Cottonwood 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 11,517. 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 Windom.

History

The county was created on May 23, 1857, named for the

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in Germantown Township ("cottonwood" is the English meaning of the Dakota Sioux word "Waraju"). Minnesota Governor Horace Austin appointed three county commissioners when the county was established. They met at a home about six miles northwest of Windom on the Des Moines River at Big Bend. During this meeting, they designated the commissioners' districts and changed various county officers. The county organization was completed on July 29, 1870. The first general election was held in the county that November. The first deed of record was filed on January 10, 1870. The first land assessments were made in 1871, and the first taxes were paid in 1872.

County NRHP listings

* The Cottonwood County Courthouse (1904), an example of

Neoclassical architecture Neoclassical architecture, sometimes referred to as Classical Revival architecture, is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassicism, Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy, France and Germany. It became one of t ...

, is listed in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. * Mountain Park, southeast of Mountain Lake, has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1973. A 1976 archeological dig unearthed evidence of a

Meskwaki The Meskwaki (sometimes spelled Mesquaki), also known by the European exonyms Fox Indians or the Fox, are a Native American people. They have been closely linked to the Sauk people of the same language family. In the Meskwaki language, th ...

habitation there circa 500 B.C., the oldest human habitation to be discovered in Minnesota. * The Jeffers Petroglyphs, near

Jeffers Jeffers is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alex Jeffers, American author * Alexis Jeffers (born 1968), St. Kitts and Nevis politician * Anne Burton Jeffers (1851 - 1946), American librarian * Audrey Jeffers (1898–1968) ...

, contain pre-European Native American rock carvings. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Geography

The Heron Lake Outflow flows east through the lower part of Cottonwood County. The county terrain consists of low rolling hills, devoted to agriculture.''Cottonwood County MN'' Google Maps (accessed March 7, 2019)
/ref> The terrain generally slopes to the east, with the northern portion also sloping north and the lower portion sloping south. The highest point is on the midpoint of the west border, at ASL. The county has an area of , of which is land and (1.5%) is water.

Watersheds

The northeastern part of the county drains north to 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 ...

through numerous small creeks, the Cottonwood River and Watonwan River. The southwestern part drains south through the Des Moines River. These two watersheds come together at the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

near

Keokuk, Iowa Keokuk is a city in and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, United States. It is Iowa's southernmost city. The population was 9,900 at the time of the United States Census, 2020, 2020 census. The city is named after the Sauk people, Sauk chief K ...

. Most

wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...

s in the county have been drained for agricultural use.

Lakes

Source:

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 71 *

Minnesota State Highway 30 Minnesota State Highway 30 (MN 30) is a highway in southwest and southeast Minnesota, which runs from South Dakota Highway 34 at the South Dakota state line near Airlie, west of Pipestone, and continues to its eastern terminus at its in ...

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 62

Adjacent counties

* Redwood County - north * Brown County - northeast * Watonwan County - east * Jackson County - south * Nobles County - southwest * Murray County -west

Protected areas

Source: *Arnolds Lake WMA *Banks WMA *Bennett WMA *Blixseth WPA *Budolfson WMA *Carpenter WMA *Clear Lake WPA *Cottonwood Lake WPA * Delft State Wildlife Management Area *Des Moines River WPA * Dynamite Park *Expandere WMA *Farhagen WMA *Harder Lake WPA *Hurricane Lake WMA * Lady Bird County Park *Lake Augusta WPA * Little Swan Lake State Wildlife Management Area *Long Lake WPA * Mound Creek County Park * Mountain County Park *Mountain Lake WMA *Mountain Lake WPA * Pats Grove County Park *Pats Pasture WMA *Pennington Prairie SNA * Regehr State Wildlife Management Area * Red Rock Falls County Park * Rock Ridge Prairie Scientific and Natural Area *Rock Ridge WMA * South Dutch Charlie County ParkThe park is named after the county's first resident of European descent, Charles "Dutch Charlie" Zierke. *String Lakes WMA *Storden WPA * Talcot County Park *Talcot Lake WMA *Typhoon WMA *Voit WMA *Watonwan WPA *Wolf Lake WPA

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 12,167 people, 4,917 households, and 3,338 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 5,376 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 95.23%

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 ...

, 0.34%

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 ...

, 0.23% Native American, 1.63% Asian, 0.08%

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 ...

, 1.35% from other races, and 1.14% from two or more races. 2.19% 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. 50.2% 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 ...

and 18.6% Norwegian ancestry. There were 4,917 households, out of which 28.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.10% 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, 6.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.10% were non-families. 28.90% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.94. The county population contained 25.00% under the age of 18, 6.50% from 18 to 24, 23.20% from 25 to 44, 23.20% from 45 to 64, and 22.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 94.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.50 males. The median income for a household in the county was $31,943, and the median income for a family was $40,237. Males had a median income of $28,993 versus $19,934 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 $16,647. About 7.40% of families and 11.70% 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 18.40% of those under age 18 and 8.70% of those age 65 or over.

Government and politics

Cottonwood County reliably votes Republican. In only one presidential election since 1964 has it selected the Democratic candidate.

Communities

Cities

* Bingham Lake *

Comfrey ''Symphytum'' is a genus of flowering plants in the borage family, Boraginaceae, known by the common name comfrey (pronounced , from the Latin confervere to 'heal' or literally to 'boil together', referring to uses in ancient traditional medicin ...

(partial) *

* Mountain Lake * Storden * Westbrook * Windom (county seat)

Unincorporated community

Delft Delft () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, Netherlands. It is located between Rotterdam, to the southeast, ...

Townships

* Amboy Township * Amo Township * Ann Township * Carson Township * Dale Township * Delton Township * Germantown Township * Great Bend Township * Highwater Township * Lakeside Township * Midway Township * Mountain Lake Township * Rose Hill Township * Selma Township * Southbrook Township * Springfield Township * Storden Township * Westbrook Township

Footnotes

External links

Cottonwood County website
{{Coord, 44.01, -95.18, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-MN_source:UScensus1990 Minnesota counties 1870 establishments in Minnesota Populated places established in 1870 Minnesota placenames of Native American origin