Otsego, Minnesota
13 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1953 and the latest in 1991. It stands in Otsego City. It lies in ZIP code area 55330. The Survey maps it on the Elk River quadrangle. 19,966 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 879 feet above sea level.
Population over time
2 figuresOtsego grew from 13,571 to 19,966 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.
| Year | People | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 13,571 | |
| 2020 | 19,966 | +6,395 (+47%) |
Topographic sheets covering this place
9 surveys from 13 printed sheetsMatched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.
- 1953 USGS Stillwater quadrangle1:250000
- 1955 USGS Stillwater quadrangle1:250000
- 1958 USGS Stillwater quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1961 USGS Elk River quadrangle1:24000, 3 printings
- 1961 USGS Elk River quadrangle1:62500
- 1965 USGS Stillwater quadrangle1:250000
- 1975 USGS Stillwater quadrangle1:250000, 2 printings
- 1985 USGS Anoka quadrangle1:100000
- 1991 USGS Anoka quadrangle1:100000
In the county-history sources
2,441 words on this townshipHistory of Wright County, Minnesota Volume II, published 1915 names this settlement in its chapter on Otsego City. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.
Otsego township is in the northeastern part of Wright county, and embraces the east half of township 121, range 24, and fractional township 121, range 23, covering in all some 20,000 acres, spread over about thirty sections. It is bounded on the north and east by the Mississippi river, for a short distance on the east by the Crow river, on the south by Frankfort township, and on the west. by Monticello township.
Passage source: History of Wright County, Minnesota Volume II, published 1915.
From 1850 or 185] to 1854 the Winnebago Indians had a settlement in Otsego township, and Samuel E. Carrick, a fur trader, was located here with them. The Winnebago reservation was north of the Watab river, but they had gradually wandered into Wright county and established themselves here. Carrick located here permanently late in 1852.
Passage source: History of Wright County, Minnesota Volume II, published 1915.
The first permanent white settlers in Otsego were John MeDonald, Sr., and David MePherson, They arrived about July 31, 1852. McPherson remained here a few years and then went to Pike's Peak. John McDonald, Sr., remained here. Other early settlers were Charles Laplant, Caleb Chase, Alvah Cooley, D. L, Ingersoll, Archie Downie, Otis T. True, Dudley P. Chase, Ezra Tubbs, Josiah B. Loeke, Henry Heap, Philip Boyden and A. J. Wood.
Passage source: History of Wright County, Minnesota Volume II, published 1915.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Otsego City - it names this place 11 more 11 times.
Fires near this place
74 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 74 fires within 5 miles of Otsego between 1992 and 2020, burning about 209 acres in total. None started naturally. 6 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Debris and open burning | 28 |
| Railroad operations and maintenance | 15 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 12 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 6 |
| Smoking | 5 |
| Equipment and vehicle use | 4 |
| Other causes | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 1 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 September 1999 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 15 August 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 15 August 2006 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 8 June 1997 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 4 June 1992 | Misuse of fire by a minor | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 22 June 1998 | Railroad operations and maintenance | 1.0 acres | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 13 June 1997 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 8 May 2016 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | not named |
Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:
Mines and quarries near this place
8 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Otsego: 7 producers, 1 prospect. 7 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barton Pit No 715 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Barton Pit No 717 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Country Club Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Prospect | ||
| Elk River Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Elk River Sand & Gravel | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Hanson Pit and Mill | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Kreger Pit and Mill | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Malstrom Pit No 726 | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this place
18 since 2005Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Otsego in 18 storm reports between 2005 and 2023: 13 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind, 2 lightning. The reports record 2 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 2005 | Lightning | Otsego | 2 hurt | Two people sustained minor injuries when lightning struck a nearby tree. |
| September 2005 | Hail | Otsego | $25,000,000 | Hail damaged roofs and siding of houses, as well as many vehicles. Property damage total includes damage from across all of Wright County from 9-21-05. |
| April 2016 | Lightning | Otsego | $500,000 | The morning of Sunday, April 24th, a thunderstorm moved across eastern Minnesota. Lightning struck one home in Otsego around 5 AM LST and caught fire. Then the fire and high winds spread the fire to two additional homes in the neighborhood. One home was completely destroyed while the others had extensive fire, water and smoke damage. No one was injured. |
| June 2015 | Hail | Otsego | $5,000 | Numerous reports of large hail occurred for several minutes around the city of Otsego. The largest hail stone was golf ball size. The local emergency manager indicated some crop damage around Otsego. |
| September 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otsego | - | A measured wind report from a private weather station. |
| September 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otsego | - | Twelve by sixteen foot farm outbuilding blown into ditch. 23 homes suffered minor damage. Scattered trees were felled. |
| September 2005 | Thunderstorm Wind | Otsego | - | Pole barn roof torn off. |
| July 2023 | Hail | Otsego | - | no account filed |
| July 2019 | Hail | Otsego | - | no account filed |
| July 2019 | Hail | Otsego | - | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Hail | Otsego | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Otsego | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Otsego | - | no account filed |
| May 2008 | Hail | Otsego | - | no account filed |
| July 2007 | Hail | Otsego | - | no account filed |
| September 2007 | Hail | Otsego | - | no account filed |
| August 2006 | Hail | Otsego | - | no account filed |
| September 2005 | Hail | Otsego | - | no account filed |
Nearest settlements
The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.
| Map | Place | Distance | Sheets |
|---|---|---|---|
| Albertville | 4.2 miles | 15 | |
| Saint Michael | 5.9 miles | 15 | |
| Hanover | 9.1 miles | 15 | |
| Monticello | 11.0 miles | 16 | |
| Rockford | 14.9 miles | 15 | |
| Rockford Riverview Estates | 15.4 miles | 15 | |
| Buffalo Manor East | 15.7 miles | 12 | |
| Bufflao Manor | 15.8 miles | 12 |
Elsewhere
Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.
| Wikipedia article on Otsego | An encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied. |
| Wikidata item Q990850 | The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0). |
Provenance
This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 649039. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.








