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Paynesville
City
Koronis Cinema, Downtown Paynesville
Motto: "An Area For All Seasons"
Location of Paynesville within Stearns County, Minnesota
Coordinates: 45°22′43″N 94°43′18″W / 45.37861°N 94.72167°W / 45.37861; -94.72167
Country	United States
State	Minnesota
County	Stearns
Government
• Type	Mayor–council government
• Mayor	Shawn C. Reinke
• Governing body	Paynesville City Council
Area
• Total	2.29 sq mi (5.93 km)
• Land	2.29 sq mi (5.93 km)
• Water	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km)
Elevation	1,175 ft (358 m)
Population
• Total	2,388
• Estimate	2,449
• Density	1,042.79/sq mi (402.66/km)
Time zone	UTC-6 (CST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	56362
Area code	320
FIPS code	27-49966
GNIS feature ID	2396168
Website	paynesvillemn.com

Paynesville is a city in Stearns County, Minnesota, United States, on Lake Koronis, in the central part of the state. The population was 2,388 at the 2020 census. It is part of the St. Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Paynesville was platted in 1857 by Edwin E. Payne, and named for him. The town was completely evacuated to the relative safety of Richmond and St. Cloud during the 1862 Dakota War; the Dakota burned the townsite to the ground. The town was subsequently rebuilt, this time with the addition of a wooden stockade built by the U.S. Army.

The arrival of the Soo Line and Great Northern Railway in 1886 spurred increased settlement near the railroad lines, leading to the formation of the new settlements of Jim Town along the Soo Line and North Paynesville near the Great Northern. Jim town, on the site of today's downtown Paynesville, became the largest of the three Paynesvilles, eventually merging with the others as New Paynesville, later shortened back to Paynesville.

A post office has been in operation at Paynesville since 1857.

In the late 1980's, a series of sexual assaults on pre-teen and teenage boys occurred in Paynesville. In 1989, 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling disappeared in nearby St. Joseph. That case inspired a federal law to create the first sex offender registries, and it was still not discovered until 2014 that the cases in both cities were perpetrated by the same person. Wetterling's body had been dumped in Paynesville.

Geography

Paynesville lies along the North Fork of the Crow River and Lake Koronis. According to the United States Census Bureau, it has an area of 2.32 square miles (6.01 km), all land.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 2,432 people, 1,065 households, and 635 families living in the city. The population density was 1,048.3 inhabitants per square mile (404.8/km). There were 1,148 housing units at an average density of 494.8 units per square mile (191.0 units/km). The racial makeup of the city was 97.0% White, 0.5% African American, 0.1% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.9% from other races, and 1.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.2% of the population.

There were 1,065 households, of which 26.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.9% were married couples living together, 7.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.6% had a male householder with no wife present, and 40.4% were non-families. 35.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.83.

The median age in the city was 42.4 years. 22.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 23.6% were from 25 to 44; 21.9% were from 45 to 64; and 25.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.7% male and 52.3% female.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,267 people, 934 households, and 594 families living in the city. The population density was 1,715.2 inhabitants per square mile (662.2/km). There were 984 housing units at an average density of 744.5 units per square mile (287.5 units/km). The racial makeup of the city was 98.81% White, 0.04% African American, 0.09% Native American, 0.31% Asian, 0.22% from other races, and 0.53% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.28% of the population.

There were 934 households, out of which 28.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.1% were married couples living together, 6.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.4% were non-families. 32.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.32 and the average family size was 2.95.

In the city, the population was spread out, with 23.0% under the age of 18, 8.8% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to 64, and 25.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40. For every 100 females, there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.0 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $34,000, and the median income for a family was $42,500. Males had a median income of $30,978 versus $20,219 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,246. About 4.5% of families and 8.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.6% of those under age 18 and 15.2% of those age 65 or over.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Minnesota State Highways 4, 23, and 55 are three of Paynesville's main highways. Freight rail service is provided by the Soo Line's Paynesville Subdivision. Passenger rail service was formerly provided by the Great Northern Railway and by the Soo Line's Winnipeger until 1970; since then the nearest active train station to Paynesville has been in St. Cloud.

The City of Paynesville operates Paynesville Municipal Airport (PEX/KPEX), a small general aviation airport.

Area lakes

Lake Koronis

One mile south of Paynesville, the 3014-acre Lake Koronis offers some of the best fishing in the area, with an abundance of walleye, bass, and northern pike. It reaches a maximum depth of 132 feet and averages 29 feet deep. Aquatic invasive species found in the lake include starry stonewort and zebra mussels.

Rice Lake

About five miles east-southeast of Paynesville, the 1639-acre Rice Lake also offers excellent walleye, bass, and northern pike fishing. There is public lake access on the northwest shore, at the end of 180th Street, and on the southwest shore, at the end of 253rd Avenue.

References

1. "City of Paynesville Minnesota". City of Paynesville Minnesota. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
2. "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
3. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Paynesville, Minnesota
4. ^ "Explore Census Data". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
5. ^ "City and Town Population Totals: 2020-2021". United States Census Bureau. June 8, 2022. Retrieved June 16, 2022.
6. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
7. "Profile for Paynesville, Minnesota, MN". ePodunk. Retrieved October 9, 2012.
8. Upham, Warren (1920). Minnesota Geographic Names: Their Origin and Historic Significance. Minnesota Historical Society. p. 526.
9. Penrod, Michael, "Guarding the Northwest Frontier: The U.S. Military Post at Sauk Centre Minnesota 1862-1865" (2020). Culminating Projects in Cultural Resource Management. 36. https://repository.stcloudstate.edu/crm_etds/36 T
10. "Discover the Story".
11. Paynesville Historical Society (1983). Paynesville Year 125, 1851-1983.
12. "Stearns County". Jim Forte Postal History. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
13. "Investigators Believe Paynesville Attacks, Wetterling Abduction Connected - CBS Minnesota". www.cbsnews.com. November 2, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
14. "Details on the Paynesville, Minn. dig that found Jacob Wetterling". FOX 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul. September 9, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2024.
15. "US Gazetteer files 2010". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on January 12, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2012.
16. United States Census Bureau. "Census of Population and Housing". Retrieved September 11, 2013.
17. Time Tables, Route of the Air-Conditioned Empire Builder (PDF) (Spring 1937 ed.). Great Northern Railway. 1937. p. 4.
18. "Welcome to City of Paynesville, MN".
19. ^ "MN DNR". www.dnr.state.mn.us. Retrieved April 20, 2013.
20. "MN DNR-Lake Koronis". www.dnr.state.mn.us. Retrieved January 17, 2023.

External links

• City Website
• Paynesville Area Online website - Link
• City-Data.com
• ePodunk: Profile for Paynesville, Minnesota

v t e Municipalities and communities of Stearns County, Minnesota, United States
County seat: St. Cloud
Cities	Albany Avon Belgrade Brooten‡ Clearwater‡ Cold Spring Eden Valley‡ Elrosa Freeport Greenwald Holdingford Kimball Lake Henry Meire Grove Melrose New Munich Paynesville Richmond Rockville Roscoe Sartell‡ Sauk Centre Spring Hill St. Anthony St. Augusta St. Cloud‡ St. Joseph St. Martin St. Rosa St. Stephen Waite Park
Townships	Albany Ashley Avon Brockway Collegeville Crow Lake Crow River Eden Lake Fair Haven Farming Getty Grove Holding Krain Lake George Lake Henry Le Sauk Luxemburg Lynden Maine Prairie Melrose Millwood Munson North Fork Oak Paynesville Raymond Sauk Centre Spring Hill St. Joseph St. Martin St. Wendel Wakefield Zion
CDPs	Fairhaven St. John's University
Unincorporated communities	Collegeville Farming Five Points Georgeville Jacobs Prairie Marty Opole Padua Pleasant Lake St. Anna St. Francis St. Nicholas St. Wendel
Footnotes	‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
Minnesota portal United States portal

v t e St. Cloud, Minnesota metropolitan area
Core city	St. Cloud
Surrounding communities	(over 1,000) Albany Avon Clearwater Cold Spring Eden Valley Foley Melrose Paynesville Rice Richmond Rockville Royalton St. Augusta St. Joseph Sauk Centre Sauk Rapids Waite Park (under 1,000) Belgrade Brooten Elrosa Fairhaven Freeport Gilman Greenwald Holdingford Kimball Lake Henry Meire Grove New Munich Ronneby Roscoe St. Anthony St. Martin St. Rosa St. Stephen Spring Hill
Counties	Benton Stearns
indicates that it is partially in the metropolitan area. indicates a CDP

• Cities in Stearns County, Minnesota
• Cities in Minnesota
• St. Cloud, Minnesota metropolitan area
• Populated places established in 1857
• 1857 establishments in Minnesota Territory