St. Ansgar, Iowa

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

St. Ansgar is a city in Mitchell County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,031 at the 2000 census.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Famous people from St. Ansgar
4 External links

[edit] Geography

St. Ansgar is located at 43°22′44″N, 92°55′10″W (43.378814, -92.919576)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.0 km² (0.8 mi²), all land.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,031 people, 447 households, and 282 families residing in the city. The population density was 510.3/km² (1,320.7/mi²). There were 471 housing units at an average density of 233.1/km² (603.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 99.61% White, 0.19% Asian, and 0.19% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.19% of the population.

There were 447 households out of which 21.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.0% were married couples living together, 6.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.7% were non-families. 34.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 22.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.13 and the average family size was 2.70.

In the city the population was spread out with 17.9% under the age of 18, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 19.8% from 25 to 44, 24.9% from 45 to 64, and 31.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 50 years. For every 100 females there were 77.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 74.4 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $33,977, and the median income for a family was $46,667. Males had a median income of $28,704 versus $20,294 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,100. About 6.6% of families and 9.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.6% of those under age 18 and 3.9% of those age 65 or over.

History

St. Ansgar is named for the patron saint of Scandinavia, a French Benedictine monk who christianized much of Denmark, Sweden, and northern Germany between 830 and 865 A.D. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Ansgar). The town is the site of a pioneer Norwegian Lutheran Church founded in December of 1853 by Rev. Claus Lauritz Clausen, a Dane who was commissioned by the Lutheran Church of Norway to form congregations for Norwegian immigrants in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota.

The St.Ansgar congregation and town served as a center for the dispersion of Norwegian settlers further north into Minnesota and also into western Iowa from the mid-1850s into the 1870s. Clausen formed 21 additional congregations, the majority further west and north. (booklet published by the First Lutheran Church of St. Ansgar on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the congregation, 1853-2003; available in the Iowa State Historical Society collection).

A fortified stone outbuilding locally called Fort Severson, one half mile west of St.Ansgar, was built in 1867 by settlers associated with the Clausen settlement anxious about the continued presence of Sauk and Fox Native Americans travelling through the area along the Deer Creek and the Cedar River. Their fears were animated by the killing of white settlers at Spirit Lake Iowa in 1857 and in New Ulm, Minnesota in 1862. The distinctively fortified building is the sole surviving example of many that were built. The site is open to the public. http://72.14.207.104/search?