Fergus Falls, Minnesota
Otter Tail County
27-20906
Fergus Falls is a city ( with a status of "City" ) and the administrative seat of Otter Tail County in the central northwestern part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. In 2010 Fergus Falls had 13,138 inhabitants.
Geography
Fergus Falls is located on both sides of the Otter Tail River, one of the headwaters of the Red River of the North. The city is located at 46 ° 16'59 " north latitude and 96 ° 04'39 " west longitude and extending over 39.81 km ², spread over 36.54 km ² land and 3.27 km ² water surface.
Towns nearby Fergus Falls are Elizabeth (13 km north-west ), Underwood (18,1 km to the east), Dalton (20,7 km southeast), Foxhome (18,7 km west ) and Rothsay (29,4 km northwest ).
The nearest major cities are Fargo, North Dakota ( 96.3 km north west ), Duluth Lake Superior (336 km east), Minneapolis (287 km southeast), Minnesota's capital Saint Paul (305 km south-east ) and Sioux Falls, South Dakota ( 383 km south ).
Traffic
The main artery for traffic is Interstate 94, 52 and 59 leads here to a common line with the U.S. Highways through the western parts of the city of Fergus Falls. In the city center the Minnesota State Routes 210 and 297 meet together. All other roads are subordinate partly unpaved driveways and local roads.
In Fergus Falls cross two railway lines of the Otter Tail Valley Railroad, a company belonging to RailAmerica small railway company.
With the Fergus Falls Municipal Airport is located in the west of the urban area, a small airfield. The nearest major airport is the Minneapolis -Saint Paul International Airport (304 km south-east ).
History
In 1857, Joe Whitford was sent by his client James Fergus to make a suitable location for a new settlement identified. The court found was named in memory of his client Fergus Falls.
1870 George B. Wright bought the site in order to establish a regional economic center here. He built a dam across the river to attract water power for a sawmill. In March 1872 Fergus Falls received a municipal system and got the official church status "Village". At the same time place the administrative seat of Otter Tail County was.
Demographic data
According to the census in 2010 lived in Fergus Falls 13,138 people in 5814 households. The population density was 359.6 inhabitants per square kilometer. In the 5814 households lived statistically 2.15 per person.
The racial the population was composed of 95.5 percent white, 1.1 percent African American, 0.8 percent Native American, 0.7 percent Asian and 0.4 percent from other ethnic groups; 1.6 percent were descended from two or more races. Regardless of ethnicity were 1.6 percent of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.
21.4 percent of the population were under 18 years old, 56.4 percent were between 18 and 64 and 22.2 percent were 65 years or older. 53.0 percent of the population was female.
The median annual income for a household was $ 38,673. The per capita income was $ 23,809. 18.4 percent of the population lived below the poverty line.
Sons and daughters of the town
- Frank Albertson (1909-1964), actor ( Psycho, among others, life is not beautiful? )