Madison, Minnesota
August 14, 2021
I camped at the city‘s campground last night on US 75. It is a lovely small town of less than 2,000 people. Neat, clean and appears to be well loved.
Madison is a city in Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota, United States, along the 45th parallel. The population was 1,551 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Lac qui Parle County. It proclaims itself to be the "lutefisk capital of the USA."
(Lutefisk (Norwegian, pronounced [ˈlʉ̂ːtfɛsk]in Northern and parts of Central Norway,[ˈlʉ̂ːtəˌfɪsk]in Southern Norway; Swedish: lutfisk[ˈlʉ̂ːtfɪsk]; Finnish: lipeäkala[ˈlipeæˌkɑlɑ]; literally "lye fish") is dried whitefish (normally cod, but ling and burbot are also used). It is made from aged stockfish (air-dried whitefish), or dried and salted cod, pickled in lye. It is gelatinous in texture after being rehydrated for days prior to eating.)
History
Madison was platted in 1884, and named after Madison, Wisconsin. A post office has been in operation at Madison since 1884.
The Madison City Council proposed that the city should be named the Lutefisk Capital of the United States in 1982, and the Madison Chamber of Commerce funded the construction of a 25-foot-long fiberglass cod nicknamed Lou T. Fisk, which welcomes visitors.
Demographics
2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 1,551 people, 736 households, and 404 families living in the city. The population density was 1,477.1 inhabitants per square mile (570.3/km2). There were 873 housing units at an average density of 831.4 per square mile (321.0/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 96.6% White, 0.1% African American, 0.6% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 0.1% from other races, and 1.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.5% of the population.
There were 736 households, of which 17.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.2% were married couples living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 2.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 45.1% were non-families. 41.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 28.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.99 and the average family size was 2.68.
The median age in the city was 54.6 years. 17% of residents were under the age of 18; 4.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 15.3% were from 25 to 44; 27.1% were from 45 to 64; and 35.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 46.0% male and 54.0% female