Alexandria, Minnesota

Alexandria is a city in and the county seat of Douglas County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,335 as of the 2020 census. I-94 passes through Alexandria, along with Minnesota State Highways 27 and 29. It is ten miles (16 km) south of Lake Carlos State Park.

First settled in 1858, it was named after brothers Alexander and William Kinkead from Maryland. The form of the name alludes to Alexandria, Egypt, a center of learning and civilization.

The village of Alexandria was incorporated February 20, 1877. Its city charter was adopted in 1908, and it was incorporated as a city in 1909. W. E. Hicks was pivotal to the town's early development. He purchased the townsite in 1868 and established a mill, hotel, newspaper, and store. He donated property for a courthouse, jail, and two churches: Methodist and Congregational.

The Kensington Runestone, a purported artifact left behind by pre-Columbian Norse explorers of the region, was uncovered by farmer Olaf Ohman near Alexandria in 1898. Despite scholarly consensus identifying the stone as a hoax, the stone quickly became a symbol of Alexandria and western Minnesota writ large. The stone is housed in the Runestone Museum, and is commemorated with a 28-foot-tall statue of a viking, "Big Ole", whose shield bears the slogan "Alexandria: The Birthplace of America". The statue, originally built for the 1964 New York World's Fair, currently stands at the north end of the downtown, on the shore of Lake Agnes.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 17.904 square miles (46.37 km²), of which 17.189 square miles (44.52 km²) is land and 0.715 square miles (1.85 km²) is water. Many of the people who live in Alexandria are not calculated into the population because they are spread out of the city and live on and around the many lakes.^{[citation needed]}

Alexandria has a dry-winter warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dwb), with cold, snowy winters and warm (sometimes hot and humid) summers. The autumn and spring are generally pleasant. Average annual precipitation (both snow and rain) is about 25 inches.

As of the 2020 census, there were 14,335 people, 6,566 households, and 3,338 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,735.0 inhabitants per square mile (669.9/km²). There were 7,321 housing units. The racial makeup of the city was 91.9% White, 1.2% African American, 0.5% Native American, 1.0% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, 1.1% from some other races and 4.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.4% of the population. 20.4% of residents were under the age of 18, 5.9% were under 5 years of age, and 22.3% were 65 and older.

As of the 2010 census, there were 11,070 people, 5,298 households, and 2,552 families living in the city. The population density was 693.6 inhabitants per square mile (267.8/km²). There were 5,821 housing units at an average density of 364.7 per square mile (140.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 96.3% White, 0.8% African American, 0.4% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.3% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.5% of the population.