Kettle River, Minnesota

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kettle River is a city in Carlton County, Minnesota, along the Kettle River for which it was named. The population was 168 at the 2000 census. It was incorporated in 1921.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Culture
4 History
5 External links

[edit] Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.0 km² (0.4 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census ² of 2000, there were 168 people, 75 households, and 44 families residing in the city. The population density was 170.7/km² (436.4/mi²). There were 88 housing units at an average density of 89.4/km² (228.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.02% White, 0.60% Native American, and 2.38% from two or more races.

There were 75 households out of which 32.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.7% were married couples living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.3% were non-families. 34.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 22.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.24 and the average family size was 2.82.

In the city the population was spread out with 26.2% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 20.2% from 45 to 64, and 20.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 102.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $24,750, and the median income for a family was $31,250. Males had a median income of $32,188 versus $18,542 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,620. None of the families and 7.9% of the population were living below the poverty line, including no under eighteens and 21.4% of those over 64.

[edit] Culture

Every August the town hosts Ma and Pa Kettle Days, an annual festival that includes a pancake breakfast, parade, a Miss Kettle River pagent, a mud bog on Saturday afternoon and street dances on Friday and Saturday night. During the parade children bring bags to collect candy thrown from the floats as they pass by.

[edit] History

The Kettle River area of Carlton County Minnesota, was settled by a large concentration of Finnish Immigrants in the years leading up to the First World War and the influence of those immigrants is still noticeable even today.

On October 12, 1918, the 1918 Cloquet Fire caused by sparks on the local railroads left much of western Carlton County area devasted. Several hundred persons killed by the fire and thousands more left homeless. The only building left standing in Kettle River following the fire was the bank that was made of brick. This building still stands in Kettle River, near the center of the town on the west side of Minnesota Highway 73.

Following the fire, with most people homeless and destitute, the Spanish Influenza outbreak of 1918 wreaked even more havoc on the local peoples, taking more lives.