Barnum, MN

Barnum is a Carlton County city of 620 residents at the 2020 census, five miles northeast of Moose Lake and about 33 miles southwest of Duluth. Interstate 35, Main Street, and Front Street make the town's practical map easy to follow. Barnum was named for George G. Barnum, a Duluth resident who served as paymaster while the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad was being built. The railroad later became the St. Paul and Duluth, but the town kept the paymaster's name.

Barnum incorporated in 1889 and still has the compact, service-town feel that came from a rail line and a highway meeting in the same place. Barnum Elementary and Barnum High School keep education in town, while Moose Lake and Duluth mark the two directions residents use for the larger regional map. The interesting part of Barnum is how little explanation it needs once you see the layout: railroad history underneath, I-35 beside it, and a local school system holding the center.