Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/241534
OUR HISTORY The city of Minot, North Dakota was founded in 1886 where the Great Northern Railway's construction crew set up their winter camp. As if by magic, a tent town formed practically overnight and grew to a population of 5,000 in the next five months—giving us our best known nickname, "The Magic City." During the Prohibition Era, some people called Minot "Little Chicago" (We've always been known to have fun!), but today our reputation is different from those bootlegging days. In 2010, Forbes ranked Minot, ND as #12 on its list of "The Best Small Cities To Raise a Family." NOTEWORTHY Minot is the hometown of Hollywood A-list actor, Josh Duhamel. Nearly a century ago, it was also home to horror actor, Boris Karloff. With more than 13 million online votes from around the nation, Minot's Oak Park won the title of "America's Favorite Park" and received a $100,000 grant through Coca-Cola's second annual Live Positively initiative! Roosevelt Park Zoo is North Dakota's oldest zoo, established in 1920. After two years of recovering from the 2011 flood, the zoo reopened in May 2013. The state's record smallmouth bass (6 lb., 13 oz.) was caught in 2007 at Lake Darling near Minot. The Minot Air Force Base, just north of Minot, has personnel from all over the world and is the only dual-wing nuclear capable base in the Air Force. Its motto is, "Only the Best Come North." Minot celebrates North America's largest Scandinavian Festival, Norsk Høstfest, every fall. In 1991, a 230-year-old house from Norway was dismantled, shipped to Minot and reassembled in the Scandinavian Heritage Park where you can view it today. Minot is home to North Dakota's third largest university, Minot State University. MSU was founded in 1913 and just celebrated 100 years of higher education. visitminot.org 3