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Anoka County MINNESOTA Respectful, Innovative, Fiscally Responsible Anoka County 2019 Multi -Jurisdictional All Hazards Mitigation Plan The earliest record of settlers in Ham Lake dates back to 1855, when a group of men settled in the southern part of the area. A year later, they started a town just southwest of the lake shaped like a ham. The town was named Glen Cary, a Scottish name meaning "beautiful valley." The original houses were burned in a prairie fire in 1857, and the settlers moved away. Ham Lake Township, settled in 1857, was attached to Grow Township until 1871 when it was separately organized. It had been previously called Glengarry, a name from Scotland, which its Swedish settlers found difficult to pronounce. The county commissioners therefore named the new township Ham Lake from its lake in sections 16 and 17, which had acquired this name on account of its form. Ham Lake, a city in Ham Lake Township, was incorporated November 13, 1973. In 1880, the census found the population to be 253. In 1903, the first telephone service was available for $6 a year. In the late 1930's, the Rural Electrification provided power to the farm families...to have electric lights by turning a switch was a wonder. In the beginning, there was no mail delivery, but it could be picked up in Anoka. One farmer picked up mail for others so often that his farm became the first post office. The mailing address bore the farmer's name of Jesperson, Minnesota. As recently as 1984, Ham Lake residents were served by four different post offices. In 1985 the U.S. Postal Service consolidated service to Ham Lake through the Anoka Post Office. In the early 1920's there was no bus service and the closest railroad station was in Cedar. Central Avenue (Highway 65) was only a wagon trail through a lot of swampland and sand. Through the years, the road was widened, graded and graveled, and finally hard -surfaced. The additional lanes were added in 1954. City of Hilltop Hilltop is located at Latitude 45.05 N and Longitude 93.25 W in Anoka County, Minnesota, has a land area of .1 square miles and an elevation of 1015 feet. The City of Hilltop is a small community located in the southern portion of Anoka County, Minnesota. Hilltop is located entirely within the City of Columbia Heights, a first -ring suburb located immediately to the northeast of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The city is surrounded on all four sides by the City of Columbia Heights. Hilltop's northern, eastern, southern and western borders are, respectively, 49`hAvenue, State Highway 65, 45thAvenue and Monroe Street. Dairy farmers and a horse stable/riding academy previously used Land in Hilltop. A small community of "trailer camps" developed in the 1940's. Owners of the camps organized members of the community accomplished incorporation as a city in 1956. Hilltop is a predominantly residential community with a population of 766. Hilltop is a low- income community. Hilltop is fully developed and as such, no significant growth in population, number of households or business is projected. In addition to being completely surrounded by one other city, Hilltop's signature is manufactured housing, which accounts for 63% of the housing stock. There are also apartments, condominiums and site -built homes. Hilltop's modest commercial areas are comprised entirely of small retail and business establishments including, but not limited to the following: drug stores, liquor store, restaurants, 37