Elk River, Minnesota
city in Sherburne County, Minnesota, United States
Elk River is a city and the county seat of Sherburne County, Minnesota, United States, about 34 miles northwest of Minneapolis. It is at the confluence of the Mississippi and Elk Rivers. The population was 25,835 as of the 2020 census, and was estimated at 29, in 2025, making Elk River the second-largest city in the Central Minnesota region after St. Cloud. U.S. Highways 10 and 169 and State Highway 101 are three of the main routes in Elk River. Elk River is 33.2 miles northwest of Minneapolis and 37.4 miles southeast of St. Cloud.
History
The last glacier to traverse Minnesota is responsible for the creation of the hardwood-forested hills where Elk River is nestled. These hills are made up of coarse materials, which is why gravel mining is so prevalent in Elk River, and also why much of the area is not considered good farmland for culture and agriculture use.
To the south of Elk River lies the prairie.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Elk River, Minnesota” as city in Sherburne County, Minnesota, United States. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as city in Sherburne County, Minnesota, United States. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q985516. Authority coordinates are 45.317, -93.581. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020 and 2025.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Elk River, Minnesota”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Elk River, Minnesota primary sources, Elk River, Minnesota archive and River research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Elk River, Minnesota”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Elk River, Minnesota” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.