Wadena County, Minnesota

Wadena County, Minnesota
Map of Minnesota highlighting Wadena County
Location in the U.S. state of Minnesota
Map of the United States highlighting Minnesota
Minnesota's location in the U.S.
Founded June 11, 1858 (created)
1873 (organized)[1]
Named for An old trading post and common Ojibwe name[2]
Seat Wadena
Largest city Wadena
Area
 • Total 543 sq mi (1,406 km2)
 • Land 536 sq mi (1,388 km2)
 • Water 7.0 sq mi (18 km2), 1.3%
Population (est.)
 • (2016) 13,761
 • Density 26/sq mi (10/km²)
Congressional district 8th
Time zone Central: UTC-6/-5
Website www.co.wadena.mn.us

Wadena County (/wəˈdiːnə/ wə-DEEN-ə) is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2010 census, the population was 13,843.[3] Its county seat is Wadena.[4] The county was formed in 1858 and organized in 1873.

History

Wadena County Fairgrounds
The grandstands at the Wadena County Fairgrounds

Wadena County was organized on February 21, 1873, at which time Wadena was chosen as the county seat.[5]

Wadena county is composed of fifteen townships, first surveyed in 1863. Each township is 6 miles by 6 miles and contains 36 sections of land (with the exception of Bullard and Thomastown which have a slightly different configuration because their boundaries are aligned with the Leaf and Crow Wing Rivers, respectively). In 1857, a man named Augustus Aspinwall laid out a townsite in what is now Section 15, Thomastown township, at the junction of the Crow Wing and Partridge rivers, and named it Wadena. In 1872, when the railroad went through the area it ran about three miles south of this site and thus the town quickly withered away.

During that period there were five organized townships (Wadena, Aldrich, Thomastown, Leaf River and Wing River) and three county commissioners. The balance of the townships were organized between this time and 1899; the last two, Huntersville and Orton after being organized as one township in 1898, were split in 1899. As of 2010, there are six organized towns in the county: Wadena (the county seat), Verndale, Sebeka, Menahga, Aldrich, and Nimrod.

Native vegetation based on NRCS soils information[6]

Ghost towns, towns of the past or unorganized villages, included Kindred or Shell City, Oylen and Ferris, Central, Huntersville, Leaf River, and Blue Grass.

In the early days, before rural mail delivery was begun, there were many post offices in the county to serve people so they did not have to travel far to get their mail. These included Kindred or Shell City, Wing River, Leaf River, Taylor’s Landing, Nimrod, Hoptacong, Farnham, Lukens, Passaic, Hartshorn, Ouichee, Bullard, Oye and Oylen. At the present time there are post offices in Menahga, Sebeka, Wadena, Verndale, and Aldrich.

For the last part of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth, there were two railroads in the county. The Northern Pacific main line running east to west through Wadena was built in 1872, while the Great Northern branch or "K" line which ran from Sauk Centre to Bemidji, via Sebeka and Menahga, was completed in 1891. The line from Park Rapids to Long Prairie was abandoned in 1984 while the rest was abandoned in the early 1970s with the northern section from Park Rapids to Cass Lake has since been converted to the Heartland Trail.

Wadena used to be served by the Greyhound Bus Line, Elliott Bros. Transportation Co., Northwest Transportation Co., Red Bus Line, Gray Bus Line, Liederbach Bus Co. and Mercury Bus line.

There are four historical societies in the county, including the Wadena County Historical Society, the Verndale Historical Society, the Sebeka Finnish American Historical Society and the Menahga Historical Society.

In 2010, there were four organized school districts in the county: Wadena, Verndale, Sebeka and Menahga. In 1906, there were 52 school districts in the county, most of which were rural schools.

Sebeka once had the second largest creamery in the state of Minnesota. Over the years there have been approximately ten creameries in the county and ten cheese factories.[7]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 543 square miles (1,410 km2), of which 536 square miles (1,390 km2) is land and 7.0 square miles (18 km2) (1.3%) is water.[8] Wadena is one of 17 Minnesota counties with more savanna soils than prairie or forest soils.

Lakes

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop. %±
18706—
18802,08034,566.7%
18904,05895.1%
19007,92195.2%
19108,6529.2%
192010,69923.7%
193010,9902.7%
194012,77216.2%
195012,8060.3%
196012,199−4.7%
197012,4121.7%
198014,19214.3%
199013,154−7.3%
200013,7134.2%
201013,8430.9%
Est. 201613,761[9]−0.6%
U.S. Decennial Census[10]
1790-1960[11] 1900-1990[12]
1990-2000[13] 2010-2016[3]
Age pyramid of county residents based on 2000 U.S. census data

As of the census[14] of 2000, there were 13,713 people, 5,426 households, and 3,608 families residing in the county. The population density was 26 people per square mile (10/km²). There were 6,334 housing units at an average density of 12 per square mile (5/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.89% White, 0.48% Black or African American, 0.55% Native American, 0.18% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.27% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. 0.93% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 37.5% were of German, 14.0% Norwegian, 12.5% Finnish, 9.0% United States or American and 5.3% Swedish ancestry.

There were 5,426 households out of which 30.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.30% were married couples living together, 7.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.50% were non-families. 29.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.02.

In the county, the population was spread out with 25.80% under the age of 18, 8.10% from 18 to 24, 23.60% from 25 to 44, 22.60% from 45 to 64, and 19.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 97.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $30,651, and the median income for a family was $38,618. Males had a median income of $28,424 versus $21,027 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,146. About 9.70% of families and 14.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.40% of those under age 18 and 12.60% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

Townships

Unincorporated communities

Ghost towns

Politics

Presidential Elections Results[15]
Year Republican Democratic Third Parties
2016 69.8% 4,837 24.3% 1,684 6.0% 413
2012 61.0% 4,143 36.7% 2,492 2.3% 156
2008 57.6% 4,128 40.2% 2,882 2.2% 159
2004 59.4% 4,214 39.4% 2,791 1.2% 88
2000 58.5% 3,733 35.3% 2,251 6.2% 398
1996 44.6% 2,696 41.1% 2,480 14.3% 864
1992 39.0% 2,492 36.6% 2,340 24.5% 1,566
1988 59.3% 3,733 39.4% 2,484 1.3% 82
1984 63.4% 4,306 36.1% 2,454 0.5% 32
1980 57.6% 4,089 37.1% 2,635 5.3% 379
1976 47.5% 3,048 49.3% 3,164 3.3% 212
1972 57.1% 3,408 40.7% 2,430 2.3% 136
1968 54.1% 2,912 40.8% 2,198 5.1% 276
1964 45.3% 2,418 54.5% 2,908 0.2% 8
1960 57.8% 3,082 42.0% 2,240 0.1% 7
1956 63.5% 3,028 36.4% 1,733 0.1% 6
1952 68.5% 3,662 31.2% 1,665 0.3% 16
1948 46.2% 2,272 52.0% 2,556 1.8% 89
1944 58.5% 2,653 41.2% 1,868 0.4% 16
1940 54.3% 2,898 45.0% 2,405 0.7% 37
1936 40.8% 1,898 56.0% 2,605 3.1% 146
1932 39.3% 1,585 57.1% 2,300 3.6% 145
1928 64.1% 2,592 33.2% 1,343 2.7% 109
1924 54.8% 1,900 5.3% 182 39.9% 1,383
1920 75.6% 2,635 14.4% 503 10.0% 349
1916 54.3% 938 37.7% 651 8.0% 138
1912 20.9% 278 25.3% 336 53.8% 716
1908 63.6% 991 30.0% 467 6.5% 101
1904 82.6% 1,159 13.5% 190 3.9% 55
1900 65.7% 949 31.0% 448 3.3% 48
1896 60.7% 874 37.1% 534 2.3% 33
1892 45.4% 454 33.2% 332 21.5% 215

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Minnesota Place Names". Minnesota Historical Society. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
  2. ↑ Upham, Warren (1920). Minnesota Geographic Names: Their Origin and Historic Significance. Minnesota Historical Society. p. 560.
  3. 1 2 "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved September 1, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
  5. ↑ http://wadenacountyhistory.org/county-origin/
  6. ↑ Nelson, Steven (2011). Savanna Soils of Minnesota. Minnesota: Self. pp. 53-56. ISBN 978-0-615-50320-2.
  7. ↑ Wadena County Historical Society
  8. ↑ "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". Retrieved June 9, 2017.
  10. ↑ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 25, 2014.
  14. ↑ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  15. ↑ http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS

Coordinates: 46°35′N 94°58′W / 46.58°N 94.96°W / 46.58; -94.96

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