Ward County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 69,919, making it the fourth-most populous county in North Dakota. Its county seat is Minot. Ward County is part of the Minot, ND Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The Dakota Territory legislature created the county on April 14, 1885, with areas partitioned from

Renville Renville may refer to: ;Places In the United States: * Renville, Minnesota * Renville County, Minnesota * Renville County, North Dakota ;People *Joseph Renville *Gabriel Renville Gabriel Renville (April 1825 – August 26, 1892), also known a ...

, Stevens, and Wynn counties (Stevens and Wynn counties are now extinct). The county government was not organized at that date; the organization was effected on November 23 of that year. The county was named for Mark Ward, chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Counties during the session. Burlington was the county seat; this was changed to Minot in 1888. The boundaries of Ward County were altered two times in 1887, and in 1892, 1909 and 1910. The present county boundaries have been in place since 1910. Until 1908, Ward County included what is now Burke, Mountrail, and

counties; this landmass often being referred to as 'Imperial Ward' County and which was the largest county in the state at the time. In 1908, voters took up measures to partition the county. The results for that portion forming Mountrail County were accepted but the results for the portions that would become Burke and Renville counties were disputed in court, which resulted in favorable rulings in 1910. When the proposed county lines for Burke and Renville counties were drawn, neither group wanted to include Kenmare and risk that city's becoming the county seat, so Kenmare was left in Ward County at the end of a narrow strip of land, commonly referred to as the 'gooseneck'. One of the options reportedly considered around this time was to create a fifth county, Lake, with Kenmare as its seat.

Geography

The Des Lacs River flows southeasterly through the northeast part of the county before doubling to the northeast on its journey to Lake Winnipeg. The county terrain consists of low rolling hills, dotted with ponds and lakes in its southern part, and carved by drainage gullies. The area is largely devoted to agriculture.''Ward County ND'' Google Maps (accessed February 22, 2019)
/ref> The terrain slopes to the east and north, with its highest point near the southwest corner, at 2,175' (663m) ASL. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.1%) is water. It is the fifth-largest county in North Dakota by land area.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 2 *

U.S. Highway 52 U.S. Route 52 (US 52) is a major United States highway in the central United States that extends from the northern to southeastern region of the United States. Contrary to most other even-numbered U.S. Highways, US 52 primarily follows ...

U.S. Highway 83 U.S. Route 83 (US 83) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that extends in the central United States. Only four other north–south routes are longer: US 1, US 41, US 59, and US 87, while US ...

* North Dakota Highway 5 * North Dakota Highway 23 * North Dakota Highway 28 *

North Dakota Highway 50 North Dakota Highway 50 (ND 50) is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of North Dakota. ND 50's western terminus is a continuation as Montana Highway 258 (MT 258) at the Montana border, and the eastern terminus ...

Adjacent counties

* Renville County - north * McHenry County - east * McLean County - south * Mountrail County - west * Burke County - northwest

Protected areas

Des Lacs National Wildlife Refuge The Des Lacs National Wildlife Refuge is located in the U.S. state of North Dakota and extends from the Canada–United States border to near the town of Kenmare, North Dakota along Des Lacs Lake. The refuge was established in 1935 and includes 19, ...

(part) *

Hiddenwood National Wildlife Refuge Hiddenwood National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in the U.S. state of North Dakota. The refuge is an Easement refuge that is entirely on privately owned land, but the landowners and U.S. Government work cooperatively to pr ...

(part) * National Wildfowl Production Areas * Upper Souris National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Lakes

* Carpenter Lake * Douglas Lake (part) * Hiddenwood Lake (part) * Makoti Lake * Rice Lake * Rush Lake

Demographics

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 58,795 people, 23,041 households, and 15,368 families in the county. The population density was 29.2/sqmi (11.3/km²). There were 25,097 housing units at an average density of 12.5/sqmi (4.81/km²). The county is predominately White (92.40%), with

African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

and Native Americans making up 2.22% and 2.07% respectively.

Asians Asian people (or Asians, sometimes referred to as Asiatic people)United States National Library of Medicine. Medical Subject Headings. 2004. November 17, 200Nlm.nih.gov: ''Asian Continental Ancestry Group'' is also used for categorical purpos ...

and Pacific Islanders made up less than 1% of the population. Other races and those that identified as being two or more races made up 2.43%. 1.91% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 34.7% were of German ancestry and 27.9% Norwegian ancestry. There were 23,041 households, out of which 34.30% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.20% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 8.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.30% were non-families. 27.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.80% 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 3.01. The county population contained 26.20% under the age of 18, 13.00% from 18 to 24, 29.10% from 25 to 44, 19.20% from 45 to 64, and 12.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 99.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.50 males. The median income for a household in the county was $33,670, and the median income for a family was $41,342. Males had a median income of $27,980 versus $19,830 for females. The per capita income for the county was $16,926. About 7.90% of families and 10.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.50% of those under age 18 and 8.40% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 61,675 people, 25,029 households, and 15,597 families in the county. The population density was 30.6/sqmi (11.8/km²). There were 26,744 housing units at an average density of 13.3/sqmi (5.13/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 90.3% white, 2.6% American Indian, 2.5% black or African American, 0.9% Asian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 0.7% from other races, and 2.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 3.0% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 44.4% were German, 30.8% were Norwegian, 11.6% were Irish, 5.7% were English, and 2.3% were American. Of the 25,029 households, 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.9% were married couples living together, 8.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 37.7% were non-families, and 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.95. The median age was 32.7 years. The median income for a household in the county was $48,793 and the median income for a family was $60,361. Males had a median income of $37,569 versus $28,415 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,326. About 6.7% of families and 9.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 13.0% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Berthold * Burlington * Carpio *

Des Lacs Des Lacs is a city in Ward County, North Dakota, United States. The population was 185 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Minot Micropolitan Statistical Area. Des Lacs was founded in 1888, named after the ''Riviere de Lacs'' (now Des Lacs ...

Donnybrook Donnybrook may refer to: Places Australia * Donnybrook, Queensland, Australia * Donnybrook, Western Australia * Donnybrook, Victoria, Australia ** Donnybrook railway station, Victoria, Australia Canada * Donnybrook, Ontario, a former village in ...

* Douglas * Kenmare * Makoti * Minot (county seat) * Ryder * Sawyer *

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

Census-designated places

* Foxholm *

Logan Logan may refer to: Places * Mount Logan (disambiguation) Australia * Logan (Queensland electoral district), an electoral district in the Queensland Legislative Assembly * Logan, Victoria, small locality near St. Arnaud * Logan City, local gover ...

* Minot AFB * Ruthville

Unincorporated communities

* Aurelia - (ghost town) * Drady * Gassman - founded when the Gassman Creek Coulee trestle was being built, now referred to as "Trestle Valley" * Hartland - (ghost town) * Hesnault * Lonetree * Rice Lake - community at Rice Lake near Minot * South Prairie * Wolseth

Historical areas

* Harrison - early community, now part of Minot * Ralston - railroad siding * Waldorf - early community, now part of Minot

Townships

* Afton * Anna * Baden * Berthold * Brillian * Burlington * Burt *

Cameron Cameron may refer to: People * Clan Cameron, a Scottish clan * Cameron (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Cameron (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) ;Mononym * Cam'ron (born 197 ...

* Carbondale * Carpio * Denmark *

* Elmdale * Eureka * Evergreen * Foxholm *

Freedom Freedom is understood as either having the ability to act or change without constraint or to possess the power and resources to fulfill one's purposes unhindered. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving on ...

* Gasman * Greely * Greenbush * Harrison * Hiddenwood *

Hilton Hilton or Hylton may refer to: Companies * Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc., a global hospitality company based in the United States that owns several hotel chains and subsidiary companies containing the Hilton name ** Hilton Hotels & Resorts, fla ...

* Iota Flat * Kenmare * Kirkelie * Linton *

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

* Mandan *

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

* Maryland * Mayland * McKinley * Nedrose * New Prairie *

Newman Newman is a surname of English origin and may refer to many people: The surname Newman is widespread in the core Anglosphere. A *Abram Newman (1736–1799), British grocer *Adrian Newman (disambiguation), multiple people *Al Newman (born 1960) ...

* Orlien *

Passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...

* Ree * Rice Lake * Rolling Green * Rushville * Ryder * St. Marys *

Sauk Prairie Sauk may refer to: *Sauk, Albania, a village * Sauk people, group of Native Americans of the Eastern Woodlands culture group * South African Broadcasting Corporation (Afrikaans: ''Suid-Afrikaanse Uitsaaikorporasie'') Persons with the surname Sauk ...

* Sawyer * Shealy * Spencer * Spring Lake *

Sundre Sundre is a town in central Alberta, Canada that is surrounded by Mountain View County. It is approximately northwest of Calgary on the Cowboy Trail in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies. Sundre takes its name from a town in Norway, the o ...

* Tatman * Tolgen * Torning * Vang * Waterford * Willis

Politics

Ward County voters are traditionally and increasingly Republican. In only one national election since 1944 (1964) has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate. In 2020, Donald Trump received 70.7% of the vote in this county, the highest for any candidate since Theodore Roosevelt, although his margin relative to his Democratic opponent declined from 2016, most likely due to the high number of third party votes from the 2016 election cycle in Ward County.