Coon Rapids is a northern suburb of Minneapolis, and is the largest city in Anoka County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 63,599 at the 2020 census, making it the fifteenth largest city in Minnesota and the seventh largest Twin Cities suburb.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total Place of 23.34 square miles (60.45 km), of which 22.61 square miles (58.56 km²) is house and 0.73 square miles (1.89 km) is water. Recreational lakes in the city swell Cenaiko Lake and Crooked Lake, two-thirds of which is in Coon Rapids. The supplementary third is in the city of Andover, immediately to the north.

In 1835, the Red River Ox Cart Trail was laid to state military and trade connections between Minneapolis and Anoka. The first industries of Coon Rapids sprung up roughly speaking the road, including the prominent Anoka Pressed Brick and Terra Cotta Company, founded by Dr. D.C. Dunham in 1881. The clay excavation site – known locally as the “Clay Hole” – is one of the lasting reminders of Coon Rapids’ industrial history. Today, the necessary Red River Ox Cart Trail is known as Coon Rapids Boulevard and remains an important personal ad corridor for the city.

In 1912, construction began upon the Coon Rapids Dam and the influx of laborers and engineers increased the city’s population to beyond 1,000 for the first time. Completed in 1914, the dam functioned as a regional skill source for the Northern States Power Company until it was sold to the Hennepin County Park Board in 1969 and incorporated into the Coon Rapids Dam Regional Park.