Meeker 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 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 23,400. 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 Litchfield.

History

The

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized and incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belm ...

was established by the federal government effective July 3, 1836, and existed until its eastern portion was granted statehood (as Wisconsin) in 1848. The federal government set up the Minnesota Territory effective March 3, 1849. The newly organized territorial legislature created nine counties across the territory in October of that year. One of those original counties, Dakota, had portions partitioned off to create

Cass Cass may refer to: People and fictional characters * Cass (surname), a list of people * Cass (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Big Cass, ring name of wrestler William Morrissey * Cass, in British band Skunk Anansie * Cass, ...

(1851), Nicollet (1853), Pierce (1853), and Sibley (1853) counties. In 1855 portions of those counties were carved out to create Davis, and on February 23, 1856, the territorial legislature created Meeker County from a portion of Davis. It was named for Bradley B. Meeker (1813-1873), who served on the Minnesota Territorial Supreme Court from 1849 to 1853. The area of Forest City was first settled in the 1850s, and the village was named the county seat in 1856. It was platted as Forest City in 1857. In 1856 the first settlers moved into the future Litchfield; the resulting settlement was named Ness. The area grew, and with the arrival of a spur from the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, the vote was taken to move the county seat to this area in the fall of 1869. Upon being platted in 1869, the city was renamed Litchfield. On March 20, 1858, the western portion of Meeker County was partitioned off to create Kandiyohi County. Meeker County's boundaries have remained unchanged since then. The murder of five white homesteaders in Acton on August 17, 1862, by four young Dakota men sparked the 1862 Dakota War, and the battle of Acton on September 3 saw the 75 men of Company B, 9th Minnesota ambushed by a superior force of Dakota and forced to retreat to Hutchinson. The Dakota attacked Forest City shortly thereafter, and numerous monuments to people killed in the conflict can be found in the county.

Geography

Meeker County's terrain consists of low rolling hills, lightly wooded and heavily dotted with lakes and ponds. The available area is devoted to agriculture.Meeker County MN Google Maps (accessed April 26, 2019)
/ref> The terrain slopes to the south and east, with its highest point just southwest of Lake Hope, west-southwest of Litchfield, at ASL. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (5.7%) is water.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 12 *

Minnesota State Highway 4 Minnesota State Highway 4 (MN 4) is a highway in southwest and west-central 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 O ...

* Minnesota State Highway 7 * Minnesota State Highway 15 * Minnesota State Highway 22 * Minnesota State Highway 24 *

Minnesota State Highway 55 Minnesota State Highway 55 (MN 55) is a state highway that runs across the central part of state taking a diagonal route from its western most at the North Dakota state line near Tenney to its easternmost point at the intersection with U.S. H ...

Adjacent counties

* Stearns County - north * Wright County - east * McLeod County - southeast * Renville County - southwest * Kandiyohi County - west

Protected areas

Source: * Acton State Wildlife Management Area * Greenleaf Lake State Recreation Area * Greenleaf State Wildlife Management Area * Knapp State Wildlife Management Area (part) * Madsen State Wildlife Management Area * Popular State Wildlife Management Area * Wieker State Wildlife Management Area

Demographics

2020 census

''Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.''

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 22,644 people, 8,590 households, and 6,133 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 9,821 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.35%

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 ...

, 0.19%

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 ...

, 0.18% Native American, 0.40% Asian, 1.40% from other races, and 0.48% from two or more races. 2.15% 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. 45.8% 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 ...

, 12.2% Swedish and 11.3% Norwegian ancestry. There were 8,590 households, out of which 33.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.50% 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, 6.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.60% were non-families. 24.40% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.00% 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 3.07. The county population contained 27.00% under the age of 18, 7.40% from 18 to 24, 26.40% from 25 to 44, 23.00% from 45 to 64, and 16.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 101.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.90 males. The median income for a household in the county was $40,908, and the median income for a family was $47,923. Males had a median income of $33,157 versus $22,743 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 $18,628. About 4.70% of families and 7.10% 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 6.40% of those under age 18 and 13.80% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Cedar Mills *

Cosmos The cosmos (, ; ) is an alternative name for the universe or its nature or order. Usage of the word ''cosmos'' implies viewing the universe as a complex and orderly system or entity. The cosmos is studied in cosmologya broad discipline covering ...

* Darwin * Dassel * Eden Valley (part) * Grove City *

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

* Litchfield (county seat) * Watkins

Unincorporated communities

* Acton * Beckville * Corvuso * Crow River * Forest City * Greenleaf * Jennie * Lamson * Manannah * Rosendale * Strout

Townships

There were, as of 1888, 17 Townships in Meeker County. * Acton Township * Cedar Mills Township * Collinwood Township * Cosmos Township * Danielson Township * Darwin Township * Dassel Township * Ellsworth Township * Forest City Township * Forest Prairie Township * Greenleaf Township * Harvey Township * Kingston Township * Litchfield Township * Manannah Township * Swede Grove Township * Union Grove Township

Politics

Meeker County usually votes Republican. In 78% of national elections since 1980 the county selected the Republican Party candidate (as of 2020).

Notable people

Magnus Johnson Magnus Johnson (September 19, 1871September 13, 1936) was an American politician. He served in the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives from Minnesota as a member of the Minnesota Farmer–Labor Party, Farmer–Labor P ...

(1871-1936) - local farmer and United States Senator (1923-1925)

References

External links

Meeker County government’s website
{{authority control Minnesota counties 1856 establishments in Minnesota Territory Populated places established in 1856