The Land of 10,000 Lakes is a pretty fascinating place, but those unfamiliar with it may not be aware of some of the most interesting Minnesota facts. Here are a few that we thought folks might like to know about.
- The Land of 10,000 Lakes actually has more than 14,000 named lakes that are 10 acres or larger.
Willard/iStock / Getty Images Plus via Getty Images In terms of total number of lakes, Minnesota ranks fourth, behind Alaska (with a whopping 3 million-plus), Michigan, and Florida.
- We invented water skiing.
Unknown/Wikimedia Commons Well, technically speaking, Ralph Samuelson of Lake City invented water skiing - but we all take credit for it.
- Post-It Notes were born here.
DangApricot (Erik Breedon)/Wikimedia Commons Art Fry, a scientist at Minnesota’s own 3M Corporation, invented the product when the developer of a tacky, reusable adhesive, 3M scientist Dr. Spencer Silver, could not come up with an application for his invention.
- Although known for its deep Scandinavian roots, Minnesota is home to the largest Hmong and Somali communities in the United States.
McGhiever/Wikimedia Commons
- There’s a 60-foot tall magnetic rock in northern Minnesota.
Mark Yackley/Google The hike out is lovely, and yes, this stone column is actually magnetic.
- Home to a rare, three-way continental divide, and located in the center of the country on the Canadian border, Minnesota is the only state that water flows out of and not into.
Eric Willman/Google With the exception of a few border streams that cross into the state and leave again.
- Speaking of which, the headwaters of the Mississippi River is right here in Minnesota.
Roscoe P/Google You can walk across it at Lake Itasca in Itasca State Park.
- You have to drive through Canada (or cross a lake) to get to part of Minnesota.
Laurie Shaull/Wikimedia Commons The Northwest Angle, a Lake of the Woods peninsula, is part of Minnesota but only connects to Manitoba by land. It’s the northernmost point in the Lower 48.
- More turkeys are hatched in the Gopher State than anywhere else in the country.
Scott Bauer/Wikimedia Commons Minnesota produces around 40 million birds annually.
- Dorothy’s ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz were stolen in Minnesota.
dbking/Wikimedia Commons The notorious heist occurred when they were on display at the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids. Part of the museum is located in the childhood home of Garland, who was a Minnesotan.
- Minnesota is home to the delightful meat treat Spam.
Pavel Kucherov/Google You can even take a tour of the Spam Museum if you visit Hormel headquarters in Austin.
- More gray wolves live in Minnesota than in any other of the Lower 48 states.
USFWS Midwest Region/Wikimedia Commons This is because the state’s wolf population was the only one to have avoided extirpation in the 19th and 20th centuries.
- Two Minnesotans have won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
Unknown/Wikimedia Commons Bob Dylan, of Hibbing, in 2016, and Sinclair Lewis of Sauk Centre in 1930. Lewis’s boyhood home is now a museum.
- Fargo is NOT in Minnesota. But its sister city Moorhead is.
Xacto/Wikimedia Commons The 1995 movie, Fargo, which was set in Minnesota, left a lot of folks thinking that the city was located in the state. Well, it’s not. It’s located in North Dakota, across the Red River from Moorhead, Minnesota.
Did anything on this list surprise you? What are some other quirky Minnesota facts we should know about?
Willard/iStock / Getty Images Plus via Getty Images
In terms of total number of lakes, Minnesota ranks fourth, behind Alaska (with a whopping 3 million-plus), Michigan, and Florida.
Unknown/Wikimedia Commons
Well, technically speaking, Ralph Samuelson of Lake City invented water skiing - but we all take credit for it.
DangApricot (Erik Breedon)/Wikimedia Commons
Art Fry, a scientist at Minnesota’s own 3M Corporation, invented the product when the developer of a tacky, reusable adhesive, 3M scientist Dr. Spencer Silver, could not come up with an application for his invention.
McGhiever/Wikimedia Commons
Mark Yackley/Google
The hike out is lovely, and yes, this stone column is actually magnetic.
Eric Willman/Google
With the exception of a few border streams that cross into the state and leave again.
Roscoe P/Google
You can walk across it at Lake Itasca in Itasca State Park.
Laurie Shaull/Wikimedia Commons
The Northwest Angle, a Lake of the Woods peninsula, is part of Minnesota but only connects to Manitoba by land. It’s the northernmost point in the Lower 48.
Scott Bauer/Wikimedia Commons
Minnesota produces around 40 million birds annually.
dbking/Wikimedia Commons
The notorious heist occurred when they were on display at the Judy Garland Museum in Grand Rapids. Part of the museum is located in the childhood home of Garland, who was a Minnesotan.
Pavel Kucherov/Google
You can even take a tour of the Spam Museum if you visit Hormel headquarters in Austin.
USFWS Midwest Region/Wikimedia Commons
This is because the state’s wolf population was the only one to have avoided extirpation in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Bob Dylan, of Hibbing, in 2016, and Sinclair Lewis of Sauk Centre in 1930. Lewis’s boyhood home is now a museum.
Xacto/Wikimedia Commons
The 1995 movie, Fargo, which was set in Minnesota, left a lot of folks thinking that the city was located in the state. Well, it’s not. It’s located in North Dakota, across the Red River from Moorhead, Minnesota.
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