Anoka, MN Real Estate

Anoka is a city in Anoka County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 18,076 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Anoka County 6. Anoka is also the self-proclaimed " Halloween Capital of the World", due to the fact that it hosted the first Halloween parade in 1920. In 1937, city officials persuaded Congress to officially grant the title. It continues to celebrate the holiday each year with several parades.

The site which is now Anoka was first settled by immigrants in 1844. By the mid- 1850s, a town had grown, including a school, store, and flour mill. The city was formally incorporated in 1878. The name Anoka was derived from two Indian words. The native Dakota used A-NO-KA-TAN-HAN, meaning "on both sides", or "from both sides", referring to its location on the banks of the Rum River. The native Ojibwa used ON-O-KAY, meaning "working waters".

Anoka makes a strong claim for providing the first volunteers to the Union Army during the Civil War, noted by a small historical plaque standing at the corner of West Main Street and Park Street. Alexander Ramsey, Minnesota's governor in 1861, was in Washington, D.C. when Fort Sumter was fired upon. He immediately offered a regiment to the War Department, and telegraphed former governor Willis Gorman and Lieutenant Governor Ignatius L. Donnelly that same morning. Gorman, attending a district court session in Anoka, received the note by messenger from St. Paul and called a court recess, asking for volunteers. Aaron Greenwald, who has an "island" named after him on Lake George, and five others stepped forward; Greenwald was the first to sign. He died July 2, 1863, during the 1st Minnesota Regiment 's famous charge at Gettysburg.

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