Mankato, Minnesota

Mankato is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 39,309 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth largest city in Minnesota outside of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The county seat of Blue Earth County, it is located along a large bend of the Minnesota River at its confluence with the Blue Earth River. Mankato is across the Minnesota River from North Mankato. Mankato and North Mankato have a combined population of nearly 53,000. It completely encompasses the town of Skyline. North of Mankato Regional Airport, a tiny non-contiguous part of the city lies within Le Sueur County.

Mankato is the larger of the two principal cities of the Mankato-North Mankato metropolitan area, which covers Blue Earth and Nicollet counties and had a combined population of 94,149 at the 2010 census. Mankato was designated a Metropolitan Statistical Area by the U.S. Census Bureau in November 2008.

U.S. Routes 14 and 169 and Minnesota State Highways 22 and 60 are four of the main arterial routes in the city.

History
The area was long settled by various cultures of indigenous peoples. After European colonization began on the East Coast, pressure from settlement and other Native American tribes caused different peoples to migrate into the area. By the mid-nineteenth century Lakota-speaking Dakota Sioux bands were the primary Native Americans in the territory.

Mankato Township was not settled by European Americans until Parsons King Johnson in February 1852, as part of the nineteenth century migration of people from the east across the Midwest. New residents organized the city of Mankato on May 11, 1858. The city was organized by Henry Jackson, Parsons King Johnson, Col. D.A. Robertson, Justus C. Ramsey, and unnamed others. The city recently celebrated its sesquicentennial. A popular story says that the city was intended to have been named Mahkato, but a typographical error by a clerk established the name as Mankato. According to Upham, quoting historian Thomas Hughes of Mankato, "The honor of christening the new city was accorded to Mrs. P.K. Johnson and Mrs. Henry Jackson, who selected the name 'Mankato,' upon the suggestion of Col. Robertson. He had taken the name from Nicollet's book, in which the French explorer compared the 'Mahkato" or Blue Earth River, with all its tributaries, to the water nymphs and their uncle in the German legend of Undine.'...No more appropriate name could be given the new city, than that of the noble river at whose mouth it is located."   While it may or may not be true that the city was intended to be called Mahkato, the Dakota called the river Makato Osa Watapa (meaning "the river where blue earth is gathered." The Anglo settlers adapted that as the Blue Earth River.

Ishtakhaba, also known as Chief Sleepy Eye, of the Sisseton band of Dakota Indians was said to have directed settlers to this location. He said the site at the confluence of the Minnesota and Blue Earth Rivers was well suited for building and for river traffic, and yet safe from flooding.

On December 26, 1862, the US Army carried out the largest mass execution in U.S. history at Mankato following the Dakota War of 1862. Thirty-eight Dakota Native Americans were hanged for their parts in the uprising. A military tribunal had sentenced 303 to death. President Lincoln reviewed the record and pardoned 265, believing they had been involved in legitimate defense against military forces. Episcopal Bishop Henry Benjamin Whipple had urged leniency in the case, but his position was not politically popular in Minnesota. Lincoln's intervention was not popular at the time. Two commemorative statues are located on the site of the hangings (now home to the Blue Earth County Library and Reconciliation Park).

In 1880 Mankato ranked fourth in size in the state. The population was 5,500.

Former Vice President Schuyler Colfax died while traveling in Mankato on January 13, 1885.

In popular culture

 * Mankato served as the basis for the "Deep Valley" of Maud Hart Lovelace's Betsy-Tacy series of children's books and novels.


 * In Sinclair Lewis' 1920 novel Main Street, heroine Carol Milford is a former Mankato resident. Lewis describes Mankato as follows: "In its garden-sheltered streets and aisles of elms is white and green New England reborn." (based on its many migrants from New England, who brought their culture with them.)


 * In Little House on the Prairie (TV series) Mankato is a popular trading town that the citizens of Walnut Grove visit.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 15.4 square miles (39.9 km²), of which, 15.2 square miles (39.4 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.5 km²) of it (1.23%) is water. The Minnesota, Blue Earth, Le Sueur and Rapidan Rivers all flow through or near the city.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 32,427 people, 12,367 households, and 6,059 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,132.5 people per square mile (823.2/km²). There were 12,759 housing units at an average density of 839.1 per square mile (323.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 92.55% White, 1.90% African American, 0.34% Native American, 2.81% Asian, 0.10% Pacific Islander, 0.94% from other races, and 1.36% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.22% of the population.

There were 12,367 households out of which 23.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.7% were married couples living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 51.0% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the city the population was spread out with 16.9% under the age of 18, 32.5% from 18 to 24, 23.9% from 25 to 44, 15.4% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 25 years. For every 100 females there were 96.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $33,956, and the median income for a family was $47,297. Males had a median income of $30,889 versus $22,081 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,652. About 8.5% of families and 19.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.6% of those under age 18 and 11.8% of those age 65 or over.

Politics
Mankato is located in Minnesota's 1st congressional district, represented by Mankato high school teacher Tim Walz (DFL). Mankato is located in Minnesota Senate district 23, represented by Kathleen Sheran (DFL), and Minnesota House district 23B, represented by Kathy Brynaert (DFL).

Media
The major daily newspaper in the area is the Mankato Free Press. The only local broadcast television network is KEYC-TV, Channel 12, a CBS affiliate. KEYC also carries a Fox affiliation on its digital subchannel and on local cable television.

Local radio stations are:
 * KATO-FM, 93.1 FM
 * KDOG, 96.7 FM
 * KEEZ, 99.1 FM
 * KMSU, 89.7 FM
 * KQYK, 95.7 FM
 * KTOE, 1420 AM
 * KXLP, 94.1 FM
 * KYSM, 1230 AM
 * KYSM-FM, 103.5 FM

Economy
Capstone Publishers and FPX are among the companies based in Mankato.

Top Employers
According to the City's 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

Education
The Mankato Area Public Schools are consolidated to include the cities of Mankato, North Mankato, Eagle Lake, and Madison Lake. There are ten elementary schools (Franklin, Eagle Lake, Kennedy, Washington, Roosevelt, Jefferson, Monroe, Hoover, Rosa Parks, and Garfield); two middle schools (Dakota Meadows Middle School and Mankato East Junior High); and two high schools (Mankato West High School and Mankato East High School).

Mankato has two parochial schools: Loyola Catholic School, serving grades K-12 with Good Counsel and Fitzgerald campuses, and Immanuel Lutheran Grade School and High School. There are also two public charter schools: Bridges Elementary and RiverBend Academy Charter School.

Higher education institutions

 * Minnesota State University
 * Bethany Lutheran College
 * Rasmussen College
 * South Central College

Major events

 * Minnesota State University is home to the Minnesota Vikings summer training camp.
 * Annual Ribfest in August.
 * Minnesota Flight Academy each summer at Mankato Regional Airport by the Civil Air Patrol.

Places of interest

 * Land of Memories Park along the Blue Earth and Minnesota Rivers, features bike trails, camping, disc golf, and soccer fields.
 * The Verizon Wireless Center, formerly operated under the names Midwest Wireless Civic Center and Alltel Center, is an arena in downtown Mankato.
 * Franklin Rogers Park, home of the Mankato Moondogs of the Northwoods League, a collegiate summer baseball league
 * Minneopa State Park is located west of Mankato.
 * Sibley Park is a city park located along the river in Mankato.
 * The River Hills Mall
 * Happy Chef original restaurant and company headquarters. Mankato also is home to the last 40-foot Happy Chef statue, which used to be found at most of their restaurants.
 * Good Counsel Hill
 * Blue Earth County Courthouse
 * The Hubbard House Blue Earth County Historical Society - French Second Empire style built in 1871.

Notable people

 * Daniel Akerson, Investment banker and CEO of General Motors
 * Adrienne Armstrong was a resident in the early 1990s while attending Minnesota State University, Mankato; she is married to Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong
 * Walter Jackson Bate, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer, born in Mankato in 1918
 * Frederick Russell Burnham, "father of the international scouting movement," born near Mankato on 11 May 1861
 * Howard Burnham, mining engineer and a spy for the government of France, born near Mankato on 27 May 1870
 * Marvel Cooke, African-American journalist, writer and civil rights activist
 * Clifford Fagan, basketball referee, member of the Basketball Hall of Fame
 * Ron Johnson, Republican U.S. Senator from Wisconsin
 * Sinclair Lewis, author
 * Maud Hart Lovelace, author of the Betsy-Tacy series of books
 * Melissa Peterman, actress who graduated from Minnesota State University, Mankato in the 1990s
 * Mike Ploog, comic book and film-production artist
 * Julia Sears, pioneering feminist and suffragette
 * Glen Taylor, businessman and owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves and Minnesota Lynx basketball teams
 * Timothy J. Walz, former teacher at Mankato West High School and current U.S. Representative for Minnesota's 1st congressional district

Rankings & ratings
Mankato/North Mankato was ranked 16th in the nation in a survey of 577 cities nationwide. The survey rates the country's "micropolitan" areas in multiple quality of life criteria. This national youth advocacy group, founded by Gen. Colin Powell and dedicated to making children and youth a priority, named Mankato one of the top 100 communities in the nation for kids. Criteria included the presence of caring adults, transportation for children, presence of places to learn and grow, education opportunities, and opportunities for children to volunteer. Rolling Stone magazine named Mankato/St. Peter one of the top 50 college towns in the country because of its rich and diverse music scene. For three consecutive years, Mankato/North Mankato ranked in the top 25 small cities nationwide for new and expanded corporate facility projects. The community ranked 16th in 2002(the Minnesota community to make the list), 13th in 2003, and 23rd in 2004. Mankato and North Mankato placed in the top 50 U.S. cities classified as "dreamtowns." Cities were ranked according to quality of life indicators such as vitality, supply of good jobs, freedom from stress, connection to cultural mainstream, support for schools, access to health care, low cost of living, and small town character. The City of Mankato was named the 14th most livable micropolitan in America and number one in Minnesota.
 * Bizjournals.com, 2006
 * America's Promise, 2005
 * Rolling Stone College Guide, 2005
 * Site Selection Magazine, 2002, 2003 and 2004
 * Bizdemographics awarded Mankato an "A" in terms of business climate, a sign of excellent economic health. The study considered charactersitics such as population growth, per capita income, job growth, and local educational levels.
 * Demographics Daily, September, 2000
 * The New Rating Guide to Life in America's Small Cities, January, 1998
 * In 2004 Mankato was rated as the funniest city in America by Hallmark Cards.

Transportation
Transportation in Mankato is provided by The Mankato Transit System.