Cass 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 central part 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 30,066. 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 ...

Walker Walker or The Walker may refer to: People *Walker (given name) *Walker (surname) *Walker (Brazilian footballer) (born 1982), Brazilian footballer Places In the United States *Walker, Arizona, in Yavapai County *Walker, Mono County, California * ...

. The county was formed in 1851, and was organized in 1897. Cass County is included in the Brainerd, MN Micropolitan Statistical Area. A substantial part of the Leech Lake Indian Reservation is in the county.

History

Cass County was created on September 1, 1851, by the

Minnesota Territory The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Minnesota and the w ...

legislature, although its government was not organized until 1897. The county was formed of areas partitioned from Dakota, Mahkatah, Pembina and Wahnata Counties. It was named for

Lewis Cass Lewis Cass (October 9, 1782June 17, 1866) was a United States Army officer and politician. He represented Michigan in the United States Senate and served in the Cabinets of two U.S. Presidents, Andrew Jackson and James Buchanan. He was also the 1 ...

, a Michigan political figure of the 19th century. Before it was organized several parcels of county land were partitioned off to augment or form adjacent counties.

Geography

The Crow Wing River flows east-southeast along Cass County's southern border, and the Gull River flows southwest through the lower part, to discharge into the Crow Wing on the southern border. The terrain consists of wooded rolling hills, heavily dotted with lakes and ponds,''Cass County MN'' Google Maps (accessed March 6, 2019)
/ref> and slopes to the south and east; its highest point is on the upper western border, at ASL. The county has an area of , of which is land and (16%) is water.

Major highways

* US Highway 2 *

Minnesota State Highway 6 Minnesota State Highway 6 (MN 6) is a highway in east-central and north-central Minnesota, which runs from its intersection with State Highway 18 in Bay Lake Township near Garrison and continues north to its northern terminus at its intersec ...

* Minnesota State Highway 34 * Minnesota State Highway 64 * Minnesota State Highway 84 * Minnesota State Highway 87 * Minnesota State Highway 200 * Minnesota State Highway 210 * Minnesota State Highway 371 *'' List of county roads''

Adjacent counties

Itasca County Itasca County ( ) is a county located in the Iron Range region of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 45,014. Its county seat is Grand Rapids. The county is named after Lake Itasca, which is in turn a shorte ...

- northeast * Aitkin County - east * Crow Wing County - southeast * Morrison County - south * Todd County - southwest * Wadena County - west * Hubbard County - northwest * Beltrami County - north

Protected areas

* Buena Vista State Forest (part) *

Chippewa National Forest Chippewa National Forest is a National Forest located in north central Minnesota, United States, in the counties of Itasca, Cass and Beltrami. Forest headquarters are located in Cass Lake, Minnesota. There are local ranger district offices ...

(part) * Crow Wing State Park (part) * Foot Hills State Forest (part)

Climate and weather

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Walker have ranged from a low of in January to a high of in July, although a record low of was recorded in February 1996 and a record high of was recorded in August 1976. Average monthly precipitation ranged from in February to in July.

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 27,150 people, 10,893 households, and 7,734 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 21,286 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 86.52%

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 ...

, 0.11%

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 ...

, 11.45% Native American, 0.28% 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 ...

, 0.14% from other races, and 1.47% from two or more races. 0.81% 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. 28.2% 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 ...

, 15.0% Norwegian, 7.3% Swedish, 6.1% Irish and 6.1% American ancestry. There were 10,893 households, out of which 27.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.40% 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, 8.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.00% were non-families. 25.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.90. The county population contained 25.00% under the age of 18, 6.10% from 18 to 24, 23.00% from 25 to 44, 27.90% from 45 to 64, and 18.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 101.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.60 males. The median income for a household in the county was $34,332, and the median income for a family was $40,156. Males had a median income of $30,097 versus $21,232 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 $17,189. About 9.50% of families and 13.60% 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 18.20% of those under age 18 and 13.30% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Backus * Bena * Boy River * Cass Lake * Chickamaw Beach * East Gull Lake * Federal Dam * Hackensack * Lake Shore * Longville *

Motley Motley is the traditional costume of the court jester, the motley fool, or the arlecchino character in ''commedia dell'arte''. The harlequin wears a patchwork of red, green and blue diamonds that is still a fashion motif. The word ''motley'' is ...

(partial) * Pillager * Pine River * Remer *

(county seat)

Census-designated place

* Whipholt

Unincorporated communities

* Ah-gwah-ching * Brevik * Bridgeman *

Casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...

* Ellis * Esterdy * Graff * Inguadona *

Leader Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

Leech Lake Leech Lake (translated from the Ojibwe language ''Gaa-zagaskwaajimekaag'': Lake abundant with bloodsuckers) is a lake located in north central Minnesota, United States. It is southeast of Bemidji, Minnesota, Bemidji, located mainly within the L ...

* Mae * Mildred * Onigum *

Oshawa Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the Greater Toronto Area and of the Golden Horseshoe. It ...

Outing Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBTQ person's sexual orientation or gender identity without their consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia, biphobia, and/or transphobia Transphobia consists ...

* Pontoria * Raboin * Ryan Village * Schley * Sylvan * Tobique * Wabedo * Wilkinson

Townships

* Ansel Township * Barclay Township * Becker Township * Beulah Township * Birch Lake Township * Blind Lake Township * Boy Lake Township * Boy River Township * Bull Moose Township * Bungo Township * Byron Township * Crooked Lake Township * Deerfield Township * Fairview Township * Gould Township * Hiram Township * Home Brook Township * Inguadona Township * Kego Township * Leech Lake Township * Lima Township * Loon Lake Township * Maple Township * May Township * McKinley Township * Meadow Brook Township * Moose Lake Township * Otter Tail Peninsula Township * Pike Bay Township * Pine Lake Township * Pine River Township * Ponto Lake Township * Poplar Township * Powers Township * Remer Township * Rogers Township * Salem Township * Shingobee Township * Slater Township * Smoky Hollow Township * Sylvan Township * Thunder Lake Township * Torrey Township * Trelipe Township * Turtle Lake Township * Wabedo Township * Walden Township * Wilkinson Township * Wilson Township * Woodrow Township

Unorganized territories

* Wahnena * North Cass * North Central Cass * East Cass

Government and politics

Cass County tends to vote Republican. As of 2024, the county has selected the Republican nominee in 83% of presidential elections since 1980.

References

External links

Cass County government's website
*

Minnesota Department of Transportation The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT, ) oversees Transportation in Minnesota, transportation by all modes including land, water, air, rail, walking and bicycling in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The Cabinet (government), cabinet-lev ...

map of Cass County
southern portionwest central portioneast central portionnorthern portion
{{Coord, 46.95, -94.32, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-MN_source:UScensus1990 Minnesota counties Leech Lake 1897 establishments in Minnesota Populated places established in 1897 Minnesota counties on the Mississippi River