Guide to Blackduck Minnesota

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.0 km² (1.5 mi²). 3.9 km² (1.5 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.04 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.96% water.

As of the census ² of 2000, there are 696 people, 304 households, and 175 families residing in the city. The population density is 180.4/km² (465.8/mi²). There are 324 housing units at an average density of 84.0/km² (216.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 92.10% White, 0.86% African American, 3.45% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.14% from other races, and 3.30% from two or more races. 0.72% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 304 households out of which 26.0% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.1% are married couples living together, 14.5% have a female householder with no husband present, and 42.4% are non-families. 37.8% of all households are made up of individuals and 19.7% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.14 and the average family size is 2.81.

In the city the population is spread out with 24.6% under the age of 18, 9.1% from 18 to 24, 22.0% from 25 to 44, 15.8% from 45 to 64, and 28.6% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 40 years. For every 100 females there are 68.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 64.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $21,848, and the median income for a family is $29,750. Males have a median income of $28,594 versus $16,838 for females. The per capita income for the city is $12,536. 16.9% of the population and 11.6% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 18.5% of those under the age of 18 and 15.8% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Blackduck (1,404 alt., 753 pop.), the most northern point in the Paul Bunyan Playground, Blackduck Lake and Blackduck River took their name from a species of duck common throughout the State.

A prehistoric Indian village once stood on the shores of Blackduck Lake, and some of the early fur traders may have visited this area, portaging over the Continental Divide, then traveling north on the Blackduck River.

The village developed as the center of a lumbering district about 1900. Pine, cedar, and balsam attracted many loggers, and sawmills were built. The Minneapolis Cedar and Lumber Company in 1903 operated a plant that sawed lumber and made ties and cedar posts. The Stoner Lath and Lumber Company was established in 1919; its mill, with a capacity of 100,000 feet in ten hours, specialized in balsam lath.

With the decline of the lumber industry, Blackduck turned to agriculture. The deep black and sandy loam soils proved suitable for diversified farming, and settlers took up land. Dairying and poultry and cattle raising developed. Blackduck's cooperative creamery, the oldest one in Beltrami County, was established in 1915 and ten years later had 200 patrons. In 1927, it constructed at a cost of $12,000 a modern brick and concrete plant, where annually 400,000 pounds of butter are produced. Blackduck is a shipping point for dairy products, livestock, clover seed, flax, and other farm produce.

Tourist trade is becoming important. The village is situated at the northwest corner of the Chippewa National Forest, and adjacent to it is the 75,732-acre Blackduck State Forest, established in 1935. Approximately 5,245 acres of the latter wilderness are covered by water. Game, especially bear, deer, ducks and partridge, being plentiful, hunters come to Blackduck in great numbers during the hunting season.

Blackduck Independent School 60 is a three-story brick building that has facilities for grade and high school pupils. The Village Hall houses the fire department, regarded as the most modern in any town of equal size in the State.

Such rapid strides have been made by the community that it claims to be the "livest small town in the Northwest".