Is there really a city of Cedar in Anoka County?

[Brian Elfert]

Is there really a city of Cedar in Anoka County?

I'm looking for a house in Anoka County and came across some listed as
being in Cedar. I was trying to locate either the Cedar city hall phone
number or a website for the city to check on zoning ordinances.

I can't find anything for the city of Cedar, but I found some information
that makes me believe there is no city of Cedar and anything listed as
Cedar is really in the city of Oak Grove.

I really want to know why the City of Oak Grove website lists the address
for city hall as Cedar, MN. What city hall is not located in the city it
serves?

I guess I won't be buying any house listed as being in the city of Cedar
if it really is the city of Oak Grove. Oak Grove has some pretty
restrictive rules for residential accessory structures, even on a 7 acre
parcel.

[Tony Calguire]

Post by Brian Elfert
Is there really a city of Cedar in Anoka County?
I'm looking for a house in Anoka County and came across some listed as
being in Cedar. I was trying to locate either the Cedar city hall
phone number or a website for the city to check on zoning ordinances.
I can't find anything for the city of Cedar, but I found some
information that makes me believe there is no city of Cedar and
anything listed as Cedar is really in the city of Oak Grove.

I've never heard of it, but lo and behold, Google Maps brought it right up!
Place names can be tricky in areas with both incorporated and
unincorporated townships. Is Cedar the name of the township? For that
matter, is Oak Grove really a city? I thought it was still an
unincorporated township.

Looking at Google Maps, I see lots of unusual place names in that area...
Cedar, Soderville, Constance. All of these are located in places that are
properly caled Andover, Oak Grove, Ham Lake. Some geographic databases
still have the old railroad placenames. Sometimes when a severe
thunderstorm is tracking across the metro, the TV station stormtracker
radar will show strange placenames like "Cardigan Junction", which is an
old Soo Line placename in Arden Hills.

[Brian Elfert]

Post by Tony Calguire
I've never heard of it, but lo and behold, Google Maps brought it right up!
Place names can be tricky in areas with both incorporated and
unincorporated townships. Is Cedar the name of the township? For that
matter, is Oak Grove really a city? I thought it was still an
unincorporated township.

The Oak Grove website says it is a city. The FAQ on the city website says
mail is delivered from from five different post offices including the
Cedar/East Bethel post office.

Interestingly enough, the USPS says mail in the 55011 zip code should be
addressed as Cedar, MN. The post office for Cedar is listed as being in
Cedar, MN yet the map clearly shows it as being in East Bethel.

I can't find any Cedar on the official map of Anoka County so my best
guess is Cedar, MN doesn't really exist. I think folks are using Cedar as
their city simply because the post office does.

[Lutsen Lumberjack]

Post by Brian Elfert
The Oak Grove website says it is a city. The FAQ on the city website
says mail is delivered from from five different post offices including
the Cedar/East Bethel post office.
Interestingly enough, the USPS says mail in the 55011 zip code should
be addressed as Cedar, MN. The post office for Cedar is listed as
being in Cedar, MN yet the map clearly shows it as being in East
Bethel.

That area has been perennially filled with meth-heads and hillbillies
who can't get their towns straight. They used to (still?) have the kids
from Coon Lake Beach bused over to Forest Lake Area Schools because that
part of Anoka County doesn't have the financial or mental resources to
run schools like the large suburbs of southern Anoka county such as
Blaine or Brooklyn Park.

Post by Brian Elfert
I can't find any Cedar on the official map of Anoka County so my best
guess is Cedar, MN doesn't really exist. I think folks are using
Cedar as their city simply because the post office does.

Here is some info for you on Cedar:
http://minnesota.hometownlocator.com/MN/Anoka/Cedar.cfm
which specifically states "Cedar is a populated (community) place ...
Class U6: Identifies a populated place located wholly or substantially
outside the boundaries of any incorporated place or CDP with an
authoritative common name recognized by the U.S. Geological Survey."

[Dan Mason]

Post by Lutsen Lumberjack
That area has been perennially filled with meth-heads and hillbillies
who can't get their towns straight. They used to (still?) have the kids
from Coon Lake Beach bused over to Forest Lake Area Schools because that
part of Anoka County doesn't have the financial or mental resources to
run schools like the large suburbs of southern Anoka county such as
Blaine or Brooklyn Park.

Brooklyn Park is Hennepin County. Heh.


Dan

[Howard Beale]

Post by Brian Elfert

Post by Tony Calguire
I've never heard of it, but lo and behold, Google Maps brought it right up!
Place names can be tricky in areas with both incorporated and
unincorporated townships. Is Cedar the name of the township? For that
matter, is Oak Grove really a city? I thought it was still an
unincorporated township.

The Oak Grove website says it is a city. The FAQ on the city website says
mail is delivered from from five different post offices including the
Cedar/East Bethel post office.
Interestingly enough, the USPS says mail in the 55011 zip code should be
addressed as Cedar, MN. The post office for Cedar is listed as being in
Cedar, MN yet the map clearly shows it as being in East Bethel.

Osseo and Maple Grove seem to do this, at least with respect to Google
Maps. Many locations listed as "Maple Grove" end up mapping as Osseo. I
have no idea what the real boundaries are.

[Doug McIntyre]

Post by Howard Beale

Post by Brian Elfert
Interestingly enough, the USPS says mail in the 55011 zip code should be
addressed as Cedar, MN. The post office for Cedar is listed as being in
Cedar, MN yet the map clearly shows it as being in East Bethel.

Osseo and Maple Grove seem to do this, at least with respect to Google
Maps. Many locations listed as "Maple Grove" end up mapping as Osseo. I
have no idea what the real boundaries are.

But Osseo is a real legit city surrounded on 3 sides by Maple Grove.
Not like a post-office overlay with a fake city name. :)

I suspect Maple Grove sprawls so much that the residents themselves
don't really know where the city starts and ends unless they are
living in the core area of Osseo.

[Mike Ekholm]

On Fri, 04 Jan 2008 23:35:31 -0000, Brian Elfert just had to say:
: Is there really a city of Cedar in Anoka County?

Well, an airplane crashed there:
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20020917X03067&key=1

And they have a weather observer:
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mpx/Coop/stations.php

[Brian Elfert]

Post by Mike Ekholm
: Is there really a city of Cedar in Anoka County?
http://www.ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20020917X03067&key=1
http://www.crh.noaa.gov/mpx/Coop/stations.php

I was just reading some newsletters on the Oak grove city website. There
is not a city of Cedar.

"There is not really a town named Cedar
it is only a mailing address that
includes parts of East Bethel. Because
Oak Grove does not have its own zip
code we encourage you to use the mailing
address of your zip code and not Oak Grove. It
will more than likely be many years in the future
before Oak Grove retains its own post office and
zip code."

So, folks who use Cedar as their city are only doing so because of the
post office.

Darn it. I was hoping there really was a city of Cedar that had less
restrictive zoning rules than Oak Grove.

[Bert Hyman]

Post by Brian Elfert
Darn it. I was hoping there really was a city of Cedar that had less
restrictive zoning rules than Oak Grove.

http://mnplaces.mnhs.org/upham/

Minnesota Place Names says:

CEDAR, an unincorporated village in Oak Grove Township, section 26; its
post office was established as Snapp, 1899-1900, the name changing to
Cedar in 1900; the early site had a station of the Great Northern
Railway and a cheese factory.

Cedar Creek and the adjoining Cedar station and village of the Great
Northern Railway are named for the white cedar, or arbor vitae, growing
there in swamps.

[j***@gmail.com]

Cedar is town not a city.

[Bert]

Post by j***@gmail.com
Cedar is town not a city.

As the more than seven year old post to which you're responding clearly
says:

Cedar is an unincorporated village

Are you always in the habit of responding to ancient posts with
questionable information?

But then, you're a googlegrouper.