Envision Shakopee

Shakopee’s Past

SHAKOPEE’S PAST

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GROWTHANDDEVELOPMENT OVER TIME

37 Running Header Place Holder 2 1 4 3 8 7 6 5 ENVISION SHAKOPEE | COMMUNITY OVERVIEW Shakopee’s Past Running Header Place Holder Running Header Place Holder Running Header Place Holder Running Header Place Holder Running Header Place Holder

Steamboat travel along the Minnesota river provided access to the area in the early 1840s, and a trading post was established within a decade. In 1854, founder Thomas Holmes platted Shakopee City. The City of Shakopee was incorporated in 1857, having already been designated then as the Scott County seat. Rail access in the 1860s brought growth and economic development through the remainder of the century. The town steadily grew in population through the 1950s, with residents concentrated around Shakopee’s downtown business district. Development of the Valley Green Industrial Park in the 1960s brought physical expansion to the city with new jobs and residents. In the 1970s and ‘80s, development of an amusement park and horse-race track made Shakopee more of a regional destination. Since 1970, Shakopee has grown from a rural community of less than 8,000 people to a city of more than 40,000. Rapid population growth began in the mid-1990s with the increased regional access provided by the construction of the Bloomington Ferry Bridge across the Minnesota River and the US Highway 169 bypass which rerouted traffic away from Downtown Shakopee to, what was then, the south edge of the city. With a population of approximately 20,000 in the year 2000, Shakopee has doubled in population in just 15 years. That population growth has continued to the present day, with an estimated 41,000 residents in 2018. This rapid growth has brought extensive change to a community that has historically had a small town identity. The city now covers 30 square miles of northern Scott County and includes a wide variety of commercial centers, business and industrial developments, and residential neighborhoods.