McHenry 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
North Dakota. As of the
2020 census, the population was 5,345.
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
Towner.
McHenry County is part of the
Minot, ND
Micropolitan Statistical Area.
History
The
Dakota Territory legislature created the county on January 4, 1873, with territory annexed from
Bottineau County. It was named for James McHenry, an early settler of
Vermillion (in present
South Dakota
South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...
). The county government was not organized at that time, nor was the county attached to another county for administrative and judicial purposes. The county organization was effected on October 15, 1884. The county boundaries were altered in 1885, 1887, 1891, and in 1892. It has retained its present boundaries since 1892.
When the county was organized in 1884, Villard was named as county seat. In 1885 this designation was moved to Scriptown. In 1886 the designation was again moved, to Towner, which has remained the seat to the present time (the two former sites are now ghost towns).
Geography
The
Souris River loops through the county before turning north to its eventual discharge into
Lake Winnipeg
Lake Winnipeg () is a very large, relatively shallow lake in North America, in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Its southern end is about north of the city of Winnipeg. Lake Winnipeg is Canada's sixth-largest freshwater lake and the third- ...
. The Wintering River drains the southern part of the county. The county terrain consists of rolling hills, partly devoted to agriculture (including limited use of
center pivot irrigation).
The terrain slopes to the north and east, with its highest point on the west boundary line near the southwest corner, at ASL. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.0%) is water. In 2013, 131 plants were collected in the Lake George area.
Major highways
*
U.S. Highway 2
*
U.S. Highway 52
*
North Dakota Highway 14
*
North Dakota Highway 19
*
North Dakota Highway 41
*
North Dakota Highway 53
*
North Dakota Highway 97
Adjacent counties
*
Bottineau County - north
*
Pierce County - east
*
Sheridan County - southeast
*
McLean County - southwest
*
Ward County - west
*
Renville County - northwest
National protected areas
*
Cottonwood Lake National Wildlife Refuge
*
Denbigh Experimental Forest
*
J. Clark Salyer National Wildlife Refuge (part)
*
Wintering River National Wildlife Refuge
Lakes
Source:
[
* Bromley Lake
* Buffalo Lodge Lake
* Connia Slough
* Erickson Lake
* Heringen Lake
* Horseshoe Lake (part)
* Lake George
* Lake Hester
* Lauinger Lake
* Martin Lake
* North Lake
* Potters Lake
* Round Lake
* Smoky Lake (part)
* Stevens Slough
* Stink Lake
]
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 5,345 people.
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 5,395 people, 2,377 households, and 1,527 families in the county. The population density was . There were 2,948 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.8% white, 0.6% American Indian, 0.3% Asian, 0.1% black or African American, 0.3% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.5% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 55.3% were of German, 39.5% Norwegian, 5.3% English, 3.6% Swedish, 3.5% American, 2.4% Russian and 1.7% Dutch ancestry.
Of the 2,377 households, 25.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.9% were married couples living together, 5.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 35.8% were non-families, and 31.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.81. The median age was 46.2 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $36,944 and the median income for a family was $54,350. Males had a median income of $36,625 versus $26,205 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,911. About 6.4% of families and 12.3% 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 17.1% of those under age 18 and 17.9% of those age 65 or over.
Population by decade
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Communities
Cities
* Anamoose
* Balfour
* Bergen
Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo.
By May 20 ...
* Deering
* Drake
* Granville
* Karlsruhe
* Kief
* Towner (county seat)
* Upham
* Velva
* Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...
Census-designated place
* Bantry (former city)
Unincorporated communities
Source:[
* Berwick
* Cole Ford
* Denbigh
* Funston
* Genoa
* Guthrie
* Kottkethal][
* Milroy
* Newport
* Norfolk][Genealogy Trails: North Dakota (accessed February 23, 2019)]
/ref>
*Norwich
Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
* Rangeley
* Riga
* Rising
* Rose Hill
* Simcoe
* Verendrye
* Willowdale[
* Willow Vale][
* Willow Valley][
* Willow Creek
]
Townships
* Anamoose
* Balfour
* Bantry
* Berwick
* Bjornson
* Brown
* Cottonwood Lake
* Deep River
* Deering
* Denbigh
* Egg Creek
* Falsen
* Gilmore
* Granville
* Grilley
* Hendrickson
* Karlsruhe
* Kottke Valley
* Lake George
* Lake Hester
* Land
* Layton
* Lebanon
* Little Deep
* Meadow
* Mouse River
* Newport
* Normal
* North Prairie
* Norwich
* Odin
* Olivia
* Pratt
* Riga
* Rose Hill
* Round Lake
* Saline
* Schiller
* Spring Grove
* Strege
* Velva
* Villard
* Voltaire
* Wagar
* Willow Creek
Notable people
* Sondre Norheim, pioneer of modern skiing
* Cordell Volson, professional football player
Politics
McHenry County voters have traditionally voted Republican. In only one national election since 1936 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate.
See also
* National Register of Historic Places listings in McHenry County, North Dakota
References
External links
McHenry County JDA
* McHenry County maps
Sheet 1
(northern) an
Sheet 2
(southern), ''North Dakota DOT''
{{Coord, 48.23, -100.64, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-ND_source:UScensus1990
Minot, North Dakota micropolitan area
1884 establishments in Dakota Territory
Populated places established in 1884