Pipestone 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 ...

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 9,424. 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 Pipestone.

History

The county was formed on May 23, 1857, by act of the

territorial A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

legislature, but was not organized at that time. The area was first designated ''Rock County'' while the name ''Pipestone County'' was attached to neighboring Rock County. An act of the

state legislature on February 20, 1862, swapped the designations, attaching the present names to the present counties, due to the pipestone quarry in this county. Pipestone County organization was effected by a state act on January 27, 1879, with Pipestone City (which had been platted in 1876) as the county seat (the name of the county seat was later shortened to Pipestone). The pipestones are from deposits of red pipestone Native Americans used to make pipes. Pipestone National Monument is in the county, just north of the town of Pipestone.

Geography

Pipestone County lies on Minnesota's border with

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...

. The Rock River rises in the county and flows southward into Rock County, being augmented by the East Branch of the Rock River near the southern border. The terrain consists of low rolling hills, carved by drainages. The area is devoted to agriculture.''Pipestone County MN'' Google Maps (accessed April 13, 2019)
/ref> The terrain slopes to the west and south, with its highest point on the upper part of its eastern border, at ASL. The county has an area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water. The highest point in the eastern part of the county may be as stated but the highest summit is 1995 ft at 44.1927°, -96.2033°

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 75 *

Minnesota State Highway 23 Minnesota State Highway 23 (MN 23) is a state highway that stretches from southwestern to northeastern Minnesota. At in length, it is the second longest state route in Minnesota, after MN 1. This route, signed east–west, runs roug ...

* Minnesota State Highway 30 * Minnesota State Highway 269

Adjacent counties

* Lincoln County - north * Lyon County - northeast * Murray County - east * Rock County - south *

Minnehaha County, South Dakota Minnehaha County is a County (United States), county on the eastern border of the U.S. state, state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 197,214, making it the state's List of counties in South D ...

- southwest *

Moody County, South Dakota Moody County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota, United States. The population was 6,336 at the 2020 census. Its county seat is Flandreau. The county is named for Gideon C. Moody. Geography Moody County lies on the east side of ...

- west *

Brookings County, South Dakota Brookings County is a county in the U.S. state of South Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 34,375, making it the fifth most populous county in South Dakota. Its county seat is Brookings. The county was created in 1862 and orga ...

- northwest

Protected areas

Source: * Altona State Wildlife Management Area * Burke State Wildlife Management Area * Holland State Wildlife Management Area * Pheasant Terrace State Wildlife Management Area * Pipestone Indian State Wildlife Management Area (within Pipestone Natl Monument) * Pipestone National Monument * Prairie Coteau Scientific and Natural Area * Split Rock Creek State Park * Troy State Wildlife Management Area * Van Beek State Wildlife Management Area * Woodstock State Wildlife Management Area

Lakes

Pipestone County is one of only four Minnesota counties without a natural lake, the other three being Mower, Olmsted and Rock. It does contain manmade

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

s: * Indian Lake * Split Rock Lake: in Split Rock Creek State Park

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, there were 9,895 people, 4,069 households, and 2,726 families 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 4,434 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 96.68%

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 ...

, 0.17%

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 ...

, 1.48% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 0.02%

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 ...

, 0.26% from other races, and 0.93% from two or more races. 0.70% 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. 35.7% 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 ...

, 24.8% Dutch and 14.3% Norwegian ancestry. There were 4,069 households, of which 31.0% had children under age 18 living with them, 57.6% 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, 6.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.0% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.2% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.96. The county population contained 25.8% under age 18, 6.8% from 18 to 24, 24.6% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 21.3% who were 65 or older. The median age was 40. For every 100 females there were 92.8 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 89.4 males. The median income for a household in the county was $31,909, and the median income for a family was $40,133. Males had a median income of $27,642 versus $20,759 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 $16,450. About 7.8% of families and 9.5% 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 11.2% of those under 18 and 11.1% of those 65 or older.

Communities

Cities

* Edgerton * Hatfield *

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

* Ihlen *

Jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. The common red color is due to ...

(partly in Rock County) * Pipestone (county seat) * Ruthton * Trosky *

Woodstock The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held from August 15 to 18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, southwest of the town of Woodstock, New York, Woodstock. Billed as "a ...

Unincorporated communities

* Airlie * Cazenovia * Cresson * Diamond Corner

Townships

* Aetna Township * Altona Township * Burke Township * Eden Township * Elmer Township * Fountain Prairie Township * Grange Township * Gray Township * Osborne Township * Rock Township * Sweet Township * Troy Township

Government and politics

In recent decades Pipestone County has trended Republican. In no presidential election since 1976 has the county selected the Democratic nominee (as of 2024). In 2012, it was one of only two counties not to vote for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate

Amy Klobuchar Amy Jean Klobuchar ( ; born May 25, 1960) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Minnesota, a seat she has held since 2007. A member o ...

, along with its southern neighbor Rock County.

References

External links

Pipestone County government’s website
{{authority control Minnesota counties 1879 establishments in Minnesota Populated places established in 1879