Hopkins, Minnesota

Hopkins is a suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, located west of Minneapolis. The city is about four square miles in size and is surrounded by the larger, west suburban communities of Minnetonka, St. Louis Park, and Edina. Hopkins is about 98% developed with little remaining vacant land. The population was 17,591 at the 2010 census.

U.S. Route 169 and Minnesota State Highway 7 are two of the main arterial routes in the city.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.1 square miles (10.6 km²), all land. There are several small ponds on the western side, and some creeks to the north and south. One of these creeks includes Minnehaha Creek. The north branch of Nine Mile Creek has its headwaters in Hopkins at the intersection of 13th Avenue South and Excelsior Blvd.

Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 17,145 people, 8,224 households, and 3,741 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,205.9 people per square mile (1,622.5/km²). There were 8,390 housing units at an average density of 2,058.2 pe square mile (794.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 82.61% White, 5.19% African American, 0.78% Native American, 5.92% Asian, 0.09% Pacific Islander, 2.58% from other races, and 2.82% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.54% of the population. 23.9% were of German, 12.4% Norwegian, 7.4% Irish and 7.1% Swedish ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 8,224 households out of which 22.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 31.4% were married couples living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 54.5% were non-families. 42.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.03 and the average family size was 2.85.

In the city the population was spread out with 19.6% under the age of 18, 10.7% from 18 to 24, 37.2% from 25 to 44, 18.0% from 45 to 64, and 14.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 90.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $39,203, and the median income for a family was $50,359. Males had a median income of $37,541 versus $30,687 for females. The per capita income for the city was $26,759. About 8.1% of families and 9.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.3% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.

History
The first settlers of Hopkins arrived in 1852 as land around the growing Minneapolis-St. Paul area was opening up and being explored by members stationed at Fort Snelling. However, the roots of the town begin in 1887 with the building of the Minneapolis Threshing Machine Company, later called Minneapolis-Moline, to make farm equipment. At the time, Minneapolis Moline employed most of the Hopkins residents. In 1887, the West Minneapolis Land Company was founded and formed to build housing for the Minneapolis Moline factory workers.

In 1893, residents of Hopkins sent the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners a petition signed by 41 residents, asking that a separate village be formed from unincorporated portions of Minnetonka and Richfield Townships. Following an election, the community was then incorporated as the Village of West Minneapolis with a population of 1,105. The original village consisted of about three square miles, and it has been enlarged by annexation to its present size of about four square miles.



In 1928, the name of the village was changed to Hopkins after Harley H. Hopkins, who was among its first homesteaders and was the community's first postmaster. Mr. Hopkins allowed the town to build the train depot on his land (now The Depot Coffee House) with the agreement that the train station would say "Hopkins" on it. People getting off the train assumed the name of the town was Hopkins and it stuck. On January 1, 1948, the village became a city upon adoption of a council-city manager charter.

Timeline

 * 1852 - First settlers arrived
 * 1862 - First school, Burnes, built
 * 1887 - Minneapolis Threshing Machine Company built
 * 1893 - November 7, 1168 people incorporated the village of West Minneapolis
 * 1893 - December 9, first city-council elected
 * 1899 - Streetcar arrived in Hopkins
 * 1928 - July 7, village name changed to Hopkins
 * 1929 - Minneapolis Threshing Machine Company becomes Minneapolis-Moline
 * 1934 - Hopkins business people organized the first Hopkins Raspberry Festival
 * 1947 - December 2, Hopkins became a city through the adoption of a city charter

Public schools
The Hopkins School District serves all or parts of seven Minneapolis west suburban communities: Hopkins, Minnetonka, Golden Valley, Plymouth, Edina, Eden Prairie, and St. Louis Park. Approximately 8,100 students attend seven elementary schools (K–sixth grade), two junior high schools (7th–9th grade), and one high school (10th–12th grade). Some students attend public schools in other school districts chosen by their families under Minnesota's open enrollment statute, as some students from outside Hopkins school district enroll in Hopkins schools on that basis.


 * 1) located in Minnetonka
 * 2) located in Golden Valley

Private schools
There are four private schools in Hopkins:
 * The Blake School: A large private school with several campuses throughout the Twin Cities was originally founded in Hopkins, and the Blake Campus in the city houses both the Middle School and one of its two Lower Schools.
 * Hopkins Montessori School
 * St. David's School: A preschool and child development center
 * St. John's Catholic School

Charter schools

 * Mainstreet School of Performing Arts (MSSPA): A performing arts school that focuses on the three major performing arts areas; music, dance and theater. The school opened in 2004.  Grades 9–12.
 * Ubah Medical Academy is a charter high school currently leasing space in the Katherine Curren Elementary building. The school was chartered in 2003 and was previously housed in Minneapolis.
 * International Spanish Language Academy(ISLA): A K-6 Spanish immersion community (founded in 2007)

Notable people from Hopkins

 * Aaron Brown- Former television anchor for CNN
 * Michael Lehan - American football player (cornerback) for the Miami Dolphins


 * Samantha Harris - E! Entertainment correspondent and Dancing with the Stars co-host
 * Jeffrey Lee Parson - Prosecuted Creator of a Blaster Worm Variant
 * BeBe Shopp - Miss America 1948

Trivia

 * The town is the official home of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Information Club (as their post office box is located there) and as such the town was prominently mentioned at the end of most episodes.
 * Hopkins has twice been in the Guinness Book of World Records, once for worlds tallest water tower, once for most bars per person.