Cavalier County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

. It is south of the Canada–US border with

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,704, and was estimated to be 3,567 in 2024. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

and the largest city is Langdon. There is also a city named Cavalier but it is not located in Cavalier County. The City of

Cavalier The term ''Cavalier'' () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of Charles I of England and his son Charles II of England, Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum (England), Int ...

is the county seat of Pembina County, west of Cavalier County.

History

The

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of ...

legislature created Cavalier County on January 4, 1873, with territory annexed from Pembina County, but did not organize the county government structure at that time. It was named for Charles Cavileer (or Cavalier) of Pembina, an early settler. The county organization was affected on July 8, 1884. Its boundaries were altered in 1883 and in 1887. After petitioning the Territorial Governor for permission to organize the county, Patrick McHugh, W. Hudson Matthews, and L.C. Noracong met on July 8, 1884. On July 26 the new county officials met for the second time and chose Noracong as chairman of the board with William H. Doyle and Matthews as Commissioners. The first Register of Deeds and County Clerk was McHugh. W.J. Mooney became the first Judge of Probate, Charles B. Nelson was the first Cavalier County Supt. of Schools, and Clarence Hawkes the first sheriff. Cavalier took its current form in 1887 after the Territorial Legislature authorized an increase in size by taking a portion from Pembina County. The expansion added 15 new townships to the county. A site for a county seat was selected at the second meeting; it was named Langdon, for Robert Bruce Langdon of Minnesota, an official with the Great Northern Railroad. Langdon never visited the town, but reportedly donated a bell for the local school. The first courthouse was built in 1884 at a cost of $360.00. It was used briefly and then abandoned for warmer and more centrally located quarters in a downtown bank. A large brick courthouse was built in 1895 on the present site at a contract cost of $9,099.00. This building served county officials until the current courthouse was constructed in 1957–58.

Cavalier County Historical Society

Established after 1969 - The Holy Trinity Church at Dresden, ND became the cornerstone of the County Museum. It now houses local historic artifacts and landmarks. The Holy Trinity Church at Dresden replaced two previous wooden structures that both burned. The present structure was erected in 1936, built out of fieldstone collected by the local parishioners. An architect from Minneapolis, Fabian Redmond, designed the building. A stonemason from Rugby ND, Edroy Patterson, directed volunteer workers. Assisting in the building of the church were Andrew Bachman-head carpenter, Alphonse Hiltner, Stanley Koehmstedt and William Geisen.

Geography

Cavalier County is located on the north edge of North Dakota. Its north boundary line abuts the south boundary line of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. The Pembina River enters from

and flows southeasterly through the eastern part of the county, exiting near the SE corner. The county terrain consists of rolling hills, dotted with lakes and ponds in the western part.''Cavalier County ND'' Google Maps (accessed February 16, 2019)
/ref> The terrain slopes to the east, with its highest point near the midpoint of the south boundary line at ASL. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.37%) is water. It is the 16th largest county in North Dakota by total area.

Major highways

* North Dakota Highway 1 * North Dakota Highway 5 * North Dakota Highway 20 * North Dakota Highway 66

Adjacent counties and rural municipalities

* Municipality of Louise, Manitoba (north) * Municipality of Pembina, Manitoba (north) * Rural Municipality of Stanley, Manitoba (north) * Pembina County (east) * Walsh County (southeast) * Ramsey County (south) * Towner County (west)

Lakes

* Rush Lake

Demographics

As of the fourth quarter of 2024, the median home value in Cavalier County was $129,584. As of the 2023

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

, there are 1,539 estimated households in Cavalier County with an average of 2.32 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $67,064. Approximately 9.2% of the county's population lives at or below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

. Cavalier County has an estimated 60.4% employment rate, with 22.2% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 93.1% holding a high school diploma. The top five reported ancestries (people were allowed to report up to two ancestries, thus the figures will generally add to more than 100%) were English (95.6%), Spanish (1.5%), Indo-European (2.4%), Asian and Pacific Islander (0.1%), and Other (0.4%). The median age in the county was 47.1 years. Cavalier County, North Dakota – racial and ethnic composition

2024 estimate

As of the 2024 estimate, there were 3,567 people and 1,539 households residing in the county. There were 2,106 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 95.0% White ''(92.8% NH White)'', 0.7% African American, 2.0% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, _% from some other races and 1.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 2.5% of the population.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 3,704 people, 1,661 households, and 1,034 families residing in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 2,097 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 94.60%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 0.08%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.76% Native American, 0.43% Asian, 0.00%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.59% from some other races and 3.54% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 1.21% of the population.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 3,993 people, 1,818 households, and 1,142 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 2,309 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.72%

, 0.10%

, 0.93% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.03%

, 0.23% from some other races and 0.78% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 0.60% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 44.5% were

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 28.8% were Norwegian, 10.8% were American, 5.8% were Irish, 5.7% were Swedish, and 5.4% were English. There were 1,818 households, 21.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.7% were married couples living together, 4.0% had a female householder with no husband present, 37.2% were non-families, and 34.2% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.15 and the average family size was 2.74. The median age was 50.3 years. The median income for a household in the county was $48,786 and the median income for a family was $57,066. Males had a median income of $41,885 versus $26,914 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the county was $26,468. About 6.1% of families and 8.2% of the population were below the

, including 12.8% of those under age 18 and 10.8% of those age 65 or over.

Population by decade

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.55,0.0,0.0) ImageSize = width:700 height:350 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:15664 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:3916 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:1958 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1890 text:1890 bar:1900 text:1900 bar:1910 text:1910 bar:1920 text:1920 bar:1930 text:1930 bar:1940 text:1940 bar:1950 text:1950 bar:1960 text:1960 bar:1970 text:1970 bar:1980 text:1980 bar:1990 text:1990 bar:2000 text:2000 bar:2010 text:2010 bar:2020 text:2020 bar:2024 text:present PlotData= color:barra width:25 align:left bar:1890 from: 0 till:6471 bar:1900 from: 0 till:12580 bar:1910 from: 0 till:15659 bar:1920 from: 0 till:15555 bar:1930 from: 0 till:14554 bar:1940 from: 0 till:13923 bar:1950 from: 0 till:11840 bar:1960 from: 0 till:10064 bar:1970 from: 0 till:8213 bar:1980 from: 0 till:7636 bar:1990 from: 0 till:6064 bar:2000 from: 0 till:4831 bar:2010 from: 0 till:3993 bar:2020 from: 0 till:3704 bar:2024 from: 0 till:3567 color:darkblue PlotData= bar:1890 at:6471 fontsize:M text:6,471 shift:(-16,6) bar:1900 at:12580 fontsize:M text:12,580 shift:(-16,6) bar:1910 at:15659 fontsize:M text:15,659 shift:(-16,6) bar:1920 at:15555 fontsize:M text:15,555 shift:(-16,6) bar:1930 at:14554 fontsize:M text:14,554 shift:(-16,6) bar:1940 at:13923 fontsize:M text:13,923 shift:(-16,6) bar:1950 at:11840 fontsize:M text:11,840 shift:(-16,6) bar:1960 at:10064 fontsize:M text:10,064 shift:(-16,6) bar:1970 at:8213 fontsize:M text:8,213 shift:(-16,6) bar:1980 at:7636 fontsize:M text:7,636 shift:(-16,6) bar:1990 at:6064 fontsize:M text:6,064 shift:(-16,6) bar:2000 at:4831 fontsize:M text:4,831 shift:(-16,6) bar:2010 at:3993 fontsize:M text:3,993 shift:(-16,6) bar:2020 at:3704 fontsize:M text:3,704 shift:(-16,6) bar:2024 at:3567 fontsize:M text:3,567 shift:(-16,6) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from U.S. Census Bureau

Communities

Cities

* Alsen * Calio * Calvin * Hannah * Langdon (county seat) * Loma * Milton *

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

* Nekoma * Osnabrock * Sarles (partly in Towner County) *

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Unincorporated communities

* Clyde *

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

* Easby * Hove Mobile Park * Maida *

Mount Carmel Mount Carmel (; ), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias (; ), is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. The range is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. A number of towns are situat ...

* Olga * Union * Vang * Weaver

Townships

* Alma * Banner * Billings * Bruce * Byron * Cypress * Dresden * Easby * East Alma * Elgin * Fremont * Glenila * Gordon * Grey * Harvey * Hay * Henderson * Hope * Huron * Langdon * Linden * Loam * Manilla * Minto * Montrose * Moscow * Mount Carmel * Nekoma * North Loma * North Olga * Osford * Osnabrock * Perry * Seivert * South Dresden * South Olga * Storlie * Trier * Waterloo * West Hope

Politics

Cavalier County voters have been reliably Republican for several decades. In only one national election since 1964 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate (as of 2024).

References

{{Authority control 1884 establishments in Dakota Territory