Manomin County was a county in Minnesota that existed separately for 13 years from 1857 to 1869.[1] The land was originally split off from Ramsey County.[2] When it was formed, it was the smallest county in the United States at roughly 16 square miles.[3] It comprised the Fridley Township, named for Minnesota legislator Abram M. Fridley.[4] Abram Fridley was the chairman of the county commissioners during the lifetime of the county.[5] The population in 1860 was 136.[6] It was merged into Anoka County in 1869. This land area currently makes up the unusual southward extension of Anoka County between Hennepin and Ramsey counties. The Manomin County Park in Fridley, at the confluence of Rice Creek and the Mississippi River remains near the former Manomin town site.[7]
Manomin County | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Location within the U.S. state of Minnesota | |
 Minnesota's location within the U.S. | |
| Coordinates: 45°04′N 93°15′W / 45.07°N 93.25°W | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Minnesota |
| Founded | May 23, 1857 |
| Named for | Ojibway word for wild rice |
| Seat | Manomin |
| Largest city | Manomin |
| Area | |
| • Total | 16 sq mi (40 km2) |
| Population | |
| • Estimate (1860) | 136 |
Manomin is a variant spelling of manoomin, the Ojibwe word for wild rice, a staple of their diet.[8] A current Minnesota county, Mahnomen, created in 1906, is similarly named.
History
editManomin county was created when the Fridley township sections were split from Ramsey County, on May 23, 1857.[9] The county seat was Manomin (present-day Fridley). Another former county, Buchanan County, was created in Minnesota on the same day. Manomin County was disbanded in 1858 and administratively attached to St. Louis County, Minnesota.[1] In 1860, it was attached to Anoka County.[1] At the time, the area's population was 136.[1] In 1863, it was attached to Hennepin County.[1] An amendment to Article 11 of the state constitution, to bring Manomin County into Anoka county passed in the November 2, 1869, election with 88.9 percent support.[10] Henry C. Fridley, son of territorial legislator Abram M. Fridley, would later describe the situation in a letter dated April 18, 1899.
- "...Of course, a county of so small an area and sparsely populated was unable to maintain an organization without embarrassment and liability of being subject to exorbitant taxation, should its political management fall into incompetent hands. It was 'an elephant on our hands,' difficult to get rid of, because of the constitutional provision against reducing counties below four hundred square miles, hence the constitutional amendment was submitted and adopted as the only way out of the dilemma."[11]
Geography
editWithin the boundaries of what was Manomin county are today the cities of Fridley, Columbia Heights, Hilltop, part of Spring Lake Park, and a small part of Coon Rapids. It was technically described,
- "The county of Manomin is established and bounded as Beginning in the middle of the channel of the Mississippi river at its with the line between townships twenty nine and thirty north of twenty four west from the fourth meridian thence east on said town line to the south east corner of town thirty of range twenty four thence on the east line of said town to the north east corner thereof thence on the north line of said town to the centre of the channel of the river thence down the middle of said channel to the place of beginning ."[12]
The county consisted of 18 sections, of which six were bounded by the Mississippi river, and measured less than the 640 acres of a full section.[13]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Biber, Josh – Manomin: Our Missing Metropolitan County. The Minnesota Historian, November 13, 2022
- ^ Warner, George E.., Foote, Charles M.. History of Ramsey County and the City of St. Paul: Including the Explorers and Pioneers of Minnesota. United States: Higginson Book Company, 1881.
- ^ The Minnesota Story Prepared by the Minnesota Historical Society UNKNOWN COUNTY. Winona Daily News, September 30, 1958 (p. 6)
- ^ Upham, Warren. Minnesota place names : a geographical encyclopedia. Saint Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2001. pg. 25
- ^ Winchell, H. N.., Neill, Edward Duffield., Williams, John Fletcher. History of the Upper Mississippi Valley. United States: Minnesota Historical Company, 1881.
- ^ Forstall, Richard L., ed.; "Population of States and Counties of the United States 1790 to 1900;" Washington: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 1996.
- ^ Manomin Park. National Park Service Web Site for the Mississippi River Recreation area. (Viewed April 2024)
- ^ Upham, Warren – Minnesota Geographic Names. Minnesota Historical Society, 1969
- ^ History of the Upper Mississippi Valley, Winchell, Neil, Williams, and Bryant, Minneapolis : Minnesota Historical Co, 1881
- ^ Manomin County was created on May 23, 1857, was organized at once and was absorbed by Anoka County on November 2, 1869. (Laws 1857 extra session ch 40; Secretary of State Legislative Manual 1941 p 34)
- ^ Goodrich, Albert M.. History of Anoka County and the Towns of Champlin and Dayton in Hennepin County, Minnesota. United States: Anoka Bicentennial Commission, 1905.
- ^ Young, George Brooks. The General Statutes of the State of Minnesota: As Amended by Subsequent Legislation, with which are Incorporated All General Laws of the State in Force at the Close of the Legislative Session of 1878. United States: West, 1881.
- ^ Bennett, L. G. – Map of Ramsey and Manomin Counties and Hennepin East. Charles Schober & Co. Chicago, 1867
Further reading
edit- Potter, Merle – Major Fridley's Kingdom of Manomin reprinted from the Minneapolis Journal, September 4, 1932