Crosby is a city in

Crow Wing County Crow Wing County is a county in the East Central part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 66,123. Its county seat is Brainerd. The county was formed in 1857, and was organized in 1870. Crow Wing County i ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

, United States. The population was 2,386 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Brainerd Micropolitan Statistical Area. Crosby is adjacent to its twin city of Ironton, in the Cuyuna iron range.

History

Crosby was built for the sole purpose of mining. It was named for George H. Crosby, a businessman in the mining industry. Crosby was the location of Minnesota's worst mining disaster, the Milford Mine disaster. On February 5, 1924, a new tunnel was blasted too close to nearby Foley Lake, and water rushed in, killing 41 miners. In the 1932 local elections,

Karl Emil Nygard Karl Emil Nygard, also known as Emil C. Nygard and under the pen name Ada M. Oredigger (August 25, 1906 – April 26, 1984), was an American politician who was the first and only Communist mayor in the United States when he was elected president ...

was elected president of Crosby's Village Council, making it the first city in the United States to have a

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

mayor. In August 1957, David G. Simons, a 35-year-old Air Force major, climbed to nearly above the earth as part of

Project Manhigh Project Manhigh was a pre-Space Age military project that took men in Balloon (aircraft), balloons to the middle layers of the stratosphere, funded as an aero-medical research program, though seen by its designers as a stepping stone to space. It ...

. The flight, which was launched from Crosby's Portsmouth Mine Pit Lake, helped the United States take its fledgling steps into space exploration. Simons returned to Crosby in 2007 to mark the 50th anniversary of the project.

Geography

Crosby is in eastern

at the intersection of Minnesota Highways 6 and

210 Year 210 ( CCX) was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Faustinus and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 963 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 210 for this y ...

. Ironton is adjacent to the west and Deerwood lies to the east along route 210.

Serpent Lake Serpent Lake is a lake in Crosby and Deerwood, Crow Wing County, in the U.S. state of Minnesota spanning 1,103 acres. Fish that swim there include: Black Bullhead, Bluegill, Brown Bullhead, Largemouth Bass, Northern Pike, Pumpkinseed, Rock Bass, ...

is adjacent to the southeast and the

Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area Cuyuna Country State Recreation Area (CCSRA) is a state park unit of Minnesota, USA, being developed to rehabilitate a portion of the Cuyuna Range where mining pits and piles of waste rock were left behind after decades of open-pit mining for i ...

is to the northwest. The

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

flows by four miles to the north.''Minnesota Atlas & Gazetteer,'' Delorme, 9th ed., 2016, p. 54 According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has an area of , of which is land and is water.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 2,386 people, 1,065 households, and 552 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 1,241 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 96.3%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.4%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 1.1% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.1% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.3% of the population. There were 1,065 households, of which 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 13.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 48.2% were non-families. 42.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 22.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.13 and the average family size was 2.88. The median age in the city was 43.2 years. 23.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 20.5% were from 25 to 44; 24.3% were from 45 to 64, and 24.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 46.7% male and 53.3% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 2,299 people, 989 households, and 554 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 1,081 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.69%

, 0.04%

, 0.91% Native American, 0.22% Asian, 0.09%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.35% from other races, and 0.70% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 1.00% of the population. 23.9% were of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 14.1% Norwegian, 11.7%

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

, 9.6%

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

and 7.0%

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

ancestry according to Census 2000. There were 989 households, out of which 27.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.3% were

living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.9% were non-families. 39.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.93. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.4% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 21.9% from 25 to 44, 20.0% from 45 to 64, and 25.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.5 males. The median income for a household in the city was $24,053, and the median income for a family was $31,629. Males had a median income of $28,879 versus $20,842 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the city was $15,465. About 15.6% of families and 16.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 17.8% of those under age 18 and 12.9% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

* Nick Anderson, pitcher for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Eas ...

* Anthony "The Bullet" Bonsante, boxer * Robert A. Good, physician *

Rick Nolan Richard Michael Nolan (December 17, 1943 – October 18, 2024) was an American politician and businessman who served as the U.S. representative from Minnesota's 8th congressional district from 2013 to 2019. He previously served as the U.S. rep ...

, politician *

, first

mayor in the United States * Thomas W. Simons Jr., U.S. Ambassador to Poland and Pakistan * Howard E. Smith, businessman and Minnesota state legislator

References

External links

City of Crosby, MN – Official WebsiteCuyuna Lakes Chamber of Commerce – Visitor Information site
{{authority control Cities in Minnesota Minnesota populated places on the Mississippi River Cities in Crow Wing County, Minnesota Brainerd, Minnesota micropolitan area Mining communities in Minnesota