Aviva Directory » Local & Global » North America » United States » States » Minnesota » Cities & Towns » Osseo

Bordered by Brooklyn Park and Maple Grove, Osseo is in northeastern Hennepin County, Minnesota. Champlin and Anoka are north of Osseo, New Hope is south, and Coon Rapids is northeast. Minneapolis is about fifteen miles southeast. The chief routes through the city are Jefferson Highway (Central Avenue), US Highway 169, and Bottineau Boulevard (Country Road 81). Originally, Osseo was part of Brooklyn Park and Maple Grove. In 1875, Osseo was incorporated as a separate village. One of the first settlers in the region was Pierre Bottineau, who came with Joseph Potvin, Peter Raiche, and Peter Gervais in 1852, who laid claim to land there. Bottineau’s mother was a Chippewa. In 1854, others came to what was then known as the Bottineau Prairie. Warren Sampson opened a general store and post office, after which the settlement became known as Palestine. In 1856, the settlement was renamed Osseo, and platted by Sampson and a man named Isaac LaBissonniere, who had come in 1854. Henry Wordsworth Longfellow mentions Osseo in one of the Native American legends he recorded in The Song of Haiawatha. Another village, named City of Attraction, was laid out southeast of Osseo, which was later absorbed by Osseo. The Great Northern Railroad extended its track to Osseo in 1882, and a telephone station was installed in 1893. The village of Osseo became a city in 1972 when the Minnesota Legislature made all towns and villages in the state cities. The city’s population expanded greatly from 1930 to 1970, but has been in a slight decline since.

 

 

Recommended Resources


Search for Osseo on Google or Bing