Sauk Centre

Sauk Centre, Minnesota
—  City  —
Location of Sauk Centre, Minnesota
Coordinates: 45°44′11″N 94°57′15″W / 45.73639°N 94.95417°W / 45.73639; -94.95417
Country	United States
State	Minnesota
County	Stearns
Area
- Total	4.0 sq mi (10.3 km2)
- Land	3.7 sq mi (9.6 km2)
- Water	0.3 sq mi (0.7 km2)
Elevation	1,250 ft (381 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	3,930
- Density	1,057.2/sq mi (408.2/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	56378
Area code(s)	320
FIPS code	27-58648[1]
GNIS feature ID	0651233[2]
Website	www.ci.sauk-centre.mn.us

Sauk Centre is a city in Stearns County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,930 at the 2000 census. It is the birthplace of Sinclair Lewis, a novelist and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, and Sauk Centre served as the inspiration for Gopher Prairie, the fictional setting of Lewis's 1920 novel Main Street.

Sauk Centre is part of the St. Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.0 square miles (10.3 km²), of which, 3.7 square miles (9.6 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.6 km²) of it (6.30%) is water.

Sauk Centre is located along Interstate 94, U.S. Route 71, and Minnesota State Highway 28. It is approximately 100 miles northwest of the Minneapolis/Saint Paul metropolitan area.

The city is considered to be in the middle of the state. Sauk Lake and Sauk River are the most notable water features of the area.

Demographics

As of the census^[1] of 2000, there were 3,930 people, 1,616 households, and 1,042 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,057.2 people per square mile (407.9/km²). There were 1,709 housing units at an average density of 459.7/sq mi (177.4/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 98.68% White, 0.31% African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.25% Asian, 0.25% from other races, and 0.38% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any were 0.53% of the population.

There were 1,616 households out of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.0% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.5% were non-families. 31.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 3.01.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.6% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 25.1% from 25 to 44, 18.6% from 45 to 64, and 22.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 89.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $37,644, and the median income for a family was $47,623. Males had a median income of $33,382 versus $20,399 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,390. About 2.3% of families and 5.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.9% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over.

Churches

• Harvest Community Church

• Our Lady of the Angels Catholic Church

• Saint Paul Catholic Church

• First Lutheran Church (ELCA)

• Zion Lutheran Church (LCMS)

• Faith Baptist Church

• First United Church of Christ

• River of Life Assembly of God Church

• Good Samartian Episcopal Church

• Kingdom Hall Jehovah's Witnesses

• Sauk Centre United Methodist Church

Notable natives

• Sinclair Lewis -- American novelist and playwright, 1930 Nobel Prize winner in Literature, first American to win the Prize for Literature
• Henry Johnson -- American professor of education, author of a memoir "The Other Side of Main Street" which contains a chapter on the early days of Sauk Centre
• Douglas Kampsen - Sauk Centre born author who wrote the musical review, "A Dash of Rosemary!"
• Ivy Hildebrand -- Historian, antiquarian and teacher who wrote "Sauk Centre, The Story of a Frontier Town."
• James Hendryx -- American novelist and author of short stories, several of his early novels were turned into movies the silent era.

Naming the city

Located by Sauk Lake the town was named Sauk Centre.

Education

There are two schools in the town: Holy Family and Sauk Centre Public School. Holy Family is a Catholic private school; it enrolls students from kindergarten to 6th grade. Sauk Centre Public School has 3 departments: Elementary (kindergarten to 6th grade), Junior high (7th to 9th grade) and Senior high (10th to 12th grade). Students in the school are also called Main Streeters, or Streeters, which comes from the novel Main Street by Sinclair Lewis.

See also

• Sinclair Lewis Boyhood Home
• Sinclair Lewis park

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
2. ^ "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. http://geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

External links

• City of Sauk Centre, MN -- Official site
• Tri-CAP (Transit/bus)

v • d • e Municipalities and communities of Stearns County, Minnesota County seat: St. Cloud Cities Albany | Avon | Belgrade | Brooten‡ | Clearwater‡ | Cold Spring | Eden Valley‡ | Elrosa | Freeport | Greenwald | Holdingford | Kimball | Lake Henry | Meire Grove | Melrose | New Munich | Paynesville | Richmond | Rockville | Roscoe | Sartell‡ | Sauk Centre | Spring Hill | St. Anthony | St. Augusta | St. Cloud‡ | St. Joseph | St. Martin | St. Rosa | St. Stephen | Waite Park Townships Albany | Ashley | Avon | Brockway | Collegeville | Crow Lake | Crow River | Eden Lake | Fair Haven | Farming | Getty | Grove | Holding | Krain | Lake George | Lake Henry | Le Sauk | Luxemburg | Lynden | Maine Prairie | Melrose | Millwood | Munson | North Fork | Oak | Paynesville | Raymond | Sauk Centre | Spring Hill | St. Joseph | St. Martin | St. Wendel | Wakefield | Zion Footnotes ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties