Minnesota Saint Paul, in east-central Minnesota along the banks of the Mississippi River, has been Minnesota's capital city since 1849, first as capital of the Territory of Minnesota, and then as the state capital since 1858. Saint Paul is adjacent to Minnesota's most populous city, Minneapolis; they and their suburbs are known collectively as the Twin Cities metropolitan area, the 16th-largest metropolitan area in the United States, and home to about 54 percent of the state's population. The remainder of the state is known as "Greater Minnesota" or pejoratively "Outstate Minnesota". The state has 17 cities with populations above 50,000 (as
Minnesota State Highway 40 40 and US 59 at Milan. The park entrance is located on Chippewa County Road 13 (CR 13) near US 59 at Watson. MN 40 parallels US 12 and US 212 throughout its route in west-central Minnesota. MN 40 also intersects with US 12 at its eastern terminus in Willmar. Most of MN 40 was authorized in 1933. The section of the route between US 75 at Madison and the South Dakota state line was authorized circa 1950. MN 40 was still gravel in 1940. The route was mostly paved by 1953, except for just west of Willmar. MN 40