Manomin_County,_Minnesota
Manomin County, Minnesota
County in Minnesota
Manomin County was a county in Minnesota that existed separately for 13 years from 1857 to 1869.[1] The land was originally split off from Ramsey County.[2] When it was formed, it was the smallest county in the United States at roughly 16 square miles.[3] It comprised the Fridley Township, named for Minnesota legislator Abram M. Fridley.[4] Abram Fridley was the chairman of the county commissioners during the lifetime of the county.[5] The population in 1860 was 136.[6] It was merged into Anoka County in 1869. This land area currently makes up the unusual southward extension of Anoka County between Hennepin and Ramsey counties. The Manomin County Park in Fridley, at the confluence of Rice Creek and the Mississippi River remains near the former Manomin town site.[7]
Manomin is a variant spelling of manoomin, the Ojibwe word for wild rice, a staple of their diet.[8] A current Minnesota county, Mahnomen, created in 1906, is similarly named.