Little Canada is a city in
Ramsey
County
, Minnesota
, United
States
. It is an inner ring suburb of the Twin Cities
. The population was 9,771 at the 2000
census.
History
In 1844,
French-Canadian settler Benjamin Gervais moved north from St. Paul, MN
to claim land in order to build the first grist mill in Minnesota that was independent from
the government. Today, the large lake on the east side of
Little Canada bears his name (Lake Gervais), and the former
grist mill turned City Park is recognized
as the birthplace of the city. Little Canada began as the township
of New Canada in 1858.
In the 1950s the township was threatened by
the suburban sprawl of the ensuing larger communities that were
formed, such as Maplewood,
MN
. In 1953, the city leaders came together and
established the village of Little Canada. It became a city in 1974.
It was named Little Canada because the settler was Canadian.
Canadian Ties
The city is not shy about its Canadian heritage. For instance, its
official symbol is an initial LC on a white
fleur-de-lis with a red Maple Leaf background,
and the
Flag of Canada is displayed
in council chambers.
The city
itself also hosts an annual celebration named Canadian Days in
early August with its sister city Thunder Bay
, Ontario
.
Geography
According to the
United
States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of
4.5
square miles
(11.6
km²), of which, 4.0 square
miles (10.4 km²) of it is land and 0.5 square miles
(1.2 km²) of it (10.51%) is water.
Interstate Highway
35E,
Interstate Highway
694, and Minnesota
Highway
36 are three of
the main routes in the city.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 9,771
people, 4,375 households, and 2,393 families residing in the city.
The
population density was
2,445.8 people per square mile (943.2/km²). There were 4,471
housing units at an average density of 1,119.1/sq mi
(431.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 85.38%
White, 4.20%
African American, 0.58%
Native American, 6.68%
Asian, 0.01%
Pacific Islander, 0.90% from
other races, and 2.25%
from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 2.29% of the
population.
There were 4,375 households out of which 26.0% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 41.6% were
married couples living together, 10.1% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 45.3% were non-families.
36.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.1% had
someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average
household size was 2.23 and the average family size was 2.96.
In the city the population was spread out with 22.1% under the age
of 18, 11.0% from 18 to 24, 31.2% from 25 to 44, 22.8% from 45 to
64, and 12.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was
36 years. For every 100 females there were 91.3 males. For every
100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $46,609, and the
median income for a family was $61,082. Males had a median income
of $41,205 versus $31,689 for females. The
per capita income for the city was
$25,624. About 4.6% of families and 5.5% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including 5.2%
of those under age 18 and 3.4% of those age 65 or over.
Government
Bill Blesener is the mayor of Little Canada. He took up this
position in 2005 after serving as a member on the Council for 9
non-consecutive years (1985-1992 and 2003-2004). The Council
members are Barbara Allan who filled a vacancy in 2004, John Keis
filled a vacancy in 2006 and served on the Planning Commission from
1991 to 2004, Rick Montour who joined the Council in 2001 after
serving on the Planning Commission from 1996 to 2000, and Michael
McGraw who was appointed by the mayor, Blesener, after overriding a
3:1 vote against that appointment by the city council members.
McGraw assumed his position after a previous council member died
before he could assume office.
Education
Little Canada is served mostly by the
Roseville Area School
District (ISD 623)with a small section of the city north of
Interstate 694 served by the White Bear Lake School District.
References
External links
Wikis
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