Otter Tail County, Minnesota

Otter Tail County, Minnesota
Location in the state of Minnesota
Minnesota's location in the U.S.
Founded	March 18, 1858 [1]
Named for	Otter Tail Lake and Otter Tail River
Seat	Fergus Falls
Largest city	Fergus Falls
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	2,224.91 sq mi (5,762 km²) 1,979.71 sq mi (5,127 km²) 245.20 sq mi (635 km²), 11.02%
Population  - (2010)  - Density	57,303 29/sq mi (11/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.co.otter-tail.mn.us

Otter Tail County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 57,303.^[1] Its county seat is Fergus Falls^[2].

History

Native Americans used the survey area for hunting and fishing and had permanent dwelling sites. Two Native American tribes were in constant conflict. The Dakota (Sioux) were being pushed from their home area by the Ojibwa (Chippewa) during the late 18th century and early 19th century. Burial mounds and artifacts can still be found. Some of the oldest remains of Native Americans were found near Pelican Rapids, Minnesota. The remains, nicknamed Minnesota Girl, were dated at about 11,000 B.C. (Otter Tail County Historical Museum).

The first white men to enter the county were French and British fur traders. Efforts were made to set up trading posts on the Leaf Lakes and Otter Tail Lake. In the late 19th century, most of the towns were built along the railroad lines. Lumber and agriculture were the major industries in the county at that time. The pine and hardwood forests, transportation system, and markets were instrumental in the development of Fergus Falls into a lumber center.

In 1870, the population of the county was about 2,000. At that time the principal languages spoken in the county were Norwegian, Swedish, German, and English. Otter Tail County was established in March 1858 by a legislative act. It was organized in 1868. The original county seat was Ottertail City.

The people of Fergus Falls organized a new county named Holcomb. In 1872, a legislative act abolished Holcomb County, added additional townships to the west, and established Fergus Falls as the county seat of Otter Tail County. There are 62 townships in the county. The county is named for Otter Tail Lake and the Otter Tail River.^[3]

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 2,224.91 square miles (5,762.5 km²), of which 1,979.71 square miles (5,127.4 km²) (or 88.98%) is land and 245.20 square miles (635.1 km²) (or 11.02%) is water.^[4] According to the official web site, Otter Tail County contains over 1000 lakes and two Minnesota state parks, Maplewood State Park and Glendalough State Park. The highest point in Otter Tail County is Inspiration Peak in the Leaf Mountains, at 1750 feet above sea level.

Adjacent counties

• Becker County (north)
• Wadena County (northeast)
• Todd County (southeast)
• Douglas County (south)
• Grant County (southwest)
• Wilkin County (west)
• Clay County (northwest)

Transportation

Major highways

Interstate 94 U.S. Highway 10 U.S. Highway 52 U.S. Highway 59 Minnesota State Highway 29 Minnesota State Highway 34 Minnesota State Highway 78

Minnesota State Highway 106 Minnesota State Highway 108 Minnesota State Highway 210 Minnesota State Highway 228 Minnesota State Highway 235 Minnesota State Highway 297

Airports

The following public-use airports are located in Otter Tail County:

• Fergus Falls Municipal Airport (FFM) in Fergus Falls
• Henning Municipal Airport (05Y) in Henning
• New York Mills Municipal Airport (25Y) in New York Mills
• Pelican Rapids Municipal Airport (47Y) in Pelican Rapids
• Perham Municipal Airport (16D) in Perham
• Wadena Municipal Airport (ADC) in Wadena

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1860	240		—
1870	1,968		720.0%
1880	18,675		848.9%
1890	34,232		83.3%
1900	45,375		32.6%
1910	46,036		1.5%
1920	50,818		10.4%
1930	51,006		0.4%
1940	53,192		4.3%
1950	51,320		−3.5%
1960	48,960		−4.6%
1970	46,097		−5.8%
1980	51,937		12.7%
1990	50,714		−2.4%
2000	57,159		12.7%
2010	57,303		0.3%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census^[5] of 2000, there were 57,159 people, 22,671 households, and 15,779 families residing in the county. The population density was 29 people per square mile (11/km²). There were 33,862 housing units at an average density of 17 per square mile (7/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.11% White, 0.29% African American, 0.51% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.84% from other races, and 0.78% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.67% of the population. 35.5% were of German and 31.2% Norwegian ancestry according to Census 2000.

Age pyramid of county residents based on 2000 U.S. census data.

There were 22,671 households out of which 30.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.1% were married couples living together, 6.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.4% were non-families. 26.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.98.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.9% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 19.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 100.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.8 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $35,395, and the median income for a family was $42,740. Males had a median income of $30,151 versus $20,930 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,014. About 6.7% of families and 10.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.1% of those under age 18 and 11.1% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

In the U.S. presidential elections, Otter Tail County has mainly been a Republican county.

During the time period of the Great Depression, however, there was actually a communist faction within the county. The areas where the movement was centered in the county are quite desolate today, however, during mid-1932, the worst possible time for farmers, there were over 900 members involved with one of the state's communist organizations.^[6] “The members of the communist party were very active in the New York Mills area of Newton, Leaf Lake, Blowers, Deer Creek and Paddock Townships. They held meetings, recruited members, placed candidates on local and state tickets, and distributed propaganda. They held dances in Heinola, Menahga, and Sebeka where the Soviet hammer and sickle was proudly displayed and ran a summer camp on East Leaf Lake.”^[6] Heinola is a ghost town today. The low activity and population among these areas today suggests that they were set up by outsiders during the Depression. When the communist movement died out, so did much of the activity and population has been on the decline ever since. This leads to the idea that the most of Otter Tail had strongly conservative roots; the few "communists" in the area were farmers under the influence of outsiders.

By the time Franklin D. Roosevelt implemented some of the New Deal programs in the county, most of the communist movement began to lose all its steam. In addition, the Winter War in Europe between Finland and the U.S.S.R. soured the taste of communism to many Finnish immigrants (the Fins were a major denomination among the communists at the time). Carl Peltoniemi, a former supporter of the organization, said, “The communist movement within the Finnish community basically ended at the start of the Winter War in 1939-1940.”

Ever since the United States presidential election of 1936, Otter Tail County has voted Republican for every Presidential election.^{[citation needed]} In the U.S. Presidential Election of 2008, 55% of the voters voted for John McCain while 42% voted for Barack Obama.

In the Minnesota House of Representatives, Otter Tail County is divided into two districts. District 10A and District 10B. Both are represented by Republicans Bud Nornes (10A) and Mark Murdock (10B). Both Nornes and Murdock won the 2008 state House elections with more than 50% of the vote. Districts 10A and 10B make up the Minnesota State Senate district 10, which is represented by Republican State Senator Gretchen Hoffman. Senator Hoffman won the 2010 election with just under 55% of the votes.

Presidential Election Results 1960-2008

Year	Democrat	Republican
2008	42% 13,856	55% 18,077
2004	37% 12,038	61% 19,734
2000	35% 9,176	59% 16,963
1996	40% 10,519	45% 11,808
1992	34% 9,844	41% 11,074
1988	42% 10,373	57% 14,015
1984	38% 9714	61% 15,664
1980	34% 9,108	57% 15,091
1976	48% 11,881	49% 12,113
1972	36% 7881	62% 13,519
1968	35% 7400	60% 12,483
1964	48% 9997	51% 10,542
1960	36% 8054	59% 16,080

Cities and towns

The Otter Tail River as it passes Phelps Mill in Otter Tail County, Minnesota. Photo by Scott Backstrom. June 2004

Fergus Falls City Hall in Fergus Falls, Minnesota.

This is a scene of one of Glendalough State Park's picnic and beach areas. The park is close to Battle Lake, Otter Tail County. Photo by James Benjamin Bleeker. 18 July 2010

Cities	Townships		Unincorporated
Battle Lake Bluffton Clitherall Dalton Deer Creek Dent Elizabeth Erhard Fergus Falls Henning New York Mills Ottertail Parkers Prairie Pelican Rapids Perham Richville Rothsay † Underwood Urbank Vergas Vining Wadena ‡	Aastad Township Amor Township Aurdal Township Blowers Township Bluffton Township Buse Township Butler Township Candor Township Carlisle Township Clitherall Township Compton Township Corliss Township Dane Prairie Township Dead Lake Township Deer Creek Township Dora Township Dunn Township Eagle Lake Township Eastern Township Edna Township Effington Township Elizabeth Township Elmo Township Erhards Grove Township Everts Township Fergus Falls Township Folden Township Friberg Township Girard Township Gorman Township Henning Township	Hobart Township Homestead Township Inman Township Leaf Lake Township Leaf Mountain Township Lida Township Maine Township Maplewood Township Newton Township Nidaros Township Norwegian Grove Township Oak Valley Township Orwell Township Oscar Township Otter Tail Township Otto Township Paddock Township Parkers Prairie Township Pelican Township Perham Township Pine Lake Township Rush Lake Township Scambler Township St. Olaf Township Star Lake Township Sverdrup Township Tordenskjold Township Trondhjem Township Tumuli Township Western Township Woodside Township	Dunvilla Parkton

† a part of Rothsay extends into Wilkin County.
‡ Wadena is in Wadena County, but a small part of the city extends into Otter Tail County.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Otter Tail County, Minnesota

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 25 April 2011. 
2. ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx. Retrieved 2011-06-07. 
3. ^ Otter Tail County Website http://www.co.otter-tail.mn.us/gis/soilsurvey03history.php
4. ^ "Census 2000 U.S. Gazetteer Files: Counties". United States Census. http://www.census.gov/tiger/tms/gazetteer/county2k.txt. Retrieved 2011-02-13. 
5. ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31. 
6. ^ ^{a b} Tweton, Jerome (1988). The New Deal at the Grass Roots: Programs for the People in Otter Tail County, Minnesota. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press. pp. 29–31. 

External links

• Otter Tail Country Tourism Association
• Otter Tail County government’s website
• Otter Tail County Historical Society

Coordinates: 46°25′N 95°43′W / 46.41°N 95.71°W / 46.41; -95.71