Bemidji ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Beltrami County, in northern Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,574 at the 2020 census. According to 2022 census estimates, the city is estimated to have a population of 15,946, meaning "a lake with crossing waters". This name stems from the way that the Mississippi River flows directly through the Lake. Shay-now-ish-kung, an Ojibwe leader, moved to the area in 1882 and became the first permanent settler of Bemidji. He informed early white settlers of the name of the lake, but they misunderstood him to mean that bemidji was his own name.
About 50 Leech Lake Indians lived along the south shore of the lake prior to the 1880s. They called the lake Bemidjigumaug, meaning "river or route flowing crosswise". Freeman and Besty Doud claimed 160 acres west of and including present-day Diamond Point; they were Bemidji's first homesteaders. The Porter Nye family soon followed them.
John Steidl's sawmill was on the east bank of the Mississippi River, close to Carson's Trading Post. Remore Hotel and Carl Carlson's blacksmith shop were on the west side of the river. Bemidji was incorporated on May 20, 1896, and by that time there were three publishing companies, Alber Kaiser, The Bemidji Pioneer, and the Beltrami County News. William Bartleson's Stage and Express Service was created to carry mail between Bemidji and Park Rapids. He was advertised by Speelman's Eagle, owned by Clarence Speelman, along with other stores. By 1898, railroads came to Bemidji and brought even more business. By 1900 the Village of Bemidji's population had grown to 2,000.
Thomas Barlow Walker and John S. and Charles Pillsbury invested millions into timber in 1874, since beaver pelts were nearing depletion by the mid-1890s. Walker owned Red River Lumber Company of Crookston, which claimed almost half of Beltrami County's timber. He soon sold his sawmill and timber claim to Thomas Shevlin and Frank Hixon. Logging was done in the winter and sawmilling in the summer. Crookston opened 13 logging camps, which provided jobs and homes for lumberjacks. Between 1907 and 1910 drought and forest fires came to northern Minnesota. Lumber production was Bemidji's major industry, but on July 19, 1914, a sawmill burned down, causing disaster for business. It was later rebuilt. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, Bemidji's business profited, providing food, materials, and services for the Civilian Conservation Corps and Youth Conservation Corps programs. During the war years lumber business stopped, but when men came back from war lumber business boomed, since many people needed homes.
By the 1870s, timber cruisers were already making forays into the great pine forests that surrounded Bemidji. They were seeking new timberlands for Walker, the Pillsburys, Henry Akeley, Charles Ruggles and Frederick Weyerhaeuser, the barons of the wood industry.
Art Lee created the story that the folkloric figure Paul Bunyan came from the Northwoods. Tales about Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox led to public sculptures of them in the 1930s. According to Discover America, the Paul and Babe statues are "the second most photographed statues in America," surpassed only by Mount Rushmore. The Rotarians of Bemidji commissioned the statue of Paul Bunyan during the Great Depression as a tourist attraction. It was unveiled on January 15, 1937, to kick off a Winter Carnival that drew more than 10,000 visitors.
Today Bemidji is an important educational, governmental, trade and medical center for north central Minnesota. The wood industry is still a significant part of the local economy, with Georgia-Pacific, Potlatch, and Northwood Panelboard all having waferboard plants in the local area. They use wood species that were once classified as waste trees.
Parks and recreation
thumb|[[Lake Bemidji]]Bemidji is near Chippewa National Forest, Itasca State Park, Lake Bemidji State Park, Big Bog State Recreation Area, and state forest areas. There are 400 lakes within , of snowmobile trails and of cross-country ski trails.
The Paul Bunyan State Trail runs from Brainerd, Minnesota, and Lake Bemidji State Park. It is used for walking, biking, snowmobiling, and cross-country skiing. There is also a bike trail around Lake Bemidji about 17 miles long. Each year an event is held where families and individuals can bike around the lake, with rest stops along the way.
Art in the Park, hosted by Paul Bunyan Communications and Watermark Art Center, is held every year at Bemidji Library Park, across from the Watermark Art Center. Art in the Park has been a summer highlight for Bemidji residents since 1967. The event features more than 100 artists, food vendors, and live entertainment. A variety of items are sold, made in such materials as wood and ceramics, along with clothing and jewelry, photography, metalworking, greeting cards, homemade preserves, food, candles, and soaps. Roughly 4,000 people attend annually. The festival has been renamed the Watermark Art Festival and was held at Library Park on July 16–17, 2022.
Every year, in the first week of August, teams compete in the Dragon Boat races. There are also many food vendors, kids' activities, and musical and cultural performances. In the early 21st century, dragon boat racing was the fastest growing water sport in the nation.
The Bemidji Polar Days, also known as Winterfest, is a weeklong festival that includes many different activities, such as a polar plunge, and sled derby, broomball, a 5k polar walk/run, curling, pond hockey, and a cornhole tournament.
The Paul Bunyan Triathlon takes place the third Saturday in August. The Minnesota Finlandia Ski Marathon is also held in Bemidji.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (21.90%) is water. The epicenter was about away in Staples, Minnesota, and it affected an area of ; it had a magnitude 4.4 with a maximum intensity of VI to VII. The closest and most recent quake occurred in Walker, Minnesota, on September 27, 1982, with a magnitude of 2.0.
Climate
Bemidji has a hemiboreal humid continental climate, Dfb in the Köppen climate classification: short, warm summers, and long, severe winters. The average mean annual temperature in Bemidji is . The coldest month is January with an average daily high of and an average daily low of . The warmest month is July with an average daily high of and an average daily low of . The average annual humidity is 47%. The average annual snowfall is and the average annual rainfall is . The average day Lake Bemidji freezes over is November 26 and the average day the ice goes off the lake is April 26.
Annual snowfall in the Bemidji Area increased 5% in the 21st century vs. the 1930–1999 period, according to the National Weather Service.
|source 4 = wrcc.dri.edu
|source 5 = Intellicast (For Record Lows and Highs) -->| source =
| Jan avg record low F = -27.9
| Feb avg record low F = -24.4
| Mar avg record low F = -13.3
| Apr avg record low F = 13.6
| May avg record low F = 28.2
| Jun avg record low F = 41.7
| Jul avg record low F = 45.1
| Aug avg record low F = 42.4
| Sep avg record low F = 29.2
| Oct avg record low F = 18.8
| Nov avg record low F = -6.4
| Dec avg record low F = -18.9
| Jan avg record high F = 34.5
| Feb avg record high F = 37.4
| Mar avg record high F = 51.6
| Apr avg record high F = 72.1
| May avg record high F = 81.2
| Jun avg record high F = 85.4
| Jul avg record high F = 90.5
| Aug avg record high F = 87.6
| Sep avg record high F = 75.1
| Oct avg record high F = 71.3
| Nov avg record high F = 55.7
| Dec avg record high F = 42.3
Demographics
thumb|Bemidji Federal Building