Anoka Map
Anoka is a city in Anoka County, Minnesota. The population was 17,142 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat. Anoka is also the self-proclaimed "Halloween Capital of the World", because it hosted one of the first Halloween parades in 1920. In 1937, city officials persuaded the United States Congress to officially grant the title. It continues to celebrate the holiday each year with several parades. Anoka is a northern suburb of the Twin Cities.
U.S. Highways 10 / 169 and State Highway 47 are three of the main arterial routes, and a station on the Northstar Commuter Rail line to downtown Minneapolis is located in the city.
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. In 1856, C. C. Andrews described Anoka as a "large and handsome village" and noted that pine logs were floated down the Rum River to sawmills there. 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".
Nearby cities include Mounds View, New Hope, Crystal, Otsego, Robbinsdale.
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