Rothsay, Minnesota

Rothsay, Minnesota
City

Location of Rothsay, Minnesota
Coordinates: 46°28′28″N 96°16′48″W / 46.47444°N 96.28000°W
Country United States
State Minnesota
Counties Wilkin, Otter Tail
Area[1]
 • Total 0.88 sq mi (2.28 km2)
 • Land 0.88 sq mi (2.28 km2)
 • Water 0 sq mi (0 km2)
Elevation 1,211 ft (369 m)
Population (2010)[2]
 • Total 493
 • Estimate (2013[3]) 488
 • Density 560.2/sq mi (216.3/km2)
Time zone Central (CST) (UTC-6)
 • Summer (DST) CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code 56579
Area code(s) 218
FIPS code 27-56014
GNIS feature ID 0650315[4]

Rothsay is a city in Otter Tail and Wilkin counties in the State of Minnesota. The population was 493 at the 2010 census.[5] One of Rothsay's major tourist attractions is the large prairie chicken statue near the northwest outskirts of the town.

The Otter Tail County portion of Rothsay is part of the Fergus Falls Micropolitan Statistical Area, while the Wilkin County portion is part of the Wahpeton, ND–MN Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

Rothsay Prairie Chicken Statue

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 0.88 square miles (2.28 km2), all of it land.[1]

Interstate Highway 94, Center Street, and Main Avenue are three of the main routes in the community.

History

Information gleaned from my own (Gary Wigdahl) Twixt Hill and Prairie: A Century of Challenge in the Rothsay, Minnesota, Area' as well as a segment of Rothsay History I wrote for the Rothsay city website (rothsay.org) and from Marilyn Moen's (Cliff and Marilyn Moen) website on local history. Featured Rothsay section

The arrival of James J. Hill's St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway (predecessor to the Great Northern) gave birth to Rothsay in 1879, and the community was officially incorporated in 1883. However, a scattering of settlers had been arriving in the area at least as early as 1867. More were to come in greater numbers after 1869. Many had waited until the conclusion of the American Civil War in 1865 before crossing the Atlantic Ocean from Europe to settle on the plains and gently rolling countryside herein. Many of those who decided to settle in the Rothsay area were of Norwegian descent. Typically, friends and neighbors who had lived in the same mountain regions and valleys in Norway also became neighbors here in America as well.

The coming of the railroad, however, also provided Rothsay with one of its most turbulent days on record when a group of thirsty tracklayers came to town to christen a newly opened, albeit half-finished, saloon expressly opened to whet the thirsts of those same tracklayers. This was in November 1879. The tracklayers evidently felt that on the event of a magnitude such as the coming of the railroad, a celebration ought to be in order. Moreover, on such an occasion, the liquor and other fine spirits ought to be free. An early Rothsay grain buyer at the time, Halvor L. Shirley, who later went on to become a Breckenridge bank official, recalls the ensuing brawl that resulted in a number of bruised and broken extremities. The half-finished saloon was left in shambles and the hard liquor supply severely depleted. Some pioneer churches were organized in the area before the then village of Rothsay was organized. Among the churches being organized were those of South Immanuel Lutheran, Hedemarken Lutheran and North Friborg Lutheran, all in 1872. Hamar Lutheran was organized in 1874 and the Swedish Baptist Church of Oscar, also known as the Oscar Baptist Church, in 1882. The latter church is today known as the Rothsay Baptist Church. After Rothsay became a community, Our Savior's Lutheran Church was organized in 1888. There was also a Methodist congregation operating for a time in Rothsay's pioneer days. In 2008, congregants of Hamar Lutheran and Our Savior's Lutheran began worshipping together as a new congregation, New Life Lutheran. Christen Tanberg was the original townsite proprietor.

Early residents of the area upon knowing a new railroad station was in the offing wanted to name the fledgling community Tanberg in honor of the Wilkin County farmer upon whose land the proposed townsite rested. Railroad officials nixed that proposal, choosing instead to honor the request of a railroad official whose home territory was in the Rothesay, Scotland, area. But it was left to Halvor G. Stordock to plat the original portion of the townsite on land that had previously belonged to Tanberg. Stordock and Tanberg, according to sources,had traded land parcels. A Civil War veteran as a Wisconsin volunteer, Stordock in the early 1870s moved with his newlywed wife Anna (formerly Venos) to Otter Tail County, Minnesota. In the latter 1870s he moved to a farm near the former community of Manston in Wilkin County. After serving in the Minnesota Legislature in the mid-1880s, Stordock was appointed to the position as warden of the Minnesota State Penitentiary at Stillwater by Gov. Andrew McGill. Anders B. Pedersen was the first to ship lumber to Rothsay for the designed purpose of constructing a business building. However, by the time he opened his general merchandise store business in December 1879, he learned a competitor, Amund A. Baatten, had opened a rival general merchandise store just days ahead of him. Pedersen, however, did apply to become Rothsay's first postmaster, a wish that was granted by U.S. postal officials.

The post office opened in early 1880, operating out of Pedersen's store. Pedersen also proved to be a dedicated public servant, offering his services to the village council as well as the school board, also serving as an early Wilkin County commissioner. George M. Cowie served as Rothsay's first mayor, and, together with his brother Albert E. Cowie, co-published Rothsay's first permanent newspaper, the Rothsay Record. First edition of the Record was published in October 1894.

By the early 1900s Rothsay had prospered enough to be able to boast of six general merchandise stores, a physician, livery stables, regular freight and passenger service courtesy of the Great Northern, a weekly newspaper, traveling dentists, hotels and a number of "blind pigs," places which served bootleg liquor, Rothsay citizens having voted to go "dry" by banning the sale of liquor within the village limits.

The Rothsay area played host to Plowville, the state plowing contest, in 1955. In 1956, when area turkey farmer Eddie Velo stopped in at the Cyril and Louis Keller machine-blacksmith shop in Rothsay to inquire about the possibility of inventing a machine that would help him clean out his turkey barns instead of having to do the job manually, little did anyone then suspect that the three-wheeled, front-end, skid-steer loader produced in the Keller brothers' shop would eventually evolve into the Bobcat, a piece of agricultural engineering that has been ranked right up there with Eli Whitney's cotton gin and Cyrus McCormick's reaper. When Rothsay was designated the Prairie Chicken Capital of Minnesota, local transport owner Art Fosse was right on the spot to offer his services to design and build a prairie chicken monument which has graced the northern edge of the community at the Interstate 94 exit since 1976.

Rothsay's public school system has been twice signaled out by the magazine U.S. News & World Report for being one of America's best high schools, an honor that annually goes out to only about three percent of all secondary schools in the nation.

In 2011, PARTNERS, a Minnesota Living at Home program celebrated its 20th anniversary as one of the nation's outstanding pilot programs for providing routine services to those aged 60 and over, thus enabling them to live within the comfort and security of their own home for as long as possible.

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
1890174—
190029670.1%
191034315.9%
192039816.0%
1930386−3.0%
19404157.5%
195053729.4%
1960457−14.9%
1970448−2.0%
19804766.3%
1990433−9.0%
200049714.8%
2010493−0.8%
Est. 2013488−1.0%
U.S. Decennial Census[6]
2013 Estimate[7]

2010 census

As of the census[2] of 2010, there were 493 people, 211 households, and 140 families residing in the city. The population density was 560.2 inhabitants per square mile (216.3/km2). There were 250 housing units at an average density of 284.1 per square mile (109.7/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 98.8% White, 0.8% Native American, and 0.4% Asian. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.2% of the population.

There were 211 households of which 32.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.8% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 7.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 33.6% were non-families. 28.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.80.

The median age in the city was 37.1 years. 25.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 5.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 28.8% were from 25 to 44; 24% were from 45 to 64; and 15.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 51.3% male and 48.7% female.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 497 people, 201 households, and 125 families residing in the city. The population density was 123.5 people per square mile (47.7/km²). There were 231 housing units at an average density of 57.4 per square mile (22.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.59% White, 0.40% Native American, 1.01% from other races, and 1.01% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.01% of the population.

There were 201 households out of which 35.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.2% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.8% were non-families. 33.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47 and the average family size was 3.20.

In the city the population was spread out with 28.4% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 28.2% from 25 to 44, 15.7% from 45 to 64, and 18.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 89.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $31,058, and the median income for a family was $34,479. Males had a median income of $25,625 versus $19,286 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,854. About 6.2% of families and 9.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.8% of those under age 18 and 9.7% of those age 65 or over.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "US Gazetteer files 2010". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2012-11-13.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2012-11-13.
  3. ↑ "Population Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
  4. ↑ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  5. ↑ "2010 Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File". American FactFinder. U.S. Census Bureau, 2010 Census. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
  6. ↑ United States Census Bureau. "Census of Population and Housing". Retrieved September 10, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2013". Retrieved June 9, 2014.

Coordinates: 46°28′30″N 96°16′50″W / 46.47500°N 96.28056°W