Itasca County ( ) is a county located in the Iron Range region of 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 45,014. 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 ...

Grand Rapids Grand Rapids is the largest city and county seat of Kent County, Michigan, United States. With a population of 198,917 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 200,117 in 2024, Grand Rapids is the List of municipalities ...

. The county is named after

Lake Itasca Lake Itasca ( ) is a small glacial lake, approximately in area. It is located in Itasca State Park, in south-eastern Clearwater County, in the Headwaters area of north-central Minnesota, and is notable for being the headwater of the Mississip ...

, which is in turn a shortened version of the Latin words ''veritas caput'', meaning 'truth' and 'head', a reference to the source of 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 ...

. Portions of the Bois Forte and

Leech Lake Leech Lake (translated from the Ojibwe language ''Gaa-zagaskwaajimekaag'': Lake abundant with bloodsuckers) is a lake located in north central Minnesota, United States. It is southeast of Bemidji, Minnesota, Bemidji, located mainly within the L ...

Indian reservation An American Indian reservation is an area of land land tenure, held and governed by a List of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States#Description, U.S. federal government-recognized Native American tribal nation, whose gov ...

s are in the county.

History

The boundary of Itasca County was first formed in 1849, upon the creation of the Minnesota Territory. It was originally a much larger county, which covered many of today's northeastern Minnesota counties. The original Itasca County stretched over Cook, Lake, Saint Louis, Koochiching, eastern Lake of the Woods, eastern Beltrami, Itasca, northern Aitkin, and northern Carlton counties, today in Minnesota. Itasca County was originally named for

(no longer in the county's present borders), which was determined to be the true source of the

. After many disputes over finding the source of the Mississippi River,

Henry Schoolcraft Henry Rowe Schoolcraft (March 28, 1793 – December 10, 1864) was an American geographer, geologist, and ethnologist, noted for his early studies of Native American cultures, as well as for his 1832 expedition to the source of the Mississippi ...

set out to find its true source in 1832. Once he came upon its true source, he decided to name this 'Lake Itasca.' The Mississippi River flows from its small beginnings at Lake Itasca, where it can be crossed on foot. It flows past

Bemidji Bemidji ( ) is a city and the county seat of Beltrami County, in northern Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,574 at the 2020 census. According to 2022 census estimates, the city is estimated to have a population of 15,946, makin ...

, through Itasca County, and continues to the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

Geography

The terrain of Itasca County is hilly, heavily wooded, and studded with lakes and ponds.''Itasca County MN'' Google Maps (accessed March 12, 2019)
/ref> It generally slopes to the east, with its highest areas on its upper west border, at ASL. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (8.9%) is water. It is the third-largest county in Minnesota by land area. The landscape in Itasca County varies greatly. The low plains, rolling hills, and

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 occur where there was glacial activity in the past. This area is known greatly for being

forest A forest is an ecosystem characterized by a dense ecological community, community of trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, ...

ed, and has been for centuries. The different forests are made up of trees such as pines, spruces, hardwoods, cedar, and tamarack. The many large forests in the area make

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

and

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, truckswildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...

species such as different birds and small mammals. Major bodies of water in the county include Lake Winnibigoshish, Pokegama Lake, Deer Lake, the

, Bowstring Lake, and the Blandin Paper Mill Reservoir.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 2 * U.S. Highway 71 * U.S. Highway 169 * Minnesota State Highway 1 *

Minnesota State Highway 6 Minnesota State Highway 6 (MN 6) is a highway in east-central and north-central Minnesota, which runs from its intersection with State Highway 18 in Bay Lake Township near Garrison and continues north to its northern terminus at its intersec ...

* Minnesota State Highway 38 * Minnesota State Highway 46 *

Minnesota State Highway 65 Minnesota State Highway 65 (MN 65) is a highway in the east–central and northeast parts of the U.S. state of Minnesota, which starts at its split from Interstate 35W (Minnesota), I-35W, skipping past the downtown Minneapolis core, only to resu ...

* Minnesota State Highway 286

Adjacent counties

* Koochiching County - north * Saint Louis County - east * Aitkin County - south * Cass County - southwest * Beltrami County - west

Protected areas

Source: * Big Fork State Forest * Botany Bog Scientific and Natural Area * Chippewa National Forest (part) * George Washington State Forest (part) * Golden Anniversary State Forest * Marcell Experimental Forest * Scenic State Park

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 43,992 people, 17,789 households, and 12,381 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 24,528 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 94.64%

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 ...

, 0.16%

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 ...

, 3.40% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.02%

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 ...

, 0.16% from other races, and 1.34% from two or more races. 0.60% 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. 25.6% 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 ...

, 13.8% Norwegian, 7.7% Finnish, 7.2% Swedish, 6.2% Irish, 5.0%

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

or American and 5.0% English ancestry. There were 17,789 households, out of which 29.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.30% 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, 7.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.40% were non-families. 26.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.91. The county population contained 24.40% under the age of 18, 7.60% from 18 to 24, 24.40% from 25 to 44, 26.70% from 45 to 64, and 16.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 99.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.20 males. The median income for a household in the county was $36,234, and the median income for a family was $44,025. Males had a median income of $37,066 versus $22,327 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 $17,717. About 7.70% of families and 10.60% 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 13.60% of those under age 18 and 8.80% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Bigfork * Bovey * Calumet * Cohasset *

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...

* Deer River * Effie *

(county seat) * Keewatin * La Prairie *

Marble Marble is a metamorphic rock consisting of carbonate minerals (most commonly calcite (CaCO3) or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2) that have recrystallized under the influence of heat and pressure. It has a crystalline texture, and is ty ...

* Nashwauk * Squaw Lake * Taconite * Warba * Zemple

Census-designated places

* Ball Club * Inger

Unincorporated communities

* Alvwood * Bass Lake * Bear River * Bergville *

Blackberry BlackBerry is a discontinued brand of handheld devices and related mobile services, originally developed and maintained by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM, later known as BlackBerry Limited) until 2016. The first BlackBerry device ...

Bowstring A bowstring joins the two ends of the bow stave and launches the arrow. Desirable properties include light weight, strength, resistance to abrasion, and resistance to water. Mass has most effect at the center of the string; of extra mass in th ...

* Dora Lake *

Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the Anglo–Scottish border, English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and ...

* Goodland * Grattan * Gunn * Houpt *

Jessie Lake Jessie Lake is a kettle lake in east-northern Alberta, Canada. The northern shore of Jessie Lake borders the town of Bonnyville, Alberta, Bonnyville and extends almost five kilometres from east to west. On the west side it is intersected by a te ...

* Mack * Marcell *

Martin Martin may refer to: Places Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Europe * Martin, Croatia, a village * Martin, Slovakia, a city * Martín del Río, Aragón, Spain * M ...

Max Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

* Orth * Pengilly * Pomroy * Rosy * Spring Lake * Suomi * Swan River * Talmoon *

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

* Wawina * Wirt

Townships

* Alvwood Township * Arbo Township * Ardenhurst Township * Balsam Township * Bearville Township * Bigfork Township * Blackberry Township * Bowstring Township * Carpenter Township * Deer River Township * Feeley Township * Good Hope Township * Goodland Township * Grand Rapids Township * Grattan Township * Greenway Township * Harris Township * Iron Range Township * Kinghurst Township * Lake Jessie Township * Lawrence Township * Lone Pine Township * Marcell Township * Max Township * Moose Park Township * Morse Township * Nashwauk Township * Nore Township * Oteneagen Township * Pomroy Township * Sago Township * Sand Lake Township * Spang Township * Splithand Township * Stokes Township * Third River Township * Trout Lake Township * Wabana Township * Wawina Township * Wildwood Township * Wirt Township

Unorganized territories

* Bowstring Lake * Deer Lake * Effie *

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

* Little Sand Lake * Northeast Itasca

Politics

Itasca County voters tended to vote strongly Democratic for about 80 years following the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, selecting the Democratic nominee in every election from

1932 Events January * January 4 – The British authorities in India arrest and intern Mahatma Gandhi and Vallabhbhai Patel. * January 9 – Sakuradamon Incident (1932), Sakuradamon Incident: Korean nationalist Lee Bong-chang fails in his effort ...

through

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, along with fellow Iron Range counties St. Louis County, Carlton County, and Lake County. However, in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, the county swung hard towards

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, voting Republican for the first time since

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

and doing so by giving him a healthy majority of 54.1%. In

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, it voted for Trump once again, giving him an increased vote share of 57.4%, making it the first time the county had voted Republican two elections in a row since 1924 and 1928. This trend continued in 2024 when Trump obtained 59% of the vote, the highest for a Republican presidential candidate since 1924.

References

External links

Itasca County government’s website
*

Minnesota Department of Transportation The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT, ) oversees Transportation in Minnesota, transportation by all modes including land, water, air, rail, walking and bicycling in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The Cabinet (government), cabinet-lev ...

map of Itasca County
southeastern portionnorthwestern portionnortheastern portion
{{Coord, 47.51, -93.63, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-MN_source:UScensus1990 Minnesota counties Minnesota counties on the Mississippi River 1849 establishments in Minnesota Territory Populated places established in 1849