Faribault 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 13,921. 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 Blue Earth.

History

The county was founded in 1855. It was named for Jean-Baptiste Faribault, a settler and French fur trader among the Sioux Indians.

Geography

Faribault County lies on the south side of Minnesota. Its southern border abuts the north border of the state of

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

. The

Blue Earth River The Blue Earth River () is a tributary of the Minnesota River, long, in southern Minnesota in the United States. Two of its headwaters tributaries, the Middle Branch Blue Earth River and the West Branch Blue Earth River, also flow for short di ...

flows northerly through the west-central part of the county; it enters from Iowa as two branches, West Branch and Middle Branch, merging at into the county. It is joined by East Branch near the city of Blue Earth, thence flows northward into Blue Earth County. The Maple River flows west-northwestward through the upper central part of the county, entering from

Freeborn County Freeborn County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state, state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 30,895. Its county seat is Albert Lea, Minnesota, Albert Lea. Freeborn County compri ...

and exiting to Blue Earth County. The Cobb River also flows through the NE part of the county, from Freeborn to Blue Earth county.''Faribault County MN'' Google Maps (accessed March 8, 2019)
/ref> The county terrain consists of semi-arid rolling hills, devoted to agriculture. The SE portion is a glacial

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and Rock (geology), rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a gla ...

near Kiester, and is known as the Kiester Moraine. The county has an area of , of which is land and (1.3%) is water.

Lakes

Source: * Bass Lake ( Delavan Twp) * Hart Lake * Minnesota Lake * Rice Lake ( Delavan Twp) * Rice Lake ( Foster Twp) * South Walnut Lake * Walnut Lake

Airports

Source: * Blue Earth Municipal Airport * Wells Municipal Airport

Major highways

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

* U.S. Highway 169 * Minnesota State Highway 22 * Minnesota State Highway 109

Adjacent counties

* Blue Earth County - north * Waseca County - northeast *

- east *

Winnebago County, Iowa Winnebago County is a county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 10,679. The county seat is Forest City. The county was founded in 1847 and named after the Native American tribe. It is the location of the mot ...

- southeast *

Kossuth County, Iowa Kossuth County () is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 14,828. The county seat is Algona, Iowa, Algona. History Kossuth County was founded on Januar ...

- southwest * Martin County - west

Protected areas

Source: * Walnut Lake State Wildlife Management Area

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 16,181 people, 6,652 households, and 4,476 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 7,247 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.11%

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 ...

, 0.24%

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 ...

, 0.19% Native American, 0.36% Asian, 0.04%

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 ...

, 1.36% from other races, and 0.69% from two or more races. 3.50% 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. 45.5% 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 ...

, 21.2% Norwegian and 5.1% Irish ancestry. There were 6,652 households, out of which 28.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.80% 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, 6.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.70% were non-families. 29.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.93. The county population contained 24.40% under the age of 18, 6.70% from 18 to 24, 23.20% from 25 to 44, 23.50% from 45 to 64, and 22.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 97.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.50 males. The median income for a household in the county was $34,440, and the median income for a family was $41,793. Males had a median income of $28,990 versus $20,224 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 $17,193. About 5.50% of families and 8.60% 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 9.40% of those under age 18 and 10.20% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Blue Earth (county seat) * Bricelyn * Delavan * Easton * Elmore *

Frost Frost is a thin layer of ice on a solid surface, which forms from water vapor that deposits onto a freezing surface. Frost forms when the air contains more water vapor than it can normally hold at a specific temperature. The process is simila ...

* Kiester * Minnesota Lake (Partly in Blue Earth County) * Walters * Wells * Winnebago

Unincorporated communities

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is a city situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district. The city is named for its abundance of banyan ...

* Brush Creek * Clayton (Ghost Town) *

Dell Dell Inc. is an American technology company that develops, sells, repairs, and supports personal computers (PCs), Server (computing), servers, data storage devices, network switches, software, computer peripherals including printers and webcam ...

* Guckeen * Homedahl (Ghost Town) * Huntley * Marna * Pilot Grove

Townships

* Barber Township * Blue Earth City Township * Brush Creek Township * Clark Township * Delavan Township * Dunbar Township * Elmore Township * Emerald Township * Foster Township * Jo Daviess Township * Kiester Township * Lura Township * Minnesota Lake Township * Pilot Grove Township * Prescott Township * Rome Township * Seely Township * Verona Township * Walnut Lake Township * Winnebago City Township

Government and politics

Faribault County has primarily supported Republican Party candidates in presidential elections throughout its history. Only six times since 1892 has a Republican candidate failed to win the county in a presidential election, most recently

Bob Dole Robert Joseph Dole (July 22, 1923 – December 5, 2021) was an American politician and attorney who represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996. He was the Party leaders of the United States Senate, Republican Leader of th ...

in 1996.

Education

School districts include:
Text list
/ref> * Alden-Conger Public School District * Blue Earth Area Public Schools * Granada-Huntley-East Chain School District * Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton School District * Maple River School District * United South Central School District It also has the following state-operated schools: * Minnesota State Academy for the Blind * Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf

References

External links

Faribault County Government's website

{{Coord, 43.68, -93.95, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-MN_source:UScensus1990 Minnesota counties 1855 establishments in Minnesota Territory