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French River
Unincorporated community
French RiverLocation of the community of French River within Duluth Township, Saint Louis County
Coordinates: 46°53′53″N 91°53′50″W / 46.89806°N 91.89722°W / 46.89806; -91.89722
Country	United States
State	Minnesota
County	Saint Louis
Township	Duluth Township
Elevation	650 ft (200 m)
Population
• Total	110
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	55804
Area code	218
GNIS feature ID	661327

French River is an unincorporated community in Duluth Township, Saint Louis County, Minnesota, United States; located on the North Shore of Lake Superior.

The community is located 13 miles northeast of the city of Duluth, at the junction of North Shore Scenic Drive (County 61) and Ryan Road (County Road 50).

History

French River had also been known by the name Clifton during the early settlement years. Clifton, the first townsite surveyed in the United States section of the North Shore, was platted west of the mouth of the French River in 1855. The river was known to early explorers as Riviere des Français and to the Ojibwe as Angwassago zibi, meaning 'Floodwood River'. Rumors of nearby copper deposits resulted in widespread prospecting and townsite planning in the 1850s. Like many of the projected towns, Clifton never developed. From 1864 to 1866, the French River Mining Company and the North Shore Mining Company dug several exploratory shafts, but failed to locate profitable copper deposits. Extensive lumbering operations were carried on in the vicinity during the 1880s.

References

1. "French River, Minnesota". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
2. Upham, Warren (1920). Minnesota geographic names; their origin and historic significance. Minnesota Historical Society. p. 492 – via Archive.org.
3. Keith L. "HMdb.org – The Historical Marker Database". Near Duluth in St. Louis County, Minnesota — The American Midwest (Upper Plains). J. J. Prats. Retrieved April 16, 2012.

• Rand McNally Road Atlas – 2007 edition – Minnesota entry
• Official State of Minnesota Highway Map – 2011/2012 edition

v t e Municipalities and communities of St. Louis County, Minnesota, United States
County seat: Duluth
Cities	Aurora Babbitt Biwabik Brookston Buhl Chisholm Cook Duluth Ely Eveleth Floodwood Gilbert Hermantown Hibbing Hoyt Lakes Iron Junction Kinney Leonidas McKinley Meadowlands Mountain Iron Orr Proctor Rice Lake Tower Virginia Winton
Townships	Alango Alborn Alden Angora Arrowhead Ault Balkan Bassett Beatty Biwabik Breitung Brevator Camp 5 Canosia Cedar Valley Cherry Clinton Colvin Cotton Crane Lake Culver Duluth Eagles Nest Ellsburg Elmer Embarrass Fairbanks Fayal Field Fine Lakes Floodwood Fredenberg French Gnesen Grand Lake Great Scott Greenwood Halden Industrial Kabetogama Kelsey Kugler Lakewood Lavell Leiding Linden Grove McDavitt Meadowlands Midway Morcom Morse Ness New Independence Normanna North Star Northland Owens Pequaywan Pike Portage Prairie Lake Sandy Solway Stoney Brook Sturgeon Toivola Van Buren Vermilion Lake Waasa White Willow Valley Wuori
CDPs	Mahnomen Nett Lake Soudan
Unincorporated communities	Alborn Angora Ash Lake Bassett Bear River Bengal Brimson Britt Burnett Burntside Buyck Canyon Celina Central Lakes Cherry Clover Valley Cotton Crane Lake Culver Cusson Eldes Corner Elmer Embarrass Fairbanks Florenton Forbes Four Corners French River Gheen Gheen Corner Glendale Gowan Greaney Idington Independence Island Lake Kabetogama Keenan Kelsey Linden Grove Makinen Maney Markham McComber Meadow Brook Melrude Munger Palmers Palo Paupores Payne Peary Petrel Peyla Pineville Prosit Ramshaw Robinson Rollins Saginaw Sax Shaw Sherman Corner Side Lake Silica Simar Skibo Sturgeon Taft Toivola Twig Vermilion Dam Wakemup Whiteface Wolf Zim
Unorganized territories	Angleworm Bear Head Lake Birch Lake Camp A Lake Crab Lake Dark River Gheen Hay Lake Heikkala Lake Hush Lake Janette Lake Leander Lake Linwood Lake Marion Lake McCormack Mud Hen Lake Nett Lake Northeast St. Louis Northwest St. Louis Pfeiffer Lake Picket Lake Potshot Lake Sand Lake Slim Lake Sturgeon River Sunday Lake Tikander Lake Whiteface Reservoir
Former CDP	Arnold
Ghost towns/ Neighborhoods	Costin Village Elcor Fermoy Kelly Lake Leetonia Little Swan Spina West Virginia
Indian reservations	Fond du Lac Indian Reservation‡ Lake Vermilion Indian Reservation Nett Lake Indian Reservation‡
Footnotes	‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
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