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Pennington County, Minnesota
Carnegie library thief river falls
Old Carnegie Library, downtown Thief River Falls, Minnesota.
Map of Minnesota highlighting Pennington County
Location in the state of Minnesota
Map of the U.S
Minnesota's location in the U.S.
Founded November 23, 1910
Named for Edmund Pennington
Seat Thief River Falls
Largest city Thief River Falls
Area
 - Total
 - Land
 - Water

618 sq mi (1,601 km²)
617 sq mi (1,598 km²)
1.7 sq mi (4 km²), 0.3
Population
 - (2020)
 - Density

13,992
22.7/sq mi (9/km²)
Congressional district 7th
Time zone Central: UTC-6/-5
Website co.pennington.mn.us

Pennington County is a county in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 13,992.[1] Its county seat is Thief River Falls.[2]

History[]

The Wisconsin Territory was established by the federal government effective July 3, 1836, and existed until its eastern portion was granted statehood (as Wisconsin) in 1848. The federal government set up the Minnesota Territory in the remaining territory, effective March 3, 1849. The newly organized territorial legislature created nine counties across the territory in October of that year. One of those original counties, Pembina, had its lower portion partitioned in 1858 by the newly organized Minnesota State legislature to create Polk County. On December 24, 1896, the legislature partitioned the northern portion of Polk to create Red Lake County. Then on November 23, 1910,[3] the northern part of Red Lake was sectioned off to create Pennington County, the penultimate Minnesota county to be created (followed by Lake of the Woods in 1922). The county was named for Edmund Pennington (1848-1926), a longtime Minnesota railroad executive, who was serving as president of the Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Sault Ste. Marie Railway when the county was formed. Thief River Falls, the area's major settlement (platted in 1887), was specified as the county seat.[4]

Geography[]

File:Pennington Co Pie Chart No Text Version.pdf

Oriniak WMA New Wiki Version

Soils of Oriniak WMA neighborhood

The Red Lake River flows westward into the county from Beltrami County through Pennington's central portion. Near Thief River Falls it is joined by the Thief River, flowing southward into the county from Marshall County. The combined flow exits Pennington County toward the south, then swings west- and northwestward as it moves to its confluence with the Red River near Grand Forks, North Dakota. The county terrain consists of low rolling hills, lightly wooded, with all available areas devoted to agriculture.[6] The terrain slopes to the west and south,[7] with its highest point near the lower east border, at 1,186' (361m) ASL.[8] The county has a total area of 618 square miles (1,600 km2), of which 617 square miles (1,600 km2) is land and 1.7 square miles (4.4 km2) (0.3%) is water.[9] Pennington is one of 17 Minnesota savanna region counties with more savanna soils than either prairie or forest soils.

Major highways[]

  • US 59 U.S. Highway 59
  • MN-1 Minnesota State Highway 1
  • MN-32 Minnesota State Highway 32
  • MN-219 Minnesota State Highway 219
  • County 3 (MN) Pennington County State-Aid Highway 3: Major connector between Pennington County and Grand Forks. Connects with Polk County State-Aid Highway 21.
  • County 17 (MN) Pennington County State-Aid Highway 17: Connects Thief River Falls to the Airport
  • County 10 (MN) Pennington County State-Aid Highway 10: Major route, also known as Pembina Trail
  • County 16 (MN) Pennington County State-Aid Highway 16: US 59 Truck Bypass of Thief River Falls, connects US 59 / MN 1 on the west side of town to MN 32 on the south side of town
  • County 27 (MN) County 28 (MN) Pennington County State-Aid Highways 27 & 28: Designated and designed for heavy truck traffic connecting US 2 to Roseau County and Marshall County

Airports[]

  • Thief River Falls Regional Airport

Adjacent counties[]

Protected areas[]

  • Higinbotham State Wildlife Management Area
  • Pembina State Wildlife Management Area

Demographics[]

Historical populations
Census Pop.
1910 9,376
1920 12,091 29.0%
1930 10,487 −13.3%
1940 12,913 23.1%
1950 12,965 0.4%
1960 12,468 −3.8%
1970 13,266 6.4%
1980 15,258 15.0%
1990 13,306 −12.8%
2000 13,584 2.1%
2010 13,930 2.5%
Est. 2021 13,780 [10] 1.4%
U.S. Decennial Census[11]
1790-1960[12] 1900-1990[13]
1990-2000[14] 2010-2020[1]
USA Pennington County, Minnesota age pyramid

Age pyramid of county residents based on 2000 census data

2000 census[]

As of the 2000 census, there were 13,584 people, 5,525 households, and 3,552 families in the county. The population density was 22.0/sqmi (8.50/km2). There were 6,033 housing units at an average density of 9.78.sqmi (3.78/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 97.02% White, 0.21% Black or African American, 0.82% Native American, 0.59% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.51% from other races, and 0.81% from two or more races. 1.24% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 49.0% were of Norwegian, 15.4% German and 7.2% Swedish ancestry.

There were 5,525 households, out of which 30.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.70% were married couples living together, 9.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.70% were non-families. 29.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.95.

The county population contained 24.50% under the age of 18, 10.30% from 18 to 24, 26.50% from 25 to 44, 22.90% from 45 to 64, and 15.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 97.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.60 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $34,216, and the median income for a family was $43,936. Males had a median income of $30,771 versus $21,078 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,346. About 7.70% of families and 11.10% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.70% of those under age 18 and 14.80% of those age 65 or over.

Communities[]

Cities[]

  • Goodridge
  • St. Hilaire
  • Thief River Falls (county seat)

Unincorporated communities[]

  • Dakota Junction
  • Erie
  • Hazel
  • Highlanding
  • Kratka
  • Mavie
  • River Valley[6]

Townships[]

  • Black River Township
  • Bray Township
  • Clover Leaf Township
  • Deer Park Township
  • Goodridge Township
  • Hickory Township
  • Highlanding Township
  • Kratka Township
  • Mayfield Township
  • Norden Township
  • North Township
  • Numedal Township
  • Polk Centre Township
  • Reiner Township
  • River Falls Township
  • Rocksbury Township
  • Sanders Township
  • Silverton Township
  • Smiley Township
  • Star Township
  • Wyandotte Township

Politics[]

Pennington County has a fairly balanced voting record but has tended to vote Republican in recent decades. In 60% of national elections since 1980 the county selected the Republican Party candidate (as of 2020).

United States presidential election results for Pennington County, Minnesota[15]
Year Republican Democratic Third party
No.  % No.  % No.  %
2020 4,532 62.28% 2,568 35.29% 177 2.43%
2016 4,000 59.57% 2,147 31.97% 568 8.46%
2012 3,305 50.71% 3,024 46.40% 188 2.88%
2008 3,248 47.61% 3,394 49.75% 180 2.64%
2004 3,767 53.68% 3,117 44.42% 133 1.90%
2000 3,380 53.48% 2,458 38.89% 482 7.63%
1996 2,129 35.99% 2,814 47.57% 972 16.43%
1992 2,155 33.89% 2,578 40.54% 1,626 25.57%
1988 2,920 48.10% 3,105 51.14% 46 0.76%
1984 3,536 54.49% 2,913 44.89% 40 0.62%
1980 3,715 50.09% 3,101 41.81% 600 8.09%
1976 3,023 43.51% 3,787 54.50% 138 1.99%
1972 3,548 53.76% 2,892 43.82% 160 2.42%
1968 2,247 41.12% 2,998 54.86% 220 4.03%
1964 1,630 29.45% 3,894 70.37% 10 0.18%
1960 2,537 44.05% 3,204 55.63% 18 0.31%
1956 2,408 44.93% 2,947 54.99% 4 0.07%
1952 2,726 48.55% 2,802 49.90% 87 1.55%
1948 1,759 31.37% 3,402 60.66% 447 7.97%
1944 1,525 31.09% 3,330 67.89% 50 1.02%
1940 1,857 31.79% 3,886 66.53% 98 1.68%
1936 1,258 24.40% 3,736 72.47% 161 3.12%
1932 1,212 28.12% 2,743 63.64% 355 8.24%
1928 2,506 65.29% 1,198 31.21% 134 3.49%
1924 1,126 31.20% 146 4.05% 2,337 64.75%
1920 2,320 60.70% 768 20.09% 734 19.20%
1916 868 40.47% 1,004 46.81% 273 12.73%
1912 244 13.03% 423 22.60% 1,205 64.37%



See also[]

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

References[]

  1. ^ a b "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Pennington County, Minnesota" (in en). United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/penningtoncountyminnesota/PST045221. 
  2. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. 
  3. ^ "Minnesota Place Names". Minnesota Historical Society. http://mnplaces.mnhs.org/upham/county.cfm. 
  4. ^ Upham, Warren. Minnesota Geographic Names (1920), pp. 406-408 (accessed April 29, 2019)
  5. ^ Nelson, Steven (2011). Savanna Soils of Minnesota. Minnesota: Self. pp. 57-60. ISBN 978-0-615-50320-2.
  6. ^ a b Pennington County MN Google Maps (accessed April 29, 2019)
  7. ^ ""Find an Altitude/Pennington County MN" Google Maps (accessed April 29, 2019)". https://www.daftlogic.com/sandbox-google-maps-find-altitude.htm. 
  8. ^ High Point of Pennington County, Minnesota. PeakBagger.com (accessed April 29, 2019)
  9. ^ "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. 
  10. ^ "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. 
  11. ^ "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/prod/www/decennial.html. 
  12. ^ "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu. 
  13. ^ "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/mn190090.txt. 
  14. ^ "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. 
  15. ^ Leip, David. "Atlas of US Presidential Elections". http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS. 

Template:Pennington County, Minnesota

Coordinates: 48°04′N 96°02′W / 48.07, -96.04

This page uses content from the English language Wikipedia. The original content was at Pennington 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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