Floodwood, Minnesota

Long before the city of Floodwood existed, its strategic location at the intersection of the East Savanna River with the Saint Louis River made what would later become the city of Floodwood a strategic economic location. The Savanna Portage was a major route for transportation in the southern Arrowhead, but its importance was magnified greatly with the arrival of European fur traders, who used the route to access rich resources of beaver and other fur animals in the upper Mississippi valley. As early as 1679, Europeans were passing by the modern location of Floodwood as they turned from the Saint Louis River to the East Savanna River on their way to the portage.

However, it was not until the late 19th century that homesteads began to appear in the area. In 1889, it was announced that a railroad would pass through the area.[7] This announcement led to a local population boom in anticipation of the opportunities the railroad would bring. In 1890 J. C. Campbell began large-scale logging operations in the area and the C. N. Nelson Lumber Company of Cloquet built a logging railroad in the area (albeit, the logging railroad only operated in the winter - during the summer, the logging operations took advantage of the Saint Louis River to transport timber to mills in Cloquet).

In 1893, the year that local government was first organized, the first Floodwood School building was constructed of logs.[8] The following year, the Nelson Company was purchased by what would, six years later, become the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company, continuing the intensification of logging activities in the area. The community continued to grow and, in 1899, was finally incorporated.

By the time the 1900 United States Census was conducted, Floodwood had a population of 224, which, within the next 10 years, more than doubled to 481.[9] In 1911, the Floodwood School, which had previously been a county school, became Independent School District No. 19 (after 1958, Independent School District 698), and a new, six room, brick building was built for it. The community continued to grow until the 1918 Cloquet Fire nearly ended the city's history.

Floodwood, like most of its neighbors, survived the fire and began a slow recovery. However, the practical importance of the rivers, and thus Floodwood's greatest economic resource, ended. By 1926, the era of large-scale timber operations in the area had come to a close. With the logging operations gone, Floodwood's survival was again in peril.

The solution had already been present since 1911: as the surrounding areas had pastures suitable for supporting dairy cattle, the focus of the community's economy turned to dairy production following the exit of the timber companies. In 1911, the Floodwood Creamery Cooperative was organized. The creamery became the main support of the local economy, selling local dairy products across the world until it closed in the late 1960s. Dairy cattle are still a major part of the local economy.

The 1970 Census showed, for the first time since 1920, that Floodwood's population had decreased. This began a trend that has endured to the present - the last time a census showed an increase in Floodwood's population was in 1960.

Floodwood water tower

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.42 square miles (3.68 km²), all land.[10]

Floodwood sits at the junction of U.S. Highway 2 and Minnesota State Highway 73. It is roughly halfway between Duluth and Grand Rapids along U.S. Highway 2, as well as roughly halfway between Hibbing and Moose Lake along State Highway 73. Also nearby is the city of Cloquet.

Floodwood is 46 miles (74 km) northwest of Duluth and 37 miles (60 km) southeast of Grand Rapids. Floodwood is 33 miles (53 km) northwest of Cloquet and 40 miles (64 km) south of Hibbing.

The city sits at the junctions of the Floodwood River and the East Savanna River with the Saint Louis River. The area surrounding the city largely comprises forests, wetlands and, where the conditions permit, dairy farms. Nearby peat bogs employ many people from Floodwood, Meadowlands and other communities in southwest Saint Louis County. Protected areas near Floodwood include Savanna Portage State Park, the Savanna State Forest and the Floodwood Game Reserve. The Savanna Portage, together with the three rivers that meet in the city, contributes much to local culture.

The city of Floodwood has a mayor-council government and operates under the provisions of state statutes concerning city government (which is true for any city in Minnesota that has not obtained a home-rule charter). The current mayor of Floodwood is Dave Denoyer,[12] who presides over meetings of the city council. The position of City Administrator, created in 2002 to handle the day-to-day operations of the city's administration, is currently held by Jess Rich.

In May 2009, when city leaders from throughout Minnesota made the trek to the State Capitol, Mayor Kletscher made statewide news when he made the comment "My toolbox is empty. We've been facing this for years. We're a very poor city and we can't afford to see tax rates go up."[13] The city leaders were arguing against cuts to state funding for communities in Governor Pawlenty's budget cuts.[14] Kletscher, among others, argued that smaller communities did not have things like libraries that they could close to save funds and that the only way they could continue to function in the face of cuts in state funding would be to raise property taxes, which they did not want to do because residents of these communities are often poor, and they feared the burden would be too much for them to handle.

• John Raymond Ylitalo, diplomat and 29th United States Ambassador to Paraguay – was born in Floodwood
• Joe Polo, American curler in the 2006 Winter Olympics and 2018 Winter Olympics gold medalist– spent some of his early childhood years in Floodwood

• Savanna Portage State Park
• Saint Louis River
• Floodwood River
• East Savanna River

• City of Floodwood, MN – Official Website