Anoka, Minnesota

Anoka
City
Anoka, Minnesota
Main Street in downtown Anoka, July 2009
Motto: "Halloween Capital of the World"
Location of the city of Anoka within Anoka County, Minnesota
Coordinates: 45°11′52″N 93°23′14″W / 45.19778°N 93.38722°W / 45.19778; -93.38722
Country	United States
State	Minnesota
County	Anoka
Founded	1844
Incorporated	1878
Government
• Mayor	Phil Rice
Area
• Total	7.21 sq mi (18.67 km2)
• Land	6.70 sq mi (17.35 km2)
• Water	0.51 sq mi (1.32 km2)  7.07%
Elevation	879 ft (268 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	17,142
• Estimate (2015)	17,350
• Density	2,558.5/sq mi (987.8/km2)
Time zone	Central (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	Central (UTC-5)
ZIP code	55303
Area code(s)	763
FIPS code	27-01720
GNIS feature ID	0639396
Website	City of Anoka

Anoka (/əˈnoʊkə/ ə-NOH-kə) is a city in Anoka County, Minnesota. The population was 17,142 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat. Anoka calls itself the "Halloween Capital of the World", because it hosted one of the first Halloween parades in 1920. It continues to celebrate the holiday each year with several parades. Anoka is a northern suburb of the Twin Cities.

U.S. Highways 10 / 169 and State Highway 47 are three of the main routes, and a station on the Northstar Commuter Rail line to downtown Minneapolis is located in the city.

The site which is now Anoka was first settled by immigrants in 1844. By the mid-1850s Anoka had grown to include a school, a store and a flour mill. In 1856, C. C. Andrews described Anoka as a "large and handsome village" and noted that pine logs were floated down the Rum River to sawmills there. The city was formally incorporated in 1878. The name Anoka was derived from two Indian words. The native Dakota used A-NO-KA-TAN-HAN, meaning "on both sides", or "from both sides", referring to its location on the banks of the Rum River. The native Ojibwa used ON-O-KAY, meaning "working waters".