Shakopee, Minnesota Facts for Kids

Shakopee (/ˈʃɑːkəpi/ shah-KƏ-pee) is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Minnesota, United States. It is southwest of Minneapolis. Sited on the south bank bend of the Minnesota River, Shakopee and nearby suburbs comprise the southwest portion of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, the nation's 16th-largest metropolitan area, with 3.7 million people. The population was 43,698 at the 2020 census.

The riverbank's Shakopee Historic District contains burial mounds built by prehistoric cultures. In the 18th century, Chief Shakopee of the Mdewakanton Dakota established his village on the east end of this area, near the water. Trading led to the city's establishment in the 19th century. Shakopee boomed as a commerce exchange site between river and rail at Murphy's Landing.

Shakopee was once an isolated city in the Minnesota River Valley, but by the 1960s its economy was tied to that of the expanding metropolitan area. Significant growth as a bedroom community occurred after U.S. Highway 169 was realigned in 1996 toward the new Bloomington Ferry Bridge.

The city is known for Valleyfair amusement park and the Canterbury Park racetrack.

History
Geography
Demographics
- 2010 census
Economy
- Top employers
Arts and culture
Education
Notable people
In popular culture
See also

History

Burial mounds along the Minnesota River bluff, within the present-day Veterans Memorial Park, are between 500 and 2,000 years old.

Nicollet referred to the "Village of the Six", a permanent Dakota village south of the river, as acting as a boundary to the Ojibwe, but historians have since situated it east of the present downtown. He noted the village and locality was commonly called the "village of the prairie" (tinta ottonwe). The Shakopee band lived in summer bark lodges and winter tipis. They followed the changes of the seasons in planting cornfields.

With the 1851 Treaty of Traverse des Sioux, the Sioux tribe ceded land, and many relocated to Chief Shakopee II's village. The latter people had moved south to what was later assigned to them as the Shakopee-Mdewakanton Indian Reservation in nearby Prior Lake.

In 1851, Thomas A. Holmes established a trading post west of the Dakota and platted Shakopee Village in 1854, named after Chief Shakopee II. The city quickly grew, incorporating in 1857. It surrendered its charter in 1861 due to conflicts in the Dakota War. As tensions lifted, the city incorporated again in 1870. The western end retained township status and was renamed Jackson Township in 1861, likely after President Andrew Jackson.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 29.32 square miles (75.94 km²); 28.01 square miles (72.55 km²) is land and 1.31 square miles (3.39 km²) is water.

U.S. Highway 169 and County Highway 101 are two of Shakopee's main routes. Highway 169 and nearby State Highway 13 connect Shakopee to the rest of the Minneapolis–Saint Paul region. County Highway 101 serves as a major east–west connector route of historic downtown Shakopee.

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1860	1,138	—
1870	1,349	18.5%
1880	2,011	49.1%
1890	1,757	−12.6%
1900	2,047	16.5%
1910	2,302	12.5%
1920	1,988	−13.6%
1930	2,023	1.8%
1940	2,418	19.5%
1950	3,185	31.7%
1960	5,201	63.3%
1970	6,876	32.2%
1980	9,941	44.6%
1990	11,739	18.1%
2000	20,568	75.2%
2010	37,076	80.3%
2020	43,698	17.9%
2022 (est.)	45,735	23.4%
U.S. Decennial Census 2020 Census

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 37,076 people, 12,772 households, and 9,275 families living in the city. The population density was 1,323.7 inhabitants per square mile (511.1/km²). There were 13,339 housing units at an average density of 476.2 per square mile (183.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 77.0% White, 4.3% African American, 1.2% Native American, 10.3% Asian, 4.5% from other races, and 2.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.8% of the population.

There were 12,772 households, of which 45.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.1% were married couples living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.9% had a male householder with no wife present, and 27.4% were non-families. 20.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.83 and the average family size was 3.31.

The median age in the city was 32.2 years. 30.2% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 37.2% were from 25 to 44; 19.2% were from 45 to 64; and 6.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.8% male and 51.2% female.

Economy

Top employers

According to the city's 2022 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), Shakopee's top employers are:

#	Employer	# of Employees
1	Amazon	2,500
2	Valleyfair	1,600
3	School District No. 720	1,228
4	Emerson	1,192
5	Canterbury Park	930
6	St. Francis RMC	840
7	Entrust Datacard	800
8	Scott County	751
9	Imagine Print Solutions	600
10	City of Shakopee	325

Arts and culture

Canterbury Park

Valleyfair is an amusement park.
The Landing is an 88-acre (360,000 m²) historic village on the Minnesota River, representing Minnesota life from the 1840 to 1890.
Canterbury Park is a horse racetrack and card club.
Minnesota Renaissance Festival is an interactive outdoor event that recreates a fictional 16th-century "England-like" fantasy kingdom.
Downtown Shakopee has numerous boutiques and restaurants, an old-fashioned bakery, Turtle's 1890 Social Center, riverside concerts, and summertime biweekly classic car shows.
Scott County Historical Society Museum features the historic 1908 Stans House.

Education

Shakopee Public Schools (ISD 720) include five elementary schools, two middle schools, one senior high school, and two learning centers. The schools are:

Red Oak Elementary
Sun Path Elementary
Sweeney Elementary
Eagle Creek Elementary
Jackson Elementary
Shakopee West Middle School
Shakopee East Middle School
Shakopee High School
Tokata Learning Center
Pearson Early Learning Center
Central Family Center

Shakopee is also the location of the Shakopee Area Catholic Schools.

Living Hope Lutheran School is a Christian pre-K-8 school of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod in Shakopee.

Shakopee has a campus of the Globe University/Minnesota School of Business, a private career college.

Notable people

Jamal Abu-Shamala, basketball player for the Minnesota Golden Gophers
Jack Bergman, congressman and retired Marine lieutenant general
Anthony Bonsante, professional boxer and competitor on the reality TV show The Contender
Scott Ferrozzo, mixed martial artist
Eleanor Gates, playwright
William Geister, member of the Minnesota House of Representatives
Amy Menke, professional ice hockey player
Erik Mortensen, former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives
Harrison J. Peck, lawyer, newspaper editor, mayor of Shakopee, and member of the Minnesota Senate
Jason Perkins, professional basketball player
Andrew Reiner, executive editor of Game Informer and guitarist in The Rapture Twins
Maurice Stans, 19th U.S. secretary of commerce
Christopher Straub, fashion designer and contestant on Project Runway
Brad Tabke, member of the Minnesota House of Representatives

In popular culture

The Daily Show reported on the then fence-less women's prison in Shakopee, and arguments among citizens about adding a fence.
Shakopee was the setting for a Saturday Night Live sketch in 2012, and in 2013 about the fictitious Shakopee Hip-Hop station "B108FM".

Shakopee, Minnesota facts for kids

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