Le Sueur 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 ...

located in the south central portion of 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 ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,674. Its

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 ...

is Le Center. Le Sueur County is part of the

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

- St. Paul- Bloomington, MN- WI Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The Minnesota Territory legislature established several counties in 1853. This county was created on March 5 of that year. It was named for French explorer

Pierre-Charles Le Sueur Pierre-Charles Le Sueur (; c. 1657, Artois, France – 17 July 1704, Havana, Cuba) was a French fur trader and explorer in North America, recognized as the first known European to explore the Minnesota River valley. Le Sueur came to Canada w ...

, who visited the area in 1700. The settlement of Le Sueur (actually two competing settlements, Le Sueur and Le Sueur City) had sprung up on the east bank of the Minnesota River, both being platted in 1852. The legislature named the combined area as the first county seat. However, its remoteness from most of the county meant hardship for most of the area's residents since the county was covered with dense hardwood forest and existing roads were impassable when wet. Several efforts were made to acquire a more central location. In the early 1870s, Cleveland (established in 1857, inland from the river in the SW part of the county) held a referendum to become the county seat. The referendum passed, but was challenged due to voting irregularities. In 1875 another referendum made Cleveland the county seat (1875-1876). In 1876, another referendum approved moving the seat to the newly created town of Le Sueur Center; the seat was promptly moved there. In the 1870s, businessmen from Waterville gained ownership of a quarter-section of land near the county's center, cleared the timber, and platted the city of Le Sueur Center (1876). The seat was moved there after a county referendum approved it. The county seat has remained in Le Sueur Center (renamed Le Center in 1930) since 1876. The first railroad entered the county in 1867. This began the era of greater access and mobility. The first purpose-built courthouse in Le Sueur Center was constructed in 1896–7. It has been extensively remodeled and enlarged two times since.County History (accessed March 16, 2019)
/ref>

Geography

The

Minnesota River The Minnesota River () is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km) long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa. It rises in southwestern ...

flows northeastward along the west border of Le Sueur County, on its way to discharge into the

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

. The terrain consists of low rolling hills, dotted with lakes and ponds. The soil is rich and black.''Le Sueur County MN'' Google Maps (accessed March 16, 2019)
/ref> The terrain slopes to the north and east, with its highest point near the midpoint of its east border, at ASL. The county has an area of , of which is land and (5.3%) is water. Le Sueur is one of seven Minnesota savanna region counties where no forest soils exist and one of 17 counties where savanna soils dominate.

Lakes

The following lakes are partially or completely within Le Sueur County: * Borer Lake * Bossuot Lake * Clear Lake * Decker Lake * Diamond Lake * Dietz Lake * Dog Lake * Dora Lake * Eggert Lake * Ely Lake * Emily Lake * Fish Lake * German Lake * Goldsmith Lake * Goose Lake (Cordova Township) * Goose Lake (Waterville Township) * Gorman Lake * Greenleaf Lake * Harkridge Lake * Horseshoe Lake (part) * Huoy Lake * Lake Emily * Lake Francis * Lake Henry * Lake Jefferson * Lake Mabel * Lake Pepin * Lake Sanborn * Lake Tustin * Lake Volney *

Lake Washington Lake Washington () is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the largest lake in King County, Washington, King County and the second largest natural lake in the state of Washington (state), Was ...

* Mareks Lake * Mary Lake * Mud Lake (Cordova Township) * Mud Lake (Lanesburgh Township) * Mud Lake (Lexington Township) * North Goldsmith Lake * Perch Lake * Rays Lake * Rice Lake * Roemhildts Lake * Round Lake * Sabre Lake * Sakatah Lake (part) * Sanborn Lake * Sasse Lake * Savidge Lake * School Lake * Scotch Lake * Shanghai Lake * Sheas Lake * Silver Lake (Cleveland Township) * Silver Lake (Elysian Township) * Sleepy Eye Lake * Steele Lake * Sunfish Lake * Tetonka Lake (headwaters of Cannon River) * Thomas Lake * Tyler Lake

Protected areas

The following protected areas are within Le Sueur County: * Bardel State Wildlife Management Area * Chadderdon State Wildlife Management Area * Chamberlain Woods Scientific and Natural Area * Diamond Lake State Wildlife Management Area * Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge (part) * Ottawa State Wildlife Management Area * Paddy Marsh State Wildlife Management Area * Saint Thomas State Wildlife Management Area * Sakatah Lake State Park (part) * Seven Mile Creek State Park (part) * Shanghai State Wildlife Area * Sheas Lake State Wildlife Area

Major highways

* US Highway 169 *

Minnesota State Highway 13 Minnesota State Highway 13 (MN 13) is a highway in Minnesota that runs from its Intersection (road), intersection with U.S. Route 65, U.S. Highway 65 in Albert Lea, Minnesota, Albert Lea to its northern terminus at its intersection with Minneso ...

Minnesota State Highway 19 Minnesota State Highway 19 (MN 19) is a highway in southern Minnesota, which runs from South Dakota Highway 30 at the South Dakota state line near Ivanhoe, Minnesota, Ivanhoe and continues east to its eastern terminus at its Intersection (road) ...

* Minnesota State Highway 21 * Minnesota State Highway 22 *

Minnesota State Highway 60 Trunk Highway 60 (MN 60) is a highway in southern Minnesota, which runs from Iowa Highway 60 at the Iowa state line (at Bigelow) and continues east-northeast to its eastern terminus at the Wisconsin state line (at Wabasha), where the ro ...

* Minnesota State Highway 93 * Minnesota State Highway 99 * '' List of county roads''

Adjacent counties

* Scott County - north * Rice County - east * Waseca County - south * Blue Earth County - southwest * Nicollet County - west * Sibley County - northwest

Demographics

2020 Census

2000 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, the county had 25,426 people, 9,630 households, and 6,923 families. 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 10,858 housing units at an average density of . The county's racial makeup was 96.56%

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 ...

, 0.15%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

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 ...

, 0.26% Native American, 0.30% Asian, 0.04%

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 ...

, 2.02% from other races, and 0.67% from two or more races. 3.92% of the population were

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. 44.9% were of

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 ...

, 9.0%

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus *Czech (surnam ...

, 9.0% Norwegian and 8.2% Irish ancestry. 94.0% spoke English, 3.5%

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and 1.7%

as their first language. There were 9,630 households, of which 34.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.40% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 6.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.10% were non-families. 23.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.10. 27.40% of the county's population was under age 18, 7.50% was from age 18 to 24, 27.80% was from age 25 to 44, 23.20% was from age 45 to 64, and 14.10% were age 65 or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 100.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.70 males. The country's median household income was $45,933, and the median family income was $53,000. Males had a median income of $34,196 versus $24,214 for females. The county's

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 ...

was $20,151. About 4.80% of families and 6.90% of the population were 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 ...

, including 7.50% of those under age 18 and 10.40% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Elysian Elysium (), otherwise known as the Elysian Fields (, ''Ēlýsion pedíon''), Elysian Plains or Elysian Realm, is a conception of the afterlife that developed over time and was maintained by some Greek religious and philosophical sects and cults ...

(partial) *

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

* Kasota * Le Center (county seat) * Le Sueur (partial) *

Kilkenny Kilkenny ( , meaning 'church of Cainnech of Aghaboe, Cainnech'). is a city in County Kilkenny, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region, Ireland, South-East Region and in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinst ...

Mankato Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The population was 44,488 at the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Mi ...

(partial) * Montgomery * New Prague (partial) * Waterville

Unincorporated communities

* Cordova *

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

* Henderson Station * Lexington * Marysburg (partial) *

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

* St. Henry * St. Thomas * Union Hill (partial)

Former communities

* Okaman

Townships

* Cleveland Township * Cordova Township * Derrynane Township * Elysian Township * Kasota Township * Kilkenny Township * Lanesburgh Township * Lexington Township * Montgomery Township * Ottawa Township * Sharon Township * Tyrone Township * Washington Township * Waterville Township

Politics

Le Sueur County residents usually vote Republican. The last Democrat to win an absolute majority in the county was

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...

in 1976, although

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

did carry the county by narrow pluralities in 1992 and 1996 due to high third-party performance. Democratic candidate

Michael Dukakis Michael Stanley Dukakis ( ; born November 3, 1933) is an American politician and lawyer who served as governor of Massachusetts from 1975 to 1979 and from 1983 to 1991. He is the longest-serving governor in Massachusetts history and only the s ...

also came close to flipping the county in 1988, only losing it by 5 votes. In 2020,

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

performed better than any Republican in the county since

Warren G. Harding Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was the 29th president of the United States, serving from 1921 until his death in 1923. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he was one of the most ...

in 1920, and he broke this record again in 2024, receiving 66% of the county's vote in the latter election.

References

External links

Le Sueur County government’s website
{{Coord, 44.37, -93.73, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-MN_source:UScensus1990 Minnesota counties 1853 establishments in Minnesota Territory Populated places established in 1853