Alexandria is a city in Douglas County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 8,820 at the
2000 census. As of April 2006, Minnesota the population of Alexandria has
been estimated to be 11,323. It is the county seat of Douglas County6. The city
has a museum housing the controversial Kensington
Runestone, which is thought by some to indicate that Vikings had visited the area in
the 14th century. The city hosts the annual Vikingland Band Festival parade marching championship. Alexandria is located near
Interstate 94 (twinned with U.S. Highway 52 in this
part of the state), along Minnesota State Highway 27 and MN-29. Lake Carlos State Park is ten miles
north of Alexandria.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area
of 24.2 km² (9.4 mi²). 23.0 km² (8.9 mi²) of it is
land and 1.2 km² (0.5 mi²) of it (5.02%) is water.
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000,
there were 8,820 people, 4,047 households, and 2,011 families residing in the city. The population density was 383.1/km² (992.5/mi²). There were 4,311 housing units at an average density of
187.2/km² (485.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.94% White, 0.42% African American, 0.34% Native American, 0.57% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.18% from other races, and 0.50% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.80% of the population.
There were 4,047 households out of which 23.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 36.5% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 50.3% were
non-families. 41.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or
older. The average household size was 2.06 and the average family size was 2.81.
In the city the population was spread out with 20.0% under the age of 18, 15.7% from 18 to 24, 24.0% from 25 to 44, 16.7% from
45 to 64, and 23.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 87.2 males.
For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 83.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $26,851, and the median income for a family was $38,245. Males had a median
income of $27,871 versus $20,254 for females. The per capita income for the city was
$16,085. About 7.8% of families and 13.3% of the population were below the poverty
line, including 14.2% of those under age 18 and 15.7% of those age 65 or over.
History
Alexandria, MN was first settled in 1858 and was named after Alexander and William Kinkead. Legend has it that "Old Man
Kinkead" still roams the abandoned hospital, searching for the room where his wife, son, brother, his keys, his father, book
collection, grandmother, kitchen, dog, woodworking tools and both uncles mysteriously vanished some 150 years ago. Folks say a
person can still hear the old man wailing from atop the hospital every full moon, and at the stroke of midnight he'd be waving a
confederate flag.
Media
Television
Alexandria offers one local television station under ABC affiliation, KSAX. KSAX-TV provides
greater Minnesota with local news, weather, and sports. The station airs ten minute segments during KSTP’s newscast. Alexandria
is also home to a full-power repeater of WCCO-TV, KCCO.
The Alexandria area is additionally served by Selective TV, a non-profit, viewer-supported
organization which transmits several cable channels free-to-air over standard
UHF television frequencies, viewable in any area home without subscription.
The stations available in Alexandria are:
Source: FCC Database for Alexandria, Minnesota
Radio
Alexandria and the surround area provide a vast amount of radio stations. There are eight radio stations in Alexandria Three
are locally owned by Paradis Broadcasting: KXRA-AM, KXRA-FM, and KXRZ. Louis H. Buron, Jr. owns two station: KULO and KIKV.
K208EQ, K215BL, and K219FA are transistor radio station. There are four other stations in the surrounding area which include KKOK
from Morris, KRVY from Starbuck, KMGK from Glenwood, and KBHL from Osakis.
AM Radio Stations
FM Radio Stations
Hometown Heroes
- John Hammergren - CEO of the McKesson Corp.
- John Hawkes - Actor
- Tom Lehman - PGA Golfer
- Knute Nelson - United States Senator
- Gary Serum - Minnesota Twins pitcher
- Rick Thoennes - ARCA Driver
Education
Almost all children in Alexandra attend school at Minnesota ISD 206, which consists
of six kindergarten-6th grade elementary schools (Lincoln, Voyager, Washington,
Carlos, Miltona, Garfield), one 7th-9th grade junior high school (Discovery Middle School), and one 10th-12th grade senior high
school (Jefferson High School). There are also multiple
independent k-6 Christian schools in the area.
Transportation
Alexandria has a fair-sized airport called Chandler Field. It is on the southwest edge of town. Alexandria has two major highways. Minnesota State Highway 29 and Minnesota State
Highway 27. Highway 29 connects Alexandria to Glenwood and Parkers Prairie. Highway 27 connects Alexandria to Nelson, Osakis and to western Minnesota. Alexandria is
located near I-94 which allows access to the Twin
Cities and Fargo-Moorhead.
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
