Okabena, Minnesota
Encyclopedia
Okabena is a town in Jackson County
Jackson County, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 11,268 people, 4,556 households, and 3,116 families residing in the county. The population density was 16 people per square mile . There were 5,092 housing units at an average density of 7 per square mile...

, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The population was 188 at the 2010 census. The community's name is a Dakota
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...

 term meaning "the nesting place of herons."

History

Most of the original settlers were driven out in 1862 due to the Dakota War, but settlers began returning after the Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

.

On May 19, 1933, the Okabena Bank was robbed by Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie and Clyde
Bonnie Elizabeth Parker and Clyde Chestnut Barrow were well-known outlaws, robbers, and criminals who traveled the Central United States with their gang during the Great Depression. Their exploits captured the attention of the American public during the "public enemy era" between 1931 and 1934...

. After leaving the bank, they were shot at many times, but escaped on a country road with approximately $2500.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the city has a total area of 0.2 square mile (0.517997622 km²), all of it land.

The community is located on County Roads 9 and 20 west of South Heron Lake.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 185 people, 76 households, and 49 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 893.3 people per square mile (340.1/km²). There were 87 housing units at an average density of 420.1 per square mile (160.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 100.00% White. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 6.49% of the population.

There were 76 households out of which 28.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.6% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.5% were non-families. 32.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 19.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the city the population was spread out with 29.2% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 25.9% from 25 to 44, 15.1% from 45 to 64, and 22.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 101.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.5 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $32,188, and the median income for a family was $35,500. Males had a median income of $28,438 versus $19,375 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the city was $14,332. None of the families and 1.5% of the population were living below the poverty line.

Politics

Okabena is located in Minnesota's 1st congressional district
Minnesota's 1st congressional district
Minnesota's 1st congressional district extends across southern Minnesota from the border with South Dakota to the border with Wisconsin. The First District is primarily a rural district built on a strong history of agriculture, although this is changing rapidly due to strong population growth in...

, represented by Mankato
Mankato, Minnesota
Mankato is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 39,309 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth largest city in Minnesota outside of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The county seat of Blue Earth County, it is located...

 educator Tim Walz
Tim Walz
Timothy James Walz is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party .The district comprises the state's southern end, running along the entire border with Iowa...

, a Democrat
Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party is a major political party in the state of Minnesota and the state affiliate of the Democratic Party. It was created on April 15, 1944, with the merger of the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Farmer–Labor Party...

. At the state level, Okabena is located in Senate
Minnesota Senate
The Minnesota Senate is the upper house in the Minnesota Legislature. There are 67 members, half as many as are in the Minnesota House of Representatives. In terms of membership, it is the largest upper house of any state legislature. Each Senate district in the state includes an A and B House...

 District 22, represented by Republican
Republican Party of Minnesota
The Republican Party of Minnesota is the Minnesota branch of the United States Republican Party. Elected by the party’s state central committee in June 2009, its chairman is Tony Sutton, and its deputy-chairman is Michael Brodkorb.-Early history:...

 Doug Magnus
Doug Magnus
Douglas Rudy "Doug" Magnus is a Minnesota politician and a member of the Minnesota Senate, representing District 22, which includes all of Cottonwood, Jackson, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone and Rock counties in the southwestern part of the state...

, and in House
Minnesota House of Representatives
The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house in the Minnesota State Legislature. There are 134 members elected to two-year terms, twice the number of members in the Minnesota Senate. Each senate district is divided in half and given the suffix A or B...

 District 22B, represented by Republican Rod Hamilton
Rod Hamilton
Rodney W. "Rod" Hamilton is a Minnesota politician and a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives representing District 22B, which includes all or portions of Cottonwood, Jackson and Nobles counties in the southwestern part of the state...

.

External links

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