Fergus 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

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,446. 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 Lewistown. The county was founded in 1885 and named for James Fergus, a Montana politician who was instrumental in creating the county.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water.

Adjacent counties

* Chouteau County – northwest * Blaine County – north * Phillips County – northeast * Petroleum County – east * Musselshell County – southeast * Golden Valley County – south * Wheatland County – southwest * Judith Basin County – west

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 87 * U.S. Highway 191 * Montana Highway 3 * Montana Highway 80 * Montana Highway 81 * Montana Highway 200

National protected areas

* Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge (part) *

Lewis and Clark National Forest Lewis and Clark National Forest is located in west central Montana, United States. Spanning . The region was inhabited by various cultures of Native Americans for a period of at least 8,000–10,000 years. When the Lewis and Clark Expedition ca ...

(part) * Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument (part)

Military Installations

LGM-30 Minuteman The LGM-30 Minuteman is an American land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) in service with the Air Force Global Strike Command. , the LGM-30G (Version 3) is the only land-based ICBM in service in the United States and represents th ...

silos D-01 thru D-11 of the 10th Missile Squadron, 341st Missile Wing, 20th Air Force, assigned to Malmstrom AFB, Montana

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 11,446 people living in the county.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 11,586 people, 5,099 households, and 3,202 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 5,836 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 96.6% white, 1.2% American Indian, 0.2% black or African American, 0.2% Asian, 0.2% from other races, and 1.5% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.5% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 30.8% were German, 15.9% were English, 14.7% were Norwegian, 12.8% were Irish, and 4.2% were American. Of the 5,099 households, 23.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.9% were married couples living together, 6.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 37.2% were non-families, and 32.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.18 and the average family size was 2.75. The median age was 47.8 years. The median income for a household in the county was $37,607 and the median income for a family was $48,623. Males had a median income of $35,110 versus $21,225 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,295. About 12.5% of families and 14.7% 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 24.2% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Since the 1964 election, the Republican candidate has been selected in every election.

Communities

City

* Lewistown (county seat)

Towns

* Denton * Grass Range * Moore * Winifred

Unincorporated communities

* Amherst * Buffalo * Christina * Eddies Corner * Fergus * Forest Grove * Garneill * Giltedge * Hanover * Heath * Hoosac * Maiden * Moore * Piper * Roy * Straw * Valentine * Ware

Former communities

Moulton

Census-designated places

* Ayers Ranch Colony * Brooks * Coffee Creek * Danvers * Deerfield Colony * Fords Creek Colony * Hilger * King Ranch Colony * Lewistown Heights * Roy * Spring Creek Colony * Warm Spring Creek

Notable people

* Roy E. Ayers, member of the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

and 11th Governor of Montana; served as the attorney of the county from 1905 to 1909. * Carl W. Riddick,

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

from the Second District of

, served as County Assessor of Fergus County.

References

{{Coord, 47.26, -109.22, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-MT_source:UScensus1990 Montana counties on the Missouri River 1885 establishments in Montana Territory Populated places established in 1885