Best Web Design in St. Cloud, MN (2026)

Web Design for St. Cloud, Minnesota

St. Cloud straddles the Mississippi River in central Minnesota and takes its "Granite City" nickname from the pink and gray stone that has been quarried here since the 1880s and shipped to national monuments. Founded in 1856 and named for a Parisian suburb, it grew on granite, railroads, and dairy, and today runs on healthcare, St. Cloud State University, and manufacturing. Riverside gardens, restored quarries, and a Division I hockey program give the regional hub its character.

AppWT works with St. Cloud, MN businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About St. Cloud

Also known as. The Granite City.

History. St. Cloud was founded in 1856 and named after Saint-Cloud, a suburb of Paris that itself honors the 6th-century monk Clodoald. The arrival of the railroad and the founding of the first granite quarry in 1868 drew settlers and accelerated growth. Granite quarrying expanded from the 1880s, employing over 1,000 workers by the early 1900s. The Minnesota State Reformatory for Men (now Minnesota Correctional Facility-St. Cloud) opened in 1889 and was built largely with inmate labor and local granite. The reformatory's granite perimeter wall, completed in 1922, is often cited as the second-longest continuous wall in the world after the Great Wall of China. The city developed as the commercial and cultural hub of central Minnesota's Stearns County region, historically tied to granite and dairy.

Local economy. Granite quarrying built the city; St. Cloud's durable syenite granite has gone into the New York City Post Office, Minnesota State Capitol additions, and the FDR and Korean War memorials in Washington, D.C. Healthcare is a leading sector, anchored by CentraCare Health / St. Cloud Hospital and the St. Cloud VA Health Care System. St. Cloud State University is a major employer and a driver of the service sector and cultural life. Other top employers include the State of Minnesota, the St. Cloud school district, and area distribution and manufacturing firms. St. Cloud granite has been shipped as far away as Singapore.

Culture and community. The Munsinger Gardens, laid out beginning in 1930 by parks superintendent Joseph Munsinger with Civilian Conservation Corps labor, sit beside the Mississippi under giant oak, hemlock, and pine. The adjacent Clemens Gardens include the Virginia Clemens Rose Garden with over 1,000 rose bushes. The Stearns History Museum interprets the region's granite and dairy heritage. The restored 1921 Paramount Theatre hosts performances downtown. Granite City Days is the city's signature summer festival, held in late June. St. Cloud State's Division I men's hockey Huskies play at the 5,763-seat Herb Brooks National Hockey Center and reached the 2021 NCAA championship game.

What makes St. Cloud distinct. The prison's 1922 granite wall is frequently described as the second-longest continuous wall on Earth, after the Great Wall of China. The site of the reformatory incorporated the Breen and Young quarry, considered the oldest granite quarry in Minnesota. A former industrial quarry landscape has been turned into a recreation park where people scuba dive in flooded pits. The city's name traces from a French monk (Clodoald) through a Paris suburb to central Minnesota. The Huskies' home arena is named for Herb Brooks, the coach of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" U.S. Olympic hockey team.

St. Cloud Landmarks and Local Life

• Munsinger Gardens and Clemens Gardens along the Mississippi River
• Quarry Park and Nature Preserve - a 683-acre park with about 20 former granite quarries for swimming, scuba diving, fishing, and rock climbing
• Stearns History Museum
• Paramount Theatre (1921)
• Herb Brooks National Hockey Center
• Minnesota Correctional Facility-St. Cloud and its historic granite wall