Shakopee

There's something for everyone in Shakopee...

My first experience with Shakopee was the Renaissance Festival. If you think you can handle live jousting... or the insults of costumed artisans (all in good fun!) then this might be your ticket. The grounds are modeled after a 16th Century village and the fair runs weekends in August and September.

Valley Fair:
Valleyfair is the largest amusement park in the Upper Midwest. The park features more than 75 rides and attractions on 90 acres of land, with coasters big enough to define the City skyline. With Soak City Waterpark, Planet Snoopy, Dinosaurs Alive!, thrilling coasters, food and games, Valleyfair encourages fun for the entire family from May through August.

*Weekends in September and October, Valleyfair transforms into a Halloween-themed park. During the day, Planet Spooky is open for trick-or-treating, storytelling and activities with Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang. At night, Halloween Haunt at ValleySCARE welcomes mature park-goers to experience haunted rides, mazes and attractions.

Canterbury Park:
One of two major horse racing tracks in Minnesota, Canterbury Park is open for live thoroughbred and quarter horse racing from May to September. The Canterbury Card Club, a large card casino featuring poker and blackjack, is open year-round. During the off seasons, Canterbury also houses special events and concerts and continues the spirit of live racing with winter snowmobile races.

The Landing:
Ever wonder what life in Shakopee was like more than 150 years ago? Operated by the Three Rivers Park District, The Landing features authentic 19th-century buildings and costumed tour guides to help visitors travel back to a time of settlers and farmsteads along the Minnesota River Valley. The Landing is open weekends and weekdays seasonally, with special events offered during the holiday season.

Sever's Corn Maze:
Looking to "lose the kids" for a few minutes? Since 1997, Sever’s Corn Maze has been a yearly tradition in Shakopee. Open select weekends in September and October, Sever’s Corn Maze & Fall Festival features a uniquely designed corn stalk maze, live music, pig races, camel rides, petting zoo, a giant corn pit and much more.

River Valley Theatre Company:
This community theater group performs two to three productions a year, including a summer musical. Past productions include “The Wizard of Oz,” “Anything Goes,” “Lend Me a Tenor” and “Rumors.”

Shakopee

Shakopee is not only a city in Scott County but it is the latter’s county seat. It is also home to the Canterbury Park horse racetrack and the Valleyfair Amusement Park.

Legends indicate that an Indian village called Teenatahotonwa used to be located in the east side of Shakopee and it was headed by Chief Shakopee, in whose honor the city was named after. Like all the other cities in Minnesota, Shakopee used to be inhabited by Indians and their burial mounds are found at a memorial park in the city.

Located near the Twin Cities, Shakopee provides its resident both the rural mystic of country life as well as the comforts of modern living. It is thus not surprising that Shakopee is one of the fast rising cities in Minnesota.

Population Profile

Shakopee is considered a growing city with a population of 20,568 people as of the 2000 Census. However, that number is said to have risen to 30,000 people based on 2004 estimates. There are at least 7,540 households in the city as of the last count.

Most of the residents or 91.61% are Whites followed by Asians (2.41%), other races (2.14%), and African Americans (1.33%). The rest is a mixture of Hispanics or Latinos and those from other races.

Majority or 58.2% of the 7,540 households consist of married couples that are living together. Shakopee’s population is very young with a median age of 32 years old which is considered younger than the median age for the whole country.

While it had a per capita income of only $25,128, it is surprising to note that only 1.8% of the families are living below the poverty line. However, a greater percentage or 3.5% of the total population are living below the poverty line.

The median age for residents in Shakopee, MN is 31.5 (this is younger than average age in the U.S.).

History

The city’s officials and residents are still collecting memorabilia and other historical stories and items to piece together an extensive history of Shakopee. However, a mural created by Harmon Arndt and displayed at the Shakopee High School Library, depicts the history of the area in more ways than one.

The mural came to be after the artist closely conferred with pioneering residents and leading citizens of Shakopee. The result is a mural that vividly narrates, albeit silently, the history of Shakopee.

The mural has been divided into several panels and each panel depicts a certain period in Shakopee’s history. The first one dates back to the presence of Sioux Indians who were said to be the early settlers in the area. Shakopee’s history would not be complete without mentioning Reverend Samuel Pond and his brother Gideon, Connecticut missionaries who came to Teenatahotonwa in 1847.

Among the two prominent settlers of Shakopee who were depicted in the mural are Thomas A Holmes (who is acknowledged as the father of Shakopee) and David L. Fuller. Holmes arrived in Shakopee in 1851 and stayed in the area with about 20 White families despite being outnumbered by the 800 Indian settlers.

The very first buildings in Shakopee, as shown in the mural, are the Methodist Episcopal Church (built in 1867), City Hall and Fire Department (built in 1883) and the Union School (which was opened in 1882). The first railroad train entered Shakopee in 1865.