Emmons 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 of

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,301. 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 ...

has been Linton since 1899.

History

The county was created by the Dakota Territory legislature on February 10, 1879, with territories partitioned from Burleigh and Campbell counties. It was not organized at the time, but it was not attached to another county for administrative and judicial purposes. This continued until November 9, 1883, when the governing structure was organized. The county was named for James A. Emmons (1845–1919), a steamboat operator and early Bismarck merchant and entrepreneur. The first non-Native settlers of Emmons County came from

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and the eastern United States. The earliest were mostly soldiers discharged from Fort Yates, but civilians began arriving in the 1880s. Two large ethnic groups soon developed: Germans from both

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

(the latter called Reich Germans) and

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 ...

ers who had come from the eastern United States. The Hollanders lived only in the southwestern part of the county while the Germans settled throughout the area. The settlers faced hardships in Emmons County, particularly the adverse climate with its extreme seasonal variations in temperature, wind, rain, and snow. Winter blizzards, summer thunderstorms, and tornadoes were a constant threat. Early settlers built crude dwellings using available materials. The first building in Emmons county was a

log cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a minimally finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first-generation home building by settl ...

built near present-day Winona (1852). Other dwellings used tar paper or local rocks. Rocks were a common sight on the prairie, but stone houses were a rarity because they took great care to build. The most common type of dwelling was the sod house, which later became synonymous with pioneering life on the prairie. Sod is prairie grass and dirt cut into blocks and stacked to form walls. Sod was an effective solution to the problem of limited lumber availability. These crude dwellings were eventually abandoned in favor of more modern homes as soon as the necessary building materials became available. Another hardship was transportation. There were no roads and the nearest railroad station was in Eureka, South Dakota ( away). A horse and wagon were typically used for transportation. Piles of buffalo bones were used as landmarks to aid navigating the vast prairie. Since no bridges existed, creeks and streams presented a major difficulty. Settlers usually traveled in pairs and used both of their teams of horses to pull each wagon across a creek or stream. The first bridge in Emmons County was built in 1889. The

Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...

forms the county's western boundary. Some settlers earned a living by providing cordwood to the river's

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

s in the summer (river ice halted the boats in wintertime).

Ferries A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus. ...

moved people and goods across the river, and

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

s were used to move goods along the river. The county's first town that still exists was Braddock, established in 1898. A railroad line was laid to Braddock in 1898. Linton was platted in 1899 near the county center, to create a county seat. Linton had 118 residents by 1901, and 245 by 1903. Tirsbol was established in 1902 south of Linton. It became the center of the German immigrant community and was renamed Strasburg. Also in 1902, the town of Hague was established southeast of Strasburg, and Hazelton was platted near Williamsport. Winona was the first settlement to be created in the county, in 1874, and named 'Devils Colony'. It served soldiers from Fort Yates and the few area settlers. During the 1880s it was the largest town between Bismarck, North Dakota and Pierre, South Dakota. The county's first school was built there in 1884 and the county's first newspaper was published there in 1885. By 1894, the population of the town peaked at over 200. However, the creation of Linton drained the lifeblood from Winona, and it was gone by the early 1900s. The town of Williamsport was established in 1883 by a group of people from Ashland, Ohio and was the first county seat of government. The creation of Linton and Hazelton drained the population from Williamsport and it was abandoned in 1903. Other towns no longer in existence include Emmonsburg which was located west of Linton, in Beaver Bay, on the Missouri River. It was established in 1888 and abandoned in 1912. Glencoe was also established in 1883 in the northwest corner of the county, but it was abandoned in 1930. Winchester was established in 1884 along Beaver Creek (west of Linton), but was completely abandoned by 1909. Westfield was established in 1888 in the center of the Dutch colony. It was named for Westfield, Iowa but was never incorporated. Godkin was established in 1902, north of Linton. Its name was later changed to Temvik, combining the last names of early settlers - the Tempel brothers and Ed Larvik. By 1925 its population peaked to over 200, but the effects of the 1930s Great Depression and being bypassed by the construction of U.S. Highway 83 led to its downfall. Its post office was abandoned in 1968. The final town of note is Kintyre. Settled by Swedes and Norwegians in the 1880s; it was established in 1908 and subsequently abandoned.

Geography

Emmons County lies on the south line of North Dakota. Its south boundary line abuts the north boundary line of the state of

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

flows south-southeasterly along the county's western boundary. The county terrain consists of low rolling hills, mostly devoted to agriculture. Its terrain slopes to the south and east, although its western area slopes westward to the river valley. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.9%) is water.

Major highways

* * * * *

Adjacent counties

* Burleigh County - north * Kidder County - northeast * Logan County - east * McIntosh County - southeast * Campbell County, South Dakota - south * Corson County, South Dakota - southwest * Sioux County - west * Morton County - northwest

Protected areas

Source: * Appert Lake National Wildlife Refuge * Beaver Creek Recreation Area * Flickertail National Wildlife Management Area * North Dakota Fisheries Management Area * Springwater National Wildlife Refuge * Sunburst Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Lakes

Source: * Appert Lake * Braddock Dam * Goose Lake * Lake Oahe (part) * Neuwama Lake * Rice Lake * Stink Lake * Sunburst Lake * Schwahn Lake

Demographics

2020 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 2020, there were 3,301 people.

2010 census

As of the

of 2010, there were 3,550 people, 1,594 households, and 1,003 families in the county. The population density was . There were 2,085 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 98.5% white, 0.4% American Indian, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% black or African American, 0.2% from other races, and 0.8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.0% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 69.1% were German, 16.8% were Russian, 12.3% were Norwegian, 9.6% were Dutch, 5.9% were English, and 1.4% were American. Of the 1,594 households, 22.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.4% were married couples living together, 3.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 37.1% were non-families, and 34.4% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.19 and the average family size was 2.81. The median age was 50.5 years. The median income for a household in the county was $35,615 and the median income for a family was $45,464. Males had a median income of $31,468 versus $26,700 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,358. About 12.4% of families and 16.1% 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 22.0% of those under age 18 and 20.4% of those age 65 or over.

Population by decade

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.55,0.0,0.0) ImageSize = width:600 height:300 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:12500 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:3125 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:1563 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1880 text:1880 bar:1890 text:1890 bar:1900 text:1900 bar:1910 text:1910 bar:1920 text:1920 bar:1930 text:1930 bar:1940 text:1940 bar:1950 text:1950 bar:1960 text:1960 bar:1970 text:1970 bar:1980 text:1980 bar:1990 text:1990 bar:2000 text:2000 bar:2010 text:2010 bar:2020 text:2020 bar:2022 text:present PlotData= color:barra width:25 align:left bar:1880 from: 0 till:38 bar:1890 from: 0 till:1971 bar:1900 from: 0 till:4349 bar:1910 from: 0 till:9796 bar:1920 from: 0 till:11288 bar:1930 from: 0 till:12467 bar:1940 from: 0 till:11699 bar:1950 from: 0 till:9715 bar:1960 from: 0 till:8462 bar:1970 from: 0 till:7200 bar:1980 from: 0 till:5877 bar:1990 from: 0 till:4830 bar:2000 from: 0 till:4331 bar:2010 from: 0 till:3550 bar:2020 from: 0 till:3301 bar:2022 from: 0 till:3250 color:darkblue PlotData= bar:1880 at:38 fontsize:S text:38 shift:(-14,5) bar:1890 at:1971 fontsize:S text:1971 shift:(-14,5) bar:1900 at:4349 fontsize:S text:4349 shift:(-14,5) bar:1910 at:9796 fontsize:S text:9796 shift:(-14,5) bar:1920 at:11288 fontsize:S text:11288 shift:(-14,5) bar:1930 at:12467 fontsize:S text:12467 shift:(-14,5) bar:1940 at:11699 fontsize:S text:11699 shift:(-14,5) bar:1950 at:9715 fontsize:S text:9715 shift:(-14,5) bar:1960 at:8462 fontsize:S text:8462 shift:(-14,5) bar:1970 at:7200 fontsize:S text:7200 shift:(-14,5) bar:1980 at:5877 fontsize:S text:5877 shift:(-14,5) bar:1990 at:4830 fontsize:S text:4830 shift:(-14,5) bar:2000 at:4331 fontsize:S text:4331 shift:(-14,5) bar:2010 at:3550 fontsize:S text:3550 shift:(-14,5) bar:2020 at:3301 fontsize:S text:3301 shift:(-14,5) bar:2022 at:3250 fontsize:S text:3250 shift:(-14,5) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from U.S. Census Bureau

Communities

Cities

* Braddock * Hague * Hazelton * Linton (county seat) * Strasburg

Unincorporated communities

Source: * Emmonsburg * Glencoe *

Kintyre Kintyre (, ) is a peninsula in western Scotland, in the southwest of Argyll and Bute. The peninsula stretches about , from the Mull of Kintyre in the south to East Loch Tarbert, Argyll, East and West Loch Tarbert, Argyll, West Loch Tarbert in t ...

* Livona * Temvik * Westfield * Williamsport * Winchester * Winona

Township

* Campbell

Defunct townships

* Buchanan Valley * Hazelton * Lincoln * McCulley * Tell

Politics

Emmons County voters have been reliably Republican for decades. In only one national election since 1960 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate (as of 2024).

References

External links

* Emmons County maps
Sheet 1
(northern) an
Sheet 2
(southern), ''North Dakota DOT'' {{Coord, 46.28, -100.24, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-ND_source:UScensus1990 1883 establishments in Dakota Territory Populated places established in 1883