Bemidji, Minnesota

Bemidji is a city in Beltrami County, Minnesota, United States. Its population was at 13,431 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Beltrami County. Bemidji is the most major city in North Central Minnesota and the largest commercial center between Grand Forks, North Dakota and Duluth, Minnesota. Bemidji houses many Native American services, including the Indian Health Service. The city is the central hub of the Red Lake Indian Reservation, White Earth Indian Reservation and the Leech Lake Indian Reservation. Bemidji lies on the southwest shore of Lake Bemidji, the northernmost lake feeding the Mississippi River and, as such, is deemed "the first city on the Mississippi." Bemidji is also dubbed the "curling capital," of the U.S.

Its name derives from the Ojibwe Bay-may-ji-ga-maug (Double-Vowel orthography: bemijigamaag), meaning "lake that traverses another body of water". On occasion, in Ojibwe, the city of Bemidji is called Wabigamaang ("at the lake channel/narrows"), because part of the city is situated on the Lakes Bemidji/Irving narrows, located on the south end of Lake Bemidji, and extends to the eastern shore of Lake Irving.

Bemidji is home to Bemidji State University, Northwest Technical College, and Oak Hills Christian College. It's also headquarters of Bemidji Woolen Mills. The statues of Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, local landmarks, are downtown on the lakefront. Lake Bemidji State Park offers year-round recreation.

Bemidji is a base to one of five medevac helicopter flight stations in the state for AirCare, operated by North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale, MN, a Level 1 Trauma Center located in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area. This station covers the northern part of Minnesota and eastern North Dakota. Its building is located at the Bemidji Regional Airport.

Sanford Health Bemidji, owned and operated by Sanford Health, manages and operates Sanford Bemidji Medical Center and five Sanford Bemidji Clinics in the Bemidji area. Paul Bunyan Broadcasting, a group of 16 radio stations across northern Minnesota, has its headquarters here.

NFL Pro Football Hall of Famer Dave Casper was born in Bemidji, as was actress Jane Russell.

Park and recreation
Bemidji is near Itasca State Park, Lake Bemidji State Park, state forest areas, Big Bog State Recreation areas, and the Chippewa National Forest. Bemidji has 400 lakes within 25 mi, 500 mi of snowmobile trails and 160 km of cross country ski trails. Bemidji is home to many fun events throughout the year. The Dragon Boat Festival is a colorful racing competition held at the waterfront. It is held the first week in August. Bemidji Polar days is a week long event with food and winter sporting events including golf on frozen lake Bemidji and the polar plunge. Minnesota Finlandia Ski Marathon is also held in Bemidji. Also called the "Nordic Festival of the North", it is held in February. Bemidji is also home to four golf courses, Bemidji Town and Country Club, Castle Highlands Golf Course, Greenwood Golf Course, and Maple Ridge Golf Course. There are also thirteen other golf courses located within 60 mi of Bemidji. Downhill skiing and snowboarding is also something you can enjoy while in Bemidji. Buena Vista ski resort offers 16 downhill runs, the longest being 2000 ft.

Home of Rally America's Ojibwe Forest Rally.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 12.9 square miles (33.5 km²), of which 11.8 square miles (30.5 km²) is land and 1.2 square miles (3.1 km²) (9.11%) is water.



Four-lane U.S. Route 2, U.S. Route 71, and Minnesota State Highway 197 are three of the main routes in the city. Minnesota State Highways 89 and 371 are nearby.

The largest earthquake on record for the Bemidji area was recorded on September 3, 1917. It is claimed that it shook houses down in Bemidji and across northern Minnesota. (Little Falls Daily Transcript, September 4, 1917) The epicenter was about 95 mi away in Staples, Minnesota. It affected an area of 48,000 km², and was rated a magnitude 4.4 with a maximum intensity of VI to VII. The closest and most recent quake occurred in Walker, MN on September 27, 1982 with a magnitude of 2.0.

Climate
The average mean annual temperature in Bemidji is 37.2 degrees. The coldest month tends to be January with an average daily high temp of 16 degrees and an average daily low temp of -4 degrees. The warmest month tends to be July with an average daily high temp of 79 degrees and an average daily low temp of 57 degrees. The average annual humidity tends to be 47%. The average annual snowfall is 41.1 inches and the average annual rainfall is 23.8 inches. The average day Lake Bemidji freezes over is November 26 and the average day the ice goes off the lake is April 26.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 11,917 people, 4,669 households, and 2,427 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,011.8 people per square mile (390.6/km²). There were 4,948 housing units at an average density of 420.1 per square mile (162.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 84.31% White American, 0.76% African American, 11.52% Native American, 1.12% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.20% from other races, and 2.06% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.14% of the population.

There were 4,669 households out of which 25.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.0% were married couples living together, 14.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 48.0% were non-families. 35.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.87.

In the city the population was spread out with 21.2% under the age of 18, 24.9% from 18 to 24, 23.0% from 25 to 44, 15.4% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 28 years. For every 100 females there were 87.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $28,072, and the median income for a family was $37,250. Males had a median income of $28,312 versus $20,694 for females. The per capita income for the city was $15,264. About 13.2% of families and 19.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.7% of those under age 18 and 10.9% of those age 65 or over.

Culture
Bemidji is a college city with strong arts influences. The city's streets are lined with small shops and adorned with sculptures and other forms of public art.

The Concordia Language Villages are located near Bemidji and this has, perhaps, been influential in the existence of several language conversational groups (including French, Norwegian, Spanish, Italian, and German) that meet weekly in local coffee houses.

During the summer the Paul Bunyan Playhouse operates a non-Equity, summer stock theater.

The city is well known to fans of the sport of curling. Both men's and women's rinks from the Bemidji Curling Club won the right to represent the United States in the 2005 World Curling Championship and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Torino, Italy. Pete Fenson, the skip of the U.S. curling team that took the bronze medal at the 2006 Olympics, is a native of Bemidji, as is Natalie Nicholson, who was the lead for the United States women's team at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

A city referendum for a Bemidji Regional Events Center passed by a slim majority of 43 votes out of 4,583 votes cast in November 2006. The center is expected to cost $50 million. The major tenant for the center is expected to be the Bemidji State University (BSU) hockey team. The men's hockey team has recently entered the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). Information on this project can be found at Bemidji Events.

Education
Bemidji is home to Northwest Technical College, Oak Hills Christian College, and Bemidji State University. Public Education is served by Bemidji Area Schools, TrekNorth Charter High School, Voyagers Charter High School and Schoolcraft Charter School. Bemidji is also home to three private schools, St. Philips Catholic School, St. Marks and Heartland Christian Academy.

Regional center
The City of Bemidji acts as a regional center for shopping, arts, entertainment, education, health services, worship, and government services. The Paul Bunyan Mall serves as a regional center for shopping and entertainment. It is generally accepted that Bemidji serves an area of 60 mi radius from the city center. This fact places the Bemidji area population at around 160,000.

Bemidji continues to try to take advantage of its status as a regional center with the "City as a Park" concept and the construction of the Bemidji Regional Events Center, which began in March 2009.

Newspapers
The Bemidji Pioneer is the local (except Mondays) daily newspaper.

TV stations
Most of Bemidji's TV stations primarily rebroadcast the television stations of Minneapolis.

Magazine

 * Best of Bemidji Quarterly Magazine: direct mailed magazine to every home in the greater Bemidji area, BOB features ads from local businesses with no editorial copy. Most ads are coupons. www.bestofbemidji.com


 * Northwoods Woman: Bimonthly glossy magazine launched in Bemidji, Walker and Park Rapids on July 1, 2008 includes articles about women who live and work in northern Minnesota. Now available in 115 stores throughout Minnesota including Barnes&Noble's Minnesota stores. www.northwoodswoman.com