Great Bend Township is a township in Cottonwood County,

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 ...

, United States. The population was 287 at the 2010 census. Great Bend Township was organized in 1870. It was named for a nearby

meander A meander is one of a series of regular sinuous curves in the Channel (geography), channel of a river or other watercourse. It is produced as a watercourse erosion, erodes the sediments of an outer, concave bank (cut bank, cut bank or river cl ...

on the Des Moines River.

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 township has a total area of , of which is land and , or 2.17%, is water.

Demographics

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 326 people, 125 households, and 98 families residing in the township. The population density was . There were 140 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the township was 97.85%

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 ...

, 0.92%

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 ...

, 0.31% Asian, 0.31% from other races, and 0.61% from two or more races.

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 were 1.23% of the population. There were 125 households, out of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 70.4% 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, 3.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 21.6% were non-families. 20.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 2.99. In the township the population was spread out, with 26.1% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 21.8% from 25 to 44, 32.5% from 45 to 64, and 13.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 113.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 107.8 males. The median income for a household in the township was $36,406, and the median income for a family was $40,833. Males had a median income of $25,500 versus $20,000 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 township was $16,134. About 7.3% of families and 12.2% 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 16.8% of those under age 18 and 2.0% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Great Bend Township is located in

Minnesota's 1st congressional district Minnesota's 1st congressional district spans southern Minnesota from the border with South Dakota to the border with Wisconsin. It is a primarily rural district built on a strong history of agriculture, though this is changing rapidly due to pop ...

, represented by

Jim Hagedorn James Lee Hagedorn ( ; August 4, 1962 – February 17, 2022) was an American politician from Minnesota. A Republican, he was the U.S. representative for from 2019 until his death. The district stretches across southern Minnesota along the borde ...

, a Republican. At the state level, Great Bend Township is located in

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

District 22, represented by Republican

Doug Magnus Douglas Rudy Magnus (born November 1950) is an American, Minnesota politician and a former member of the Minnesota Senate, who represented District 22, which includes all of Cottonwood County, Minnesota, Cottonwood, Jackson County, Minnesota, Ja ...

, and in

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

District 22B, represented by Republican

Rod Hamilton Rodney W. "Rod" Hamilton (born March 25, 1968) is a Minnesota politician and former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. A member of the Republican Party of Minnesota, he represented District 22B, which includes all or portions of ...

References

{{authority control Townships in Cottonwood County, Minnesota Townships in Minnesota