Filmed on Tuesday, August 15 2023, I drive around the village La Crescent, MN to see what's going on.
The city is known as the "Apple Capital of Minnesota" because John S. Harris planted the first apple trees in the midwest here, resulting in many orchards in the present-day city.
Following the 1803 Louisiana Purchase, Nathan Boone, youngest son of Daniel Boone, was among the early surveyors of this area. The various Indian tribes who had lived here were forced out and relocated in the 1840s to accommodate white settlement.
La Crescent was founded in 1851 by Peter and Emma Cameron, who called it "Camerons". The Camerons were two of the town's most colorful characters; Mr. Cameron tried to dig a canal to change the flow of the Mississippi River so it would flow closer to La Crescent and bypass La Crosse, Wisconsin across the river.
The second name of La Crescent was "Manton", named by William and Harvey Gillett, after they cleared the downtown area for settlement for Peter Cameron. In quick succession, the name of the town was changed again by a somewhat unscrupulous land speculation venture, the Kentucky Land Company. They wanted a more romantic-sounding name for the town to attract settlers and came up with "La Crescent", after the bend or "crescent" shape of the Mississippi River around the town.
Around the 1940s La Crescent had about 40 small orchards in and around the city. Although the number of orchards has dwindled to less than a dozen, the area is about the same, as the orchards have been expanded in the bluffs west of the city. La Crescent grows gourmet apple varieties not found in most other places. Most of its apples are sold in Minnesota; the rest are shipped to surrounding states and Canada.
I exit the town via the "Apple Blossom Scenic Drive" to check out the majestic views of the Mississippi River from the bluffs above the city.
As of the census of 2020, there were 5,276 people residing in the city.
The racial makeup of the city was 96.5% White, 0.8% African American, 0.1% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 0.1% from other races, and 1.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.1% of the population.
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