MINOT, a city of North Dakota, U.S.A., in the valley of the Mouse river, 236 m. W. by N. of Grand Forks; the county seat of Ward county. It is on Federal highway 2 and the main lines of the Great Northern and the Soo Line railways. Pop. (1920) 10,476 (84% native white) ; was 16,099 in 1930 by Federal census. The winding river, bordered by trees and shrubs, flows through the city, and the valley is surrounded by high, bluff-like hills. There are 200 ac. in public parks. The Minot State Teachers college (opened 1913) occupies a beautiful campus of 7o ac. and had a total net enrolment in 1926-27 of 2,334. Minot is the chief trading centre for the northern part of the State, where dairying, poultry raising, and balanced farming are rapidly developing, supplemen tary to the basic occupation of wheat-growing. Its tributary terri tory is about the size and shape of the State of Indiana. The near
est larger city to the west is Great Falls (Montana), 600 m. away. There are wholesale groceries, distributors of agricultural imple ments and automobiles, and many other jobbing houses doing a large business. Bank debits to individual accounts in 1927 amount ed to $84,000,000. Minot lies within the great lignite coal fields of the State, and the largest strip lignite mine in the world lies not 3o m. from the city. Minot was founded in 1886, when the Great Northern railway reached this point. About 5 years later the Soo Line crossed the Great Northern here, establishing the new town as a natural distributing centre for north-western North Da kota and north-eastern Montana. It was incorporated as a city in 1887 and has had a commission form of government since 5909.