399	2.1% 736
style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|2004	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|50.8% 17,365	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|48.0% 16,414	1.2% 391
style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|2000	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|46.4% 13,262	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|48.4% 13,817	5.2% 1,500
style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|1996	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|34.5% 9,195	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|53.0% 14,146	12.5% 3,347
style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|1992	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|31.6% 9,105	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|41.7% 12,022	26.7% 7,724
style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|1988	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|45.7% 10,111	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|54.3% 11,994	0.0% 0
style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|1984	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|48.5% 9,326	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|51.5% 9,895	0.0% 0
style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|1980	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|37.7% 5,761	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|52.2% 7,978	10.1% 1,548
style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|1976	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|36.7% 5,134	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|61.1% 8,533	2.2% 306
style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|1972	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|50.9% 5,351	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|46.0% 4,839	3.1% 322
style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|1968	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|32.0% 2,795	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|61.8% 5,400	6.2% 537
style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|1964	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|28.4% 2,205	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|71.5% 5,558	0.1% 12
style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|1960	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Republican|39.5% 2,314	style="text-align:center;" Template:Party shading/Democratic|60.3% 3,538	0.2% 12

Education

The city is home to Anoka-Ramsey Community College, which offers a wide variety of 2- and 4-year programs. The college awarded 754 Associate degrees in 2013.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Coon Rapids is served by the Anoka-Hennepin Public School District 11. Coon Rapids High School is the largest school in the city, with enrollment of approximately 2,800 in three grades. Coon Rapids Middle School<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> is also located in the city, sharing a parking lot with the high school. The Catholic Church of the Epiphany also has a private school that teaches K-8th grade<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> within the city.

Cross of Christ Lutheran School is a Pre-K-8 grade school of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod in Coon Rapids.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Northwest Passage High School is a highly rated charter school specializing in inquiry-driven project based learning, interdisciplinary seminars and expeditions.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In the 1980s the Minnesota Japanese School, a weekend supplementary school for Japanese people, formerly held its classes at the Coon Rapids campus, using eleven of its classrooms.<ref name=Johnsonsat>Template:Cite news - Clipping of first and of second page from Newspapers.com.</ref>

Recreation

Coon Rapids contains several Anoka County parks, such as Coon Rapids Dam and Bunker Hills Regional Park, including Bunker Beach water park.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 61,476 people, 23,532 households, and 16,323 families living in the city. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 24,462 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the city was 86.0% White, 5.5% African American, 0.7% Native American, 3.5% Asian, 1.2% from other races, and 3.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.2% of the population.

There were 23,532 households, of which 34.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.4% were married couples living together, 13.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 30.6% were non-families. 23.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.08.

The median age in the city was 36.9 years. 24.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.5% were from 25 to 44; 27.8% were from 45 to 64; and 11.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.4% male and 51.6% female.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 61,627 people, 22,578 households, and 16,572 families living in the city. The population density was Template:Convert. There were 22,828 housing units at an average density of Template:Convert. The racial makeup of the city was 93.22% White, 2.18% African American, 0.67% Native American, 1.60% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.59% from other races, and 1.73% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.51% of the population.

There were 22,578 households, out of which 39.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.3% were married couples living together, 12.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.6% were non-families. 20.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.15.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 28.7% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 33.3% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 7.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $55,550, and the median income for a family was $62,260. Males had a median income of $41,195 versus $30,277 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,915. About 3.6% of families and 4.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.6% of those under age 18 and 6.1% of those age 65 or over.

Notable People

• Claire Butorac - forward for the Minnesota Frost of the Professional Women's Hockey League; former captain of Minnesota State Mavericks women's ice hockey; Walter Cup champion with Minnesota.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

External links

• City of Coon Rapids official website