Kanabec 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 East Central part of

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 16,032. 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 Mora.

History

The Minnesota legislature authorized creation of Kanabec County on March 13, 1858, with territory partitioned from Pine County. No county seat was designated at that time, and the county organization was not effected at that time. The county name came from the Ojibwe term ''ginebig'', meaning "snake," after the

Snake River The Snake River is a major river in the interior Pacific Northwest region of the United States. About long, it is the largest tributary of the Columbia River, which is the largest North American river that empties into the Pacific Ocean. Begin ...

— ''Kanabecosippi'' (''Ginebigo-ziibi'' in the modern spelling) — which flows through the county. The area of Kanabec County was attached to Chisago County for administrative and judicial purposes. What county business was handled locally was performed by part-time County Auditor and County Treasurer, in a single room in a stopping place operated by lumber-trader George Staples at Millet Rapids. In 1871 the county was detached from Chisago, and assigned to Pine County. This assignment lasted through 1881. The 1870 United States census listed 53 occupants of the Kanabec County area. However, an influx of settlers into its southern areas occurred in the early 1870s, and by 1876 an official county building was needed. A one-room wood building was erected at Millet Rapids, put into use in 1876. In 1881 the county was detached from Pine, and the government structure was finalized, with the county seat being designated at Brunswick. Only one court term was held at Brunswick; in the 1882 general election, a nearly-unanimous vote designated Mora as the county seat. The old courthouse building was sold to a local farmer, who moved it to his property to use as a home. The wood courthouse erected at Mora was used until 1894, when it burned and was replaced by a more fireproof building.

Geography

The

flows south-southeasterly through the central part of the county, fed by Groundhouse River (flowing northeasterly from the county's SW corner) and Red Creek and Mud Creek. The Snake continues easterly into Pine County. The county terrain consists of partly-wooded rolling hills, etched by drainages. It is largely devoted to agriculture.''Kanabec County MN'' Google Maps (accessed March 13, 2019)
/ref> The terrain slopes to the south and east, with its highest point near the NW corner, at ASL. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.3%) is water.

Lakes

Source: * Ann Lake * Bachman Dam * Bass Lake (part) * Beauty Lake * Featherbed Lake * Fish Lake * Kent Lake * Knife Lake * Lake Eleven * Lake Five * Lake Full of Fish * Lewis Lake * Long Lake * Pennington Lake * Pomroy Lake * Rice Lake * Spring Lake * Thirteen Lake * White Lily Lake

Adjacent counties

* Aitkin County - north * Pine County - east * Chisago County - southeast * Isanti County - south * Mille Lacs County - west

Protected areas

Source: * Ann Lake State Wildlife Management Area * Bean Dam State Wildlife Management Area * Hay-Snake State Wildlife Management Area * Rice Creek State Wildlife Management Area * Rum River State Forest (part) * Tosher Creek State Wildlife Management Area * Whited State Wildlife Management Area

Historic Locations

Source: * Ann River Logging Company Farm * Kanabec County Courthouse * Knife Lake prehistoric district * Ogilvie Watertower * C. E. Williams House * Zetterberg Company

Infrastructure

Airports

* Mora Municipal Airport

Highways

Minnesota State Highway 23 Minnesota State Highway 23 (MN 23) is a state highway that stretches from southwestern to northeastern Minnesota. At in length, it is the second longest state route in Minnesota, after MN 1. This route, signed east–west, runs roug ...

Minnesota State Highway 27 Minnesota State Highway 27 (MN 27) is a state highway in west-central and east-central Minnesota, which runs from its intersection with MN 28 in Browns Valley and continues east to its interchange with Interstate 35 (I-35) in ...

* Minnesota State Highway 47 *

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 70 * Minnesota State Highway 107

County Roads

* County Road 1 - County Road 30

Demographics

2020 Census

2010 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 2010, there were 16,239 people and 6,277 households 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 7,808 housing units (2014 estimate). The racial makeup of the county was 96.6%

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 ...

, 0.6%

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 ...

, 0.8% Native American or Alaska Native, 0.4% Asian, <0.1% Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian, and 1.6% from other races or two or more races. 1.7% 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. As of the 2000 census, 30.2% 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 ...

, 18.1% Swedish, 13.1% Norwegian, 5.5% American and 5.4% Irish ancestry. In the census of 2000, there were 5,759 households, out of which 34.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.80% 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, 8.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.00% were non-families. 23.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.03. The county population contained 24.0% under the age of 18 and 16.4% who were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 101.2 males. The median income for a household in the county was $47,068. 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 $22,291. About 14.2% 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 ...

Communities

Cities

* Braham (mostly in Isanti County) * Grasston * Mora (county seat) * Ogilvie * Quamba

Unincorporated communities

* Brunswick *

Coin A coin is a small object, usually round and flat, used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to facilitate trade. They are most often issued by ...

* Grass Lake * Kroschel * Lewis Lake * Warman *

Woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

Abandoned Communities

Locations where the US Post office used to operate but no longer exist. * Bronson * Fisk * Heiden * Hillman * Mull * Raritan * Riverdale

Townships

* Ann Lake Township * Arthur Township * Brunswick Township * Comfort Township * Ford Township * Grass Lake Township * Hay Brook Township * Hillman Township * Kanabec Township * Knife Lake Township * Kroschel Township * Peace Township * Pomroy Township * South Fork Township * Whited Township

Politics

Kanabec County voters have moved toward the Republican Party in the past few decades; since 1980 the county has selected the Republican Party candidate in 67% of national elections (as of 2024).

References

External links

Mn/DOT map of Kanabec County
{{Coord, 45.95, -93.30, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-MN_source:UScensus1990 Minnesota placenames of Native American origin 1882 establishments in Minnesota Populated places established in 1882