Minot, a city located in North Dakota, is the 4th
largest city in the state. Minot is the county seat of Ward
County and is also the trading center for a big portion of
northern North Dakota, Southwestern Manitoba and Southeastern
Also known as "The Magic City", Minot was founded in
1886 during the Great Northern Railroad's construction.Minot got
its nickname "The Magic City" because of the great increase in
its population just five months after it was founded.
What used to be a tent town became a viable city in just a few
short months giving validity
to the town's nickname. The Town
was named after Henry Davis Minot, a railroad investor and good
friend of Jim Hill.
During the Prohibition, the city earned another nickname "Little
Chicago" as it was the center of all of Al Capone's businesses.
Al Capone used a network
of underground tunnels to transport
their illegal goods. Some of the tunnels can still be accessed
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the city has a
total area of 14.6 mi˛ (37.7 km˛). It is almost entirely land;
the Souris River, its oxbow lakes, and a few creeks take up just
of the city's total landmass. The elevation of the river at
the city center is 1556 feet (474 m). The valley sits some 160
feet (50 m) below the surrounding plains; the elevation at the
Minot International Airport on "North Hill" is 1716 feet (523
The city is laid out on a grid-based street system.
Streets run north-south and avenues run east-west. Streets are
numbered by their block distance east or west of Main Street.
Similarly, Avenues are numbered north and south of Central
Avenue. There are four city quadrants (NW, SW, SE, NE) to
describe the exact location of any given address. Main Street
addresses are simply designated North and South. Central Avenue
addresses are simply designated East and West.
A train derailment in the western part of the city in January
18, 2002 sent a huge cloud of anhydrous ammonia towards the town
as well as to Burlington. Many of Minot's citizens got sick and
were injured by the gas.
One man died from the incident. In
early 2006, the court heard the cases that were filed against
Canadian Pacific Railway in Minneapolis, Minnesota. While many
of the cases are still pending, some have been settled.
Ammonia spill was the largest in US history.