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Traverse County, Minnesota
District No. 44 School
Old District No. 44 School
Map of Minnesota highlighting Traverse County
Location in the state of Minnesota
Map of the U.S
Minnesota's location in the U.S.
Founded February 20, 1862 (created)
1881 (organized)
Named for Lake Traverse[1]
Seat Wheaton
Largest city Wheaton
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

586 sq mi (1,518 km²)
574 sq mi (1,487 km²)
12 sq mi (31 km²), 2.0%
Population
 - (2020)
 - Density

3,360
5.9/sq mi (2/km²)
Congressional district 7th
Time zone Central: UTC-6/-5
Website http://www.co.traverse.mn.us/

Traverse County (local /ˈtrævərs/ TRAV-ərss) is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,360,[2] making it the least-populous county in Minnesota. Its county seat is Wheaton.[3] The county was founded in 1862 and organized in 1881.[4]

Geography[]

Traverse County lies on the western edge of Minnesota. Its western border abuts the eastern borders of the states of North and South Dakota. The Red River flows northward along the county's western line. The Mustinka River flows southwestward through the county's upper portion, discharging into Lake Traverse. The county terrain consists of low rolling hills, fully devoted to agriculture except in developed areas.[5] The terrain slopes to the west and north, with its highest point at the southeastern corner, at 1,119' (341m) ASL.[6] The county has a total area of 586 square miles (1,520 km2), of which 574 square miles (1,490 km2) is land and 12 square miles (31 km2) (2.0%) is water.[7]

File:Traverse Co Pie Chart No Text Version.pdf

Major highways[]

  • US 75 U.S. Route 75
  • MN-9 Minnesota State Highway 9
  • MN-27 Minnesota State Highway 27
  • MN-28 Minnesota State Highway 28
  • MN-117 Minnesota State Highway 117

Adjacent counties[]

Protected areas[]

  • Reservation Dam State Wildlife Management Area
  • White Rock Dam State Wildlife Management Area

Lakes[5][]

  • Lake Traverse (part)
  • Mud Lake - (part)
  • Saint Marys Lake
  • Wet Lake

Demographics[]

Historical populations
Census Pop.
1870 13
1880 1,507 11,492.3%
1890 4,516 199.7%
1900 7,573 67.7%
1910 8,049 6.3%
1920 7,943 −1.3%
1930 7,938 −0.1%
1940 8,283 4.3%
1950 8,053 −2.8%
1960 7,503 −6.8%
1970 6,254 −16.6%
1980 5,542 −11.4%
1990 4,463 −19.5%
2000 4,134 −7.4%
2010 3,558 −13.9%
Est. 2021 3,286 [9] −20.5%
U.S. Decennial Census[10]
1790-1960[11] 1900-1990[12]
1990-2000[13] 2010-2020[2]
USA Traverse County, Minnesota age pyramid

Age pyramid of county residents based on 2000 census data

2000 census[]

As of the 2000 census, there were 4,134 people, 1,717 households, and 1,129 families in the county. The population density was 7.2/sqmi (2.78/km2). There were 2,199 housing units at an average density of 3.83/sqmi (1.48/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 96.42% White, 0.02% Black or African American, 2.81% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 0.05% from other races, and 0.36% from two or more races. 1.21% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 52.2% were of German, 13.0% Norwegian, 7.6% Swedish and 5.4% Irish ancestry.

There were 1,717 households, out of which 28.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.00% were married couples living together, 6.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.20% were non-families. 32.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 19.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.97.

The county population contained 25.30% under the age of 18, 5.60% from 18 to 24, 21.70% from 25 to 44, 21.20% from 45 to 64, and 26.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 96.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $30,617, and the median income for a family was $39,655. Males had a median income of $29,821 versus $20,100 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,378. About 9.30% of families and 12.00% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.10% of those under age 18 and 10.80% of those age 65 or over.

Communities[]

Cities[]

  • Browns Valley
  • Dumont
  • Tintah
  • Wheaton (county seat)

Unincorporated communities[]

  • Boisberg
  • Charlesville (partial)
  • Collis
  • Dakomin

Townships[]

  • Arthur Township
  • Clifton Township
  • Croke Township
  • Dollymount Township
  • Folsom Township
  • Lake Valley Township
  • Leonardsville Township
  • Monson Township
  • Parnell Township
  • Redpath Township
  • Tara Township
  • Taylor Township
  • Tintah Township
  • Walls Township
  • Windsor Township

Government and Politics[]

Traverse County has a balanced electorate. Since 1980 the county has selected the Republican Party candidate 50% of the time in national elections (as of 2020).

United States presidential election results for Traverse County, Minnesota[14]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 1,172 62.88% 661 35.46% 31 1.66%
2016 1,049 58.34% 630 35.04% 119 6.62%
2012 861 46.62% 943 51.06% 43 2.33%
2008 933 45.85% 1,043 51.25% 59 2.90%
2004 1,076 50.26% 1,026 47.92% 39 1.82%
2000 1,074 51.00% 884 41.98% 148 7.03%
1996 775 34.77% 1,135 50.92% 319 14.31%
1992 841 33.86% 1,053 42.39% 590 23.75%
1988 1,061 42.85% 1,399 56.50% 16 0.65%
1984 1,399 51.00% 1,325 48.30% 19 0.69%
1980 1,574 51.95% 1,258 41.52% 198 6.53%
1976 1,130 35.24% 2,020 62.99% 57 1.78%
1972 1,276 41.77% 1,744 57.09% 35 1.15%
1968 1,277 41.41% 1,669 54.12% 138 4.47%
1964 1,073 32.30% 2,247 67.64% 2 0.06%
1960 1,463 40.75% 2,122 59.11% 5 0.14%
1956 1,467 45.87% 1,724 53.91% 7 0.22%
1952 1,809 50.63% 1,756 49.15% 8 0.22%
1948 1,008 31.28% 2,151 66.74% 64 1.99%
1944 1,296 42.76% 1,721 56.78% 14 0.46%
1940 1,434 40.50% 2,094 59.14% 13 0.37%
1936 761 24.20% 2,297 73.06% 86 2.74%
1932 608 18.53% 2,633 80.23% 41 1.25%
1928 1,214 38.79% 1,899 60.67% 17 0.54%
1924 1,002 39.32% 202 7.93% 1,344 52.75%
1920 1,759 73.20% 550 22.89% 94 3.91%
1916 774 48.71% 779 49.02% 36 2.27%
1912 131 10.34% 561 44.28% 575 45.38%
1908 685 54.93% 514 41.22% 48 3.85%
1904 885 77.50% 247 21.63% 10 0.88%
1900 768 50.29% 720 47.15% 39 2.55%
1896 589 36.65% 963 59.93% 55 3.42%
1892 413 39.33% 317 30.19% 320 30.48%



County Board of Commissioners[15]
Position Name District
Commissioner Todd Johnson District 1
Commissioner Kayla Schmidt District 2
Commissioner Mark Gail District 3
Commissioner and Chairperson David Salberg District 4
Commissioner Thomas Monson Jr. District 5
State Legislature (2018-2020)
Position Name Affiliation District
style="background-color:#FF3333;" width=10px | " |  Senate Torrey Westrom[16] Republican District 12
style="background-color:#FF3333;" width=10px | " |  House of Representatives Jeff Backer[17] Republican District 12A
U.S Congress (2018-2020)
Position Name Affiliation District
style="background-color:#3333FF;" width=10px | " |  House of Representatives Collin Peterson[18] Democrat 7th
style="background-color:#3333FF;" width=10px | " |  Senate Amy Klobuchar[19] Democrat N/A
style="background-color:#3333FF;" width=10px | " |  Senate Tina Smith[20] Democrat N/A

See also[]

  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Traverse County, Minnesota

Notes[]

References[]

  1. ^ Upham, Warren (1920). Minnesota Geographic Names: Their Origin and Historic Significance. Minnesota Historical Society. p. 550. https://archive.org/details/minnesotageogra00uphagoog. 
  2. ^ a b "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Traverse County, Minnesota" (in en). United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/traversecountyminnesota/PST045221. 
  3. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. 
  4. ^ "Minnesota Place Names". Minnesota Historical Society. http://mnplaces.mnhs.org/upham/county.cfm?SendingPage=Region.cfm&county=78. 
  5. ^ a b Traverse County MN Google Maps (accessed April 2, 2019)
  6. ^ "Find an Altitude/Traverse County MN" Google Maps (accessed April 2, 2019)
  7. ^ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. https://www.census.gov/geo/maps-data/data/docs/gazetteer/counties_list_27.txt. 
  8. ^ Nelson, Steven (2011). Savanna Soils of Minnesota. Minnesota: Self. pp. 65-67. ISBN 978-0-615-50320-2.
  9. ^ "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2021". https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-counties-total.html. 
  10. ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html. 
  11. ^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu. 
  12. ^ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/mn190090.txt. 
  13. ^ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf. 
  14. ^ Leip, David. "Atlas of US Presidential Elections". http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS. 
  15. ^ "County Commissioners | Traverse County, Minnesota" (in en-US). https://www.co.traverse.mn.us/departments/departments/county-commissioners/. 
  16. ^ "MN State Senate" (in en). https://www.senate.mn/members/member_bio.php?member_id=1197. 
  17. ^ "Rep. Jeff Backer (12A) - Minnesota House of Representatives". https://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/members/profile/15428. 
  18. ^ "Congressman Collin Peterson" (in en). https://collinpeterson.house.gov/. 
  19. ^ "U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar". https://www.klobuchar.senate.gov/public/. 
  20. ^ "Home" (in en). https://www.smith.senate.gov/. 

Coordinates: 45°46′N 96°28′W / 45.77, -96.47


This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Traverse County, Minnesota. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with this Familypedia wiki, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons License.
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