McHenry County, North Dakota

McHenry County, North Dakota
McHenry County Courthouse
Location in the state of North Dakota
North Dakota's location in the U.S.
Founded	1873
Seat	Towner
Largest city	Velva
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	1,912 sq mi (4,952 km²) 1,874 sq mi (4,854 km²) 38 sq mi (98 km²), 1.97%
Population  - (2010)  - Density	5,395 3/sq mi (1/km²)
Website	www.mchenrycountynd.com

McHenry County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of 2010, the population was 5,395.^[1] Its county seat is Towner.^[2]

The Territorial legislature formed McHenry County in 1873 from part of Bottineau County. The name comes from James McHenry, an early settler of Vermillion, South Dakota. The county government was first organized on October 15, 1884. Before becoming Towner in 1886, the county seat was Villard from 1884 to 1885 and Scriptown from 1885 to 1886.^[3] Both former seats are now ghost towns.

McHenry is part of the Minot Micropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,912 square miles (4,950 km²), of which, 1,874 square miles (4,850 km²) of it is land and 38 square miles (98 km²) of it (1.97%) is water.

Townships

Anamoose Balfour Bantry Berwick Bjornson Brown Cottonwood Lake Deep River Deering Denbigh Egg Creek Falsen Gilmore Granville Grilley Hendrickson

Karlsruhe Kottke Valley Lake George Lake Hester Land Layton Lebanon Little Deep Meadow Mouse River Newport Normal North Prairie Norwich Odin Olivia

Pratt Riga Rose Hill Round Lake Saline Schiller Spring Grove Strege Velva Verendrye Villard Voltaire Wagar Willow Creek

Major highways

U.S. Highway 2 U.S. Highway 52 North Dakota Highway 14 North Dakota Highway 19

North Dakota Highway 41 North Dakota Highway 53 North Dakota Highway 97

Adjacent counties

• Bottineau County (north)
• Pierce County (east)
• Sheridan County (southeast)
• McLean County (southwest)
• Ward County (west)
• Renville County (northwest)

National protected areas

• Cottonwood Lake National Wildlife Refuge
• J. Clark Salyer National Wildlife Refuge (part)
• Wintering River National Wildlife Refuge

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1890	1,584		—
1900	5,253		231.6%
1910	17,627		235.6%
1920	15,544		−11.8%
1930	15,439		−0.7%
1940	14,034		−9.1%
1950	12,556		−10.5%
1960	11,099		−11.6%
1970	8,977		−19.1%
1980	7,858		−12.5%
1990	6,528		−16.9%
2000	5,987		−8.3%
2010	5,395		−9.9%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census^[4] of 2000, there were 5,987 people, 2,526 households, and 1,699 families residing in the county. The population density was 3 people per square mile (1/km²). There were 2,983 housing units at an average density of 2 per square mile (1/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.73% White, 0.08% Black or African American, 0.40% Native American, 0.03% Asian, 0.05% from other races, and 0.70% from two or more races. 0.40% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 45.4% were of German and 34.0% Norwegian ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 2,526 households out of which 28.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.2% were married couples living together, 5.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.7% were non-families. 29.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.92.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.0% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 23.3% from 25 to 44, 25.1% from 45 to 64, and 21.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 103.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.0 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $27,274, and the median income for a family was $35,676. Males had a median income of $25,740 versus $18,505 for females. The per capita income for the county was $15,140. About 12.0% of families and 15.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.5% of those under age 18 and 16.8% of those age 65 or over.

Places

Cities

• Anamoose
• Balfour
• Bantry
• Bergen
• Deering
• Drake
• Granville
• Karlsruhe
• Kief
• Towner
• Upham
• Velva
• Voltaire

Note: all incorporated communities in North Dakota are called "cities" regardless of their size.

Unincorporated communities

• Norwich
• Verendrye
• Rangeley
• Guthrie
• Norfolk
• Funston
• Newport
• Berwick
• Denbigh
• Riga
• Kongsberg
• Rising
• Simcoe
• Genoa
• Kottkethal
• Rose Hill
• Cole Ford
• Willowdale
• Willow Vale
• Willow Valley
• Willow Creek
• Milroy

Notable people

• Sondre Norheim - pioneer of modern skiing

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in McHenry County, North Dakota

References

1. ^ "2010 Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File". American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=DEC_10_PL_GCTPL2.ST05&prodType=table. Retrieved 3 May 2011. 
2. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
3. ^ "County History". Official Portal for North Dakota State Government. http://www.nd.gov/content.htm?parentCatID=83&id=County%20History. Retrieved 4 May 2011. 
4. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 

External links

• McHenry County JDA

Coordinates: 48°14′N 100°38′W / 48.23°N 100.64°W / 48.23; -100.64