Pequot Lakes, Minnesota
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Pequot Lakes is a city in Crow Wing County, Minnesota, USA. The population was 947 at the 2000 census and is estimated to be 1,956 as of 2005.
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[edit] Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.4 km² (1.7 mi²). 3.8 km² (1.5 mi²) of it is land and 0.6 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (13.69%) is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 947 people, 479 households, and 231 families residing in the city. The population density was 252.2/km² (653.8/mi²). There were 564 housing units at an average density of 150.2/km² (389.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.10% White, 1.06% African American, 0.32% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.11% from other races, and 0.11% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.74% of the population.
There were 479 households out of which 23.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.5% were married couples living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 51.6% were non-families. 47.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 24.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.96 and the average family size was 2.81.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.9% under the age of 18, 8.7% from 18 to 24, 24.8% from 25 to 44, 19.5% from 45 to 64, and 23.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 78.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $23,813, and the median income for a family was $35,000. Males had a median income of $28,355 versus $18,816 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,275. About 11.5% of families and 14.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.9% of those under age 18 and 12.0% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] History
According to the Pequot Lakes Heritage Preservation Commission, a city once called Sibley and Frogtown became Pequot. In 1900, Walter and Flora Brown filed their plat for the E 1/2 of the SW 1/4 section 10 in T136N-R29W under the title Pequot. It's easy to figure out where the name Lakes came from, but what about Pequot? The Pequot Indians are a small tribe that has existed in eastern Connecticut since the first European settlers arrived here (see Pequot war). While no Pequot tribes ever lived in this area, the Algonquin language was carried here by the Chippewa (Ojibwe) tribes. The name Pequod was used by Herman Melville for the ficticious ship in his novel Moby Dick.
Two possible explanations for the town's name arise:
1. Lakes area historian Carl Zapffe suggests that a variation of the Chippewa word for arrow (bikwas) as listed by Father Barroga in his Chippewa dictionary gave rise to the word Pequot.
2. Another explanation comes from a 1936 interview of Laurence Anderson, who moved to the town in the mid 1890s. "A daughter of Waubanaquot, Chief of the White Earth Tribe, was named O-Pequot and lived north of the town on the north end of Sibley Lake. She graciously allowed her dugout home to be used as a school and a church for the early settlers of the town. When she died, she was buried in the town cemetery."
Was the name Pequot chosen to honor her? No one knows for sure why Walter and Flora chose the name Pequot. However, we do know that change was mandated by the U.S. Post Office because of a town already named Sibley in southwestern Minnesota. In any event, the town's name was officially changed to Pequot in 1902.
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