Pine City, Minnesota

Pine City is reached as a day trip for tourists from the Twin Cities who enjoy the downtown's specialty stores and restaurants as well as a nearby casino and recreational opportunities, including the scenic St. Croix River valley. Also, a local historical site situated along the Snake River, the Snake River Fur Post, has become a tourist draw; it was used by British fur traders nearly two centuries ago.

Pine City is also home to two golf courses, the Pine City Country Club, a nine-hole, par 36 public course that opened in 1971, and Pokegema Lake Golf Course, a course located just west of town.

The Pine County Fair takes place in Pine City each year in late July/early August. A highlight of the fair is a three-night demolition derby that is one of Minnesota's largest, drawing several thousand spectators each evening. The five-day event is a free gate fair and also features free on-site parking.

The Initiative Foundation named Pine City "Outstanding Community" of 2009[17] and the NAMM Foundation identified it as one of the "Best Communities for Music Education in America" for 2010, 2011 and 2012.[18] In 2016, Movoto named Pine City one of "The 7 Best Towns in Minnesota for LGBT Families".[19] It is also a participant in the Green Steps program by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.[20]

Below is a table of average high and low temperatures throughout the year in Pine City. Of note, Pine City's early years included historic temperature extremes as it was the site of three record-setting cold temperatures:[22]

• March 2, 1897 (-50 °F, March lowest temperature)
• November 30, 1896 (-45 °F, November lowest temperature)
• December 31, 1898 (-57 °F, December lowest temperature)

95.58% White, 1.54% Native American, 1.22% Hispanic or Latino of any race, 0.74% Asian, 0.26% African American, 0.19% from other races, 0.03% Pacific Islander and 1.67% from two or more races.

The city has continued to grow since it was incorporated. In fact, it is one of only three small towns in Minnesota, along with Mora and Litchfield, to have never lost population.[23] Much of the growth of the area occurs around the lakes in the neighboring townships, in Pokegama, Chengwatana or Pine City Township, and as of the latest census, the Pine City Zip Code (55063) had 9,348 residents.

There were 1,222 households out of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.8% were married couples living together, 12.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.9% were non-families. 34.7% 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 2.38 and the average family size was 3.04.

In the city, the population was spread out with 25.3% under the age of 18, 10.5% from 18 to 24, 25.0% from 25 to 44, 17.9% from 45 to 64, and 21.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $29,000 and the median income for a family was $37,000. Males had a median income of $30,000 versus $20,000 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,000. About 10.8% of families and 15.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.4% of those under age 18 and 14.1% of those age 65 or over.

Ancestry of Pine City residents is primarily German (36%), Norwegian (17%), Swedish (15%), and Czech (8%).

After the Census 2010 count of same-sex partners in Minnesota, it was discovered that the Pine City area was home to some of the most concentrated same-sex coupled households of any rural area of the state.[24][25]

Immaculate Conception Catholic Church

While the largest religion in Pine City is none at all, with over half of the community unchurched,[26] it is home to various churches of varying denominations, including:

The Pine City Farmers' Market

Pine City serves as a shopping hub for such surrounding Minnesota communities as Askov, Braham, Brook Park, Henriette, Hinckley, Finlayson, Rock Creek, Rush City and Sandstone, as well as Grantsburg, Wisconsin.

Pine City's iconic A&W carhop in Pine Plaza

In addition to a Walmart Supercenter, Pine City is home to three retail shopping centers: Pine Plaza, Evergreen Square and Northridge Center. Pine Plaza, located in the central business district, was Pine City's first shopping center. It is anchored by an old-fashioned drive-in A&W All-American Food Restaurant, one of the few remaining carhops in the state. Evergreen Square is anchored by Dollar Tree and is also home to such stores as Radio Shack, Great Clips, and Subway (restaurant), as well as a Fairview Health Services clinic. Pine City's newest shopping center is Northridge Center, located at the city's developing northern freeway interchange, home to a Verizon store, Ace Hardware, stores catering to outdoor enthusiasts and service-related enterprises.

Downtown Pine City street scene, along historic 5th Street

Pine City has one of the most evident downtowns between the Twin Cities and the Twin Ports, situated along the Snake River. Robinson Park is in the heart of it and forms the center of the town square, with the old train depot to the east, a library to the south and many mom and pop shops lining historic 5th Street on the west side of the park including a microbrewery named Three Twenty Brewing Co. On the north side is Pine City Scrapbooking Co., a scrapbooking store that has received national attention.[28]

The following banks and financial/lending institutions have a presence in Pine City.

• US Bank
• Wells Fargo (in Speedway)
• Frandsen Bank & Trust
• Northwoods Bank of Minnesota
• Stearns Bank
• Spire Credit Union
• Ameriprise Financial

Historic photo of the Pine County Fair

The following community and regional events are held in and around Pine City.

The Pine City Pirates compete in town team baseball in the Eastern Minny (now North) League, which is part of the Minnesota Baseball Association. Amateur baseball has been a part of Pine City culture for years and has enjoyed many successes in the past. The Pirates had several state appearances including: 1950, 1952 B 2nd, 1953 B 3rd, 1961 and 1962. The team was defunct for a period before being revived in 2017.

The city's law enforcement agency is the Pine County Sheriff's Department, through contract,[35] with 39 full-time staff including 23 sworn officers. The department has two K-9s, named Chewy and Chaos.[36] Besides performing routine patrol duties, the department performs water, atv, and snowmobile patrol, and search and rescue functions.

• ECFE/Community Education (early childhood), 700 6th Avenue SW
• Pine City Elementary School: grades K-6, 700 6th Avenue SW
• St. Mary's School: pre-school, 815 6th Avenue SW

• Pine City Junior High School: grades 7–9, 1400 Main Street S

• Pine City Senior High School: grades 10–12, 1400 Main Street S
• Pine City Area Learning Center (ALC): grades 9 - 12, 1225 Main Street S
• Vision School, Pine Plaza, 870 Main Street S

• Pine Technical and Community College: 900 4th Street SE

The major weekly newspaper in the area is the Pine City Pioneer, with a circulation of over 3,000. The Pioneer is owned by Kanabec Publishing and edited by Mike Gainor. Papers from the Twin Cities are also commonly read.

Pine City receives TV signals from the Twin Cities. Channels include Twin Cities Public Television, WCCO 4, KSTP-TV, KMSP-TV, KARE, WFTC, and KSTC-TV.

WCMP (AM) and WCMP-FM are the two local Pine City stations. The rest are "fringe" stations from surrounding areas. Pine City also receives radio stations from the Twin Cities, St. Cloud, and western Wisconsin areas.

Presently, the Rush Line Corridor task force is studying the feasibility of rail service to serve area commuters and the Northern Lights Express passenger line is proposed to serve area residents as well as those traveling between the Twin Cities and Twin Ports. For travel within the city, there is local taxi service available.

Pine City is served by the Arrowhead Transit intra-county system. An intercity bus service called Jefferson Lines runs from Pine City to St. Paul or Duluth twice daily.

Main Street, formerly U.S. Route 61, now part of the I-35 Business Loop

Pine City is located along Interstate 35 between the Twin Cities and Duluth. The St. Croix Scenic Byway also passes through Pine City. The major highways include:

Pine City is located on rail lines owned by BNSF Railway and leased by St. Croix Valley Railroad.

There is a planned, non-motorized trail connecting the Twin Cities-to-Twin Ports areas called the James L. Oberstar State Trail,[38] awarded federal and state funding to connect the Sunrise Prairie Trail, near North Branch with the Willard Munger State Trail, near Hinckley.

Downtown Pine City street scene with a 500,000-gallon water tower in the background, one of two in the city

Pine City's Lakeside Medical Center has a full-service clinic and nursing home facility. FirstLight Health System and Fairview each have clinics in Pine City as well. FirstLight provides a variety of health care services including: family medicine, obstetrics, orthopedics, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, pediatric therapies, cardiac rehabilitation, and Urgency Services. Its facility encompasses 13,500 square feet (1,250 m²), and a freestanding emergency facility opened in 2015.[39] Fairview Clinic offers mammography, sports medicine and other specialty services on-site. Pine City is also home to three chiropractic clinics and More Than Sprouts, a local market featuring organic and health foods.

Utility providers are regulated monopolies. East Central Energy provides electrical utilities to the community and is a co-op member of Great River Energy. Minnesota Energy supplies gas and US Cable provides cable television. The city treats and distributes water and several local businesses provide garbage removal and recycling services.