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Thief River Falls, Minnesota

Coordinates: 48°07′09″N 96°10′52″W / 48.11917°N 96.18111°W / 48.11917; -96.18111
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Thief River Falls, Minnesota
City
Location of Thief River Falls, Minnesota
Location of Thief River Falls, Minnesota
CountryUnited States
StateMinnesota
CountyPennington
Area
 • Total5.0 sq mi (12.9 km2)
 • Land4.8 sq mi (12.4 km2)
 • Water0.2 sq mi (0.6 km2)
Elevation
1,132 ft (345 m)
Population
 (2000)
 • Total8,410
 • Density1,760.0/sq mi (679.5/km2)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code
56701
Area code218
FIPS code27-64570Template:GR
GNIS feature ID0653129Template:GR
Old Soo Line depot, now City Hall
Old Carnegie library, Main Ave
United Methodist Church, downtown

Thief River Falls, also called Thief River or TRF, is a city in Pennington County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 8,410 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Pennington CountyTemplate:GR.

U.S. Route 59 and Minnesota State Highways 1 and 32 are three of the main arterial routes in the city.

The town is the home of snowmobile manufacturer Arctic Cat. South of Thief River Falls is one of the area's few Native American casinos, 7 Clans Casino, which also contains a hotel and indoor water park. Thief River Falls is home to the Electronic Parts Distributor Digi-Key, one of the largest employers in the area, and was the birthplace of the vaunted Steiger Tractor, produced from 1958 to the late 1980s.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.0 square miles (12.9 km²), of which, 4.8 square miles (12.4 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.5 km²) of it (4.21%) is water. It is located at the confluence of the Red Lake River and the Thief River. Thief River Falls is located approximately 70 miles south from the Canadian border, and 50 miles northeast from Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Demographics

As of the censusTemplate:GR of 2000, there were 8,410 people, 3,619 households, and 2,091 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,760.0 people per square mile (679.3/km²). There were 3,931 housing units at an average density of 822.7/sq mi (317.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.555% White, 0.27% African American, 0.95% Native American, 0.67% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.62% from other races, and 0.90% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.63% of the population.

There were 3,619 households out of which 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.2% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.2% were non-families. 35.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21 and the average family size was 2.84.

In the city the population was spread out with 22.4% under the age of 18, 11.7% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 18.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 90.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $30,759, and the median income for a family was $40,908. Males had a median income of $30,332 versus $20,785 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,489. About 8.0% of families and 12.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.3% of those under age 18 and 15.7% of those age 65 or over.

History

Thief River Falls takes its name from a geographic feature, the falls of the Red Lake River at its confluence with the Thief River. The name of the river is a loose translation of the Ojibwe phrase, Gimood-akiwi ziibi, literally, the "Stolen-land river" or "Thieving Land river," which originated when a band of Dakota Indians occupied a secret encampment along the river, hence "stealing" the land, before being discovered and routed by the neighboring Ojibwe.[1] In the Treaty of Old Crossing of 1863, the Moose Dung's Indian Reservation was established on the west bank of the Thief River, at its confluence with Red Lake River. This Indian Reservation was dissolved in 1904 and their population incorporated as part of the Red Lake Band of Chippewa. The Falls marked the limit of navigability of the Red Lake River, where the eponymous townsite was established in 1887 and later incorporated as a city in 1896. Before the reduction of the Red Lake Indian Reservation to its present size, the former boundaries, in part, went from Upper Rice Lake south of Bagley, Minnesota, to the mouth of Thief River and then continuing up Thief River; portion of northbound U.S. Route 59 leading into Thief River Falls follows this former boundary line.

Education

Thief River Falls is home to a public school district operating a high school (Lincoln High School), middle school (Franklin Middle School), and elementary school (Challenger Elementary School). Lincoln has a division winning Math League team. Benefactor Ralph Engelstad, who was raised in Thief River Falls, built a $10 million hockey arena for the high school hockey team. The arena is called Ralph Engelstad Arena, the same name as the $100 million hockey arena in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Thief River Falls is also home to Northland Community and Technical College (NCTC) which also has a campus in East Grand Forks, Minnesota. The college has experienced steady growth in enrollment in the past decade.

Healthcare

Meritcare Thief River Falls Northwest Medical Center, is a Critical Access Hospital (CAH) with 25 beds non-governmental, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) status and the area's community hospital. It houses an Inpatient and Outpatient Mental Health Unit, encompasses a Free-standing 15 bed group home for mentally ill, a Free-standing 10 bed treatment center for emotionally disturbed children, has 24/7 Doctors on site in the Emergency Room and is the ONLY Hospital in the community of Thief River Falls, Minnesota. It is staffed by over 300 employees, making it one of the largest employers in the area. It is governed by an eight-member Board of Directors.

Meritcare Thief River Falls Northwest Medical Center Clinic offers medical services like laboratory, surgery, family physicians, and a women's health center.

Media

The local newspaper is the Thief River Falls Times. It is a weekly newspaper. The daily newspapers Grand Forks Herald and Star Tribune are also available. Most local television stations that can be received in TRF are based in Grand Forks or Fargo. Thief River Falls is home to several radio stations, and several radio stations from Grand Forks, ND can also be received. KBRR-TV 10 is licensed to Thief River Falls but the signal originates from Fargo, North Dakota.

Local radio stations

Licensed to Thief River Falls:

Signal reaches Thief River Falls:

Local Life

LaBree Avenue

Since the city's foundation in 1896, LaBree Avenue has been a cornerstone of community life. Many of the businesses that were born in Thief River Falls were started on LaBree. Annually, the city's Chamber of Commerce will hold "Crazy Dayz" which is a "bargain day" of sorts on LaBree. Also, each fall, the city closes the street and hosts the "Great American Block Party", during which vendors line the street and live music is performed.

Thief River Golf Club

Thief River Falls is home to an 18-hole golf course situated along the Thief River north of the city.

Snowmobiling

The city is along several regional snowmobile trails reaching northern Minnesota, including the Wapiti Trail, which leads to Fourtown and Grygla. Other trails lead to Greenbush, Warren, and Red Lake Falls, to name a few.

River Walk

The TRF River Walk lines the rivers from one end of town to the other. The river walk connects several parks including the dam, Red Robe Park, and the Northland Woods.

Rivers and Rails

Thief River Falls is situated on the junction of two rivers, Red Lake River from the east, southeast and the Thief River from the north. The proximity to forests and shipping made Thief River Falls ideal for logging. In the late 1800s the Great Northern Railway was built, and in 1904, the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railway (“Soo Line”) passed through on its route from Saint Paul to Winnipeg. Branches were later built to Drake, North Dakota and Duluth, Minnesota. The Minnesota Northwestern Electric Railway ran from Thief River Falls to Goodridge between 1914 and 1940.

Today, the river and rails still power the local economy with tourism and shipping. Canadian Pacific Railway and Minnesota Northern Railroad now occupy tracks through town. To this day, Soo Line engine 1024 rests outside city hall (formerly the Soo Line Depot).

On Tuesday, August 21, 2007, Empress Express (Canadian Pacific 2816) spent the night in front of the historic Soo Line depot in Thief River Falls. Thief River Falls Radio reported the classic steam engine was built in 1930, and the 45 ticketed passengers were to leave for Glenwood, Minnesota on Wednesday morning.

Industry

Thief River Falls (and surrounding region) has been home to major industry including snowmobiles, farm machinery, and global electronics distribution. Thief River Falls was home to the headquarters of the Cycle Detection Warning System up until its shutdown on April 13, 2009.

Snowmobiles

Main article: Arctic Cat

Arctic Cat, Inc. can trace its roots to former Polaris Industries founder Edgar Hetteen who left Polaris in 1960 and started Polar Manufacturing in Thief River Falls. Shortly after changing name to Arctic Enterprises, the new company produced snowmobiles. Arctic Cat purchased several boat manufacturers including Spirit Marine which produced the first Wetbike in 1978. A few snowless winters in the early 1980s bankrupted the 20-year-old company which closed their facilities by 1982. In 1984, Arctic Cat was reborn under a new company, Arctco, which changed to Arctic Cat in 1996.

Digi-Key Corporation

Main article: Digi-Key

Digi-Key is a privately held global electronics distributor based in Thief River Falls. The company started in 1972 with Dr. Ronald A. Stordahl's interest in ham radio which led him to assemble and sell digital electronic keyer kits for sending radiotelegraph code for ham radio operators. This device was called the Digi-Key.[2] Digi-Key has distributed parts literally "around the world" as parts from Digi-Key now orbit Earth.

Tractors

Steiger Tractors were invented by Douglas and Maurice Steiger from Thief River Falls during the 1950s. The brothers built their first tractor the winter of 1957-58 after seeing a need to cover their ground more efficiently. After designing and building the tractors on their farm for six years, the brothers opened a production facility in Fargo, North Dakota. A new plant built in 1974 could produce a new tractor every 18 minutes. Steiger produced many models of tractor with the main feature being the horsepower. Ford chose Steiger to manufactor the Ford tractors of the late 1970s and early 80s. As the farm economy slumped in the late 80s, Steiger had trouble selling tractors. Steiger filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1986 and was soon after sold to Tenneco, parent company of J. I. Case. Case IH continued to produce and sell Steiger tractors while introducing lines of 4wd tractors for itself. Case still produces Steiger tractors out of the Fargo facility.[3]

Notable Names

Ralph Engelstad

Ralph Engelstad was born in Thief River Falls on January 28, 1930 and was the owner of the Imperial Palace (hotel and casino) in Las Vegas, Nevada. Englestad donated funds to build the Ralph Engelstad Arena (Minnesota) in Thief River Falls in 2003.

Gary Paulsen

Gary Paulsen, noted author of such classics as Hatchet, grew up in Thief River Falls.

Moise Paul

Moise Paul is a former Florida Gators football player who attended Northland Community & Technical College.

Tim Bergland

Tim Bergland is a retired pro ice hockey player who played for the Washington Capitals and the Tampa Bay Lightning. Bergland also captained the Minnesota Gophers hockey team and participated in the 1995 IIHF World Championships.

Wyatt Smith

Wyatt Smith is an NHL player currently of the Phoenix Coyotes.

Local TRF Resident Wins Contest on National TV

Lorri Skogstad, Thief River Falls, won a contest featured on Live with Regis and Kelly. On May 29, 2007, Skogstad correctly answered the question, "In what 1987 film did we say Kevin Costner appeared as a Navy officer?" She answered, "No Way Out" and won "Live's Sunblast Trivia A-Glo-Go" valued at over $5,300. [1]

Reality TV exposure

A family from Thief River Falls and a family from Saratoga, California switched wives for two weeks on the popular ABC reality show, Wife Swap, directed by Todd Baker. Doug Williams is an overnight Thief River Falls police officer who swapped his wife Jo Williams, a prison guard, with Abra Slater whose husband is Mark Slater. Both families have children. The episode aired on ABC on October 2, 2006.

Movie Exposure

In the movie "Miracle", the Thief River Falls Airport is shown

Thief River, A Play

The celebrated American playwright Lee Blessing’s work, Thief River, debuted in 2000 at the Eugene O'Neil Theater in Waterford, Connecticut. It subsequently ran off-Broadway in New York in June 2001 to mixed reviews, and later had a longer run in San Francisco. The Wall Street Journal called it “an old fashioned gay love story - one where love is upstaged by shame, secrecy and social defiance.” It is the story of Gil and Ray, who at age 17 were secret lovers in what one reviewer called "a small homophobic Minnesota town in the '40s""--presumably Thief River Falls. The plot portrays a love between these two men that spans 53 years. As stated by another reviewer, "The play attempted to show what it would be like to be a gay man in a small town in the late '40s, when two men kissing would have been a revolutionary act." [4] The play most recently ran in Chicago in early 2007, where it was called "the definitive work capturing the homosexual experience in the rural American Midwest over the last 50 years." [5]. The specific Minnesota connection of the play is unstated, but playwright Blessing grew up in the Twin Cities area and attended Minnetonka High School before leaving for Reed College in Oregon in the late 1960s.

Brynn Hartman

Main article: Brynn Hartman

Brynn Hartman was born Vicki Omdahl in Thief River Falls to Donald Gene Omdahl and Constance Faye Omdahl on April 11, 1958. Hartman performed minor acting rolls on television and film including North and 3rd Rock from the Sun. Brynn married actor Phil Hartman. In the early 1990s, she can be seen in the opening credit sequence of Saturday Night Live having dinner with Phil (back to the camera). In 1998 Brynn killed Phil in his sleep with three shots using a revolver after an argument. She later killed herself.

Bill Carlson

Bill Carlson was a longtime noon news anchor for CBS owned WCCO-TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Bill Carlson was born in Thief River Falls but was raised in St. Paul, Minnesota. Carlson joined WCCO Radio in 1951. He died Feb. 29, 2008, of prostate and liver cancer.

2005 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

Main article: 2005 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships

Thief River Falls, along with Grand Forks, North Dakota, hosted the 2005 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships between December 25, 2004 and January 4, 2005. The Ralph Engelstad Arena hosted the Thief River Falls games, one of which was broadcast on sports network, ESPN.

References

  1. ^ William W. Warren, History of the Ojibway People, ch. 5
  2. ^ Digi-Key History
  3. ^ Steiger Tractor, Steiger 4wd, Steiger Four Wheel Drive, Steiger Panther, Steiger Cougar, Steiger Tiger, Steiger Puma, Steiger Bearcat, Steiger Wildcat, Steiger Series III, Steiger Series II, Steiger Series IV, Steiger Series I, Steiger 1000 Series, Steiger 9100 series, Case International, CaseIH, Case New Holland, Fargo North Dakota, Bonanazaville, Steiger #1, Steiger Barney, Steiger 2200, Steiger V grill, Steiger Safari Cab, Steiger Tiger IV KP525, CaseIH 9190 steiger4wdtractorhistory
  4. ^ Richard Connema, "The West Coast Premier of Lee Blessing's, Thief River", San Francisco Chronicle, 2002, reprinted at http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/sanfran/s297.html
  5. ^ Rick R. Reed, Theater: The Other Side of the ‘River’, Windy City Times, Feb. 28, 2007)

48°07′09″N 96°10′52″W / 48.11917°N 96.18111°W / 48.11917; -96.18111

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