MoneyWise magazine has named my mom's hometown as Minnesota's worst city to live in.

I spent many holidays in this northern Minnesota town at my grandparent's house for Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving -- you name it. I LOVED spending time there with grandma & grandpa.

When I was a little guy they lived next door to the police chief, so I would get rides in police cars and get tours of the station. My grandmother was an elementary school teacher, and my grandfather worked as an electrician.

Cloquet, MN water tower
Nick Cooper - TSM Duluth
loading...

The history of the town is so deeply intertwined with the lumber industry that it’s come to be known as “Wood City” — even after its affinity for dry tinder fueled a fire that destroyed much of the area in 1918. For more than a century, the paper mill, matchstick plant and ceiling tile factory provided hundreds of jobs to Minnesotans, but that way of life seems to be on its way out. The matchstick plant closed in 2017.

Get our free mobile app

Other than family life, my biggest memory of this northeastern Minnesota community was how bad it smelled most of the time. It's better these days with new technology -- but the stink was nasty from the wood pulp and paper industry. Think sulfur, poop, and rotten eggs.


Looking for some tasty eats? Gordie's Hi-Hat in this town has been featured on the Food Network's 'Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives' multiple times. (Try the onion rings, chili, fish sandwich, and burgers.) They're closed now through the winter.

R.W. Lindholm Service Station in Clouqet, MN - Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
Nick Cooper - TSM Duluth
loading...

Survey Says...

The worst city to live in Minnesota according to MoneyWise Magazine for 2021 is Cloquet.

Go Lumberjacks!

LOOK: 50 famous memes and what they mean

With the infinite number of memes scattered across the internet, it's hard to keep track. Just when you've grasped the meaning of one hilarious meme, it has already become old news and replaced by something equally as enigmatic. Online forums like Tumblr, Twitter, 4chan, and Reddit are responsible for a majority of meme infections, and with the constant posting and sharing, finding the source of an original meme is easier said than done. Stacker hunted through internet resources, pop culture publications, and databases like Know Your Meme to find 50 different memes and what they mean. While the almost self-replicating nature of these vague symbols can get exhausting, memes in their essence can also bring people closer together—as long as they have internet access.

Answers to 25 common COVID-19 vaccine questions

Vaccinations for COVID-19 began being administered in the U.S. on Dec. 14, 2020. The quick rollout came a little more than a year after the virus was first identified in November 2019. The impressive speed with which vaccines were developed has also left a lot of people with a lot of questions. The questions range from the practical—how will I get vaccinated?—to the scientific—how do these vaccines even work?

Keep reading to discover answers to 25 common COVID-19 vaccine questions.

More From Quick Country 96.5