Editing Floodwood, Minnesota (section)

==History==
Long before the city of Floodwood existed, the intersection of the [[East Savanna River]] with the [[Saint Louis River (Lake Superior tributary)|Saint Louis River]] made what later became Floodwood a strategic economic location. The [[Savanna Portage State Park|Savanna Portage]] was a major route for transportation in the southern [[Arrowhead Region|Arrowhead]], but its importance was magnified greatly with the arrival of European fur traders, who used the route to access rich resources of [[beaver]] and other fur animals in the upper Mississippi valley. As early as 1679, Europeans were passing by the modern location of Floodwood as they turned from the Saint Louis River to the East Savanna River on their way to the portage.

It was not until the late 19th century that homesteads began to appear in the area. In 1889, it was announced that a railroad would pass through the area.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lakesnwoods.com/Floodwood.htm |title=Floodwood Minnesota Community Guide |publisher=Lakeweb1 Internet Services |work=A Guide to Minnesota Communities |access-date=2010-01-16 }}</ref> This led to a local population boom in anticipation of the opportunities the railroad would bring. In 1890, J. C. Campbell began large-scale logging operations in the area, and the C. N. Nelson Lumber Company of [[Cloquet, Minnesota|Cloquet]] built a logging railroad in the area (the logging railroad operated only in the winter; in the summer, the logging operations used the Saint Louis River to transport timber to mills in Cloquet).

In 1893, the year that local government was first organized, the first Floodwood School building was constructed of logs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.floodwood.k12.mn.us/About_Us/School_History.htm |title=History |publisher=Floodwood School ISD 698 |access-date=2010-01-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201123239/http://www.floodwood.k12.mn.us/About_Us/School_History.htm |archive-date=December 1, 2008 }}</ref> The next year, the Nelson Company was purchased by what six years later became the [[Weyerhaeuser Timber Company]], continuing the intensification of logging activities in the area. The community continued to grow and was finally incorporated in 1899.

By the time the [[1900 United States census]] was conducted, Floodwood had a population of 224, which, within the next 10 years, more than doubled to 481.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.morris.umn.edu/services/cst/dar/mdc/census/view/countyPlaceCensus.php?cousub=21338 |title=Census Data for Floodwood (City) |publisher=[[University of Minnesota Morris]] |access-date=2010-01-16 }}</ref> In 1911, the Floodwood School, which had previously been a county school, became Independent School District No. 19 (after 1958, Independent School District 698), and a new six-room brick building was built for it. The community continued to grow until the [[1918 Cloquet Fire]] nearly ended the city's history.

Like most of its neighbors, Floodwood survived the fire and began a slow recovery. But the practical importance of the rivers, Floodwood's greatest economic resource, ended. By 1926, the era of large-scale timber operations in the area had come to a close. With the logging operations gone, Floodwood's survival was again in peril.

The solution had already been present since 1911: as the surrounding areas had pastures suitable for supporting dairy cattle, the community's economy turned to dairy production. In 1911, the Floodwood Creamery Cooperative was organized. The creamery became the main support of the local economy, selling dairy products across the world until it closed in the late 1960s. Dairy cattle are still a major part of the local economy.

The [[1970 United States census|1970 census]] showed, for the first time since [[1920 United States census|1920]], that Floodwood's population had decreased. This began a trend that has endured to the present: the last time a census showed an increase in Floodwood's population was in [[1960 United States census|1960]].