Oliver 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 ...

located 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 ...

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,877. 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 ...

and only city is Center.

History

The

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of ...

legislature created the county on April 14, 1885, with territory partitioned from Mercer County. It was named for Harry S. Oliver of Lisbon, North Dakota, a Republican politician and member of the Dakota Territory House of Representatives at the time. The county government was organized on May 18, with Sanger (then known as "Bentley") as county seat. The seat was moved to Center in 1902. Oliver County is included in the Bismarck, North Dakota Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

The northeastern/eastern boundary of Oliver County is delineated by the

Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...

as it flows southeastward after leaving Lake Sakakawea. The county terrain consists of rolling hills, mostly devoted to agriculture. The terrain slopes to the east, with the highest point a hill near its southwestern corner, at ASL. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.2%) is water. It is the fifth-smallest county in North Dakota by area. By sheer coincidence, the county seat, Center, named for being near the geographical center of the county, has also been calculated to be the geographic center of North America.

Major highways

* North Dakota Highway 25 * North Dakota Highway 31 * North Dakota Highway 48 * North Dakota Highway 200A * North Dakota Highway 1806

Adjacent counties

* McLean County - northeast * Burleigh County - east * Morton County - south * Mercer County - northwest

Protected areas

* Cross Ranch State Park

Lakes

* Mandan Lake * Nelson 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 1,877 people.

2010 census

As of the

of 2010, there were 1,846 people, 756 households, and 554 families in the county. The population density was . There were 905 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.3% white, 1.5% American Indian, 0.2% black or African American, 0.2% Asian, 0.2% from other races, and 0.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.0% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 66.8% were German, 19.3% were Norwegian, 7.6% were Russian, 6.3% were English, and 4.4% were American. Of the 756 households, 25.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.5% were married couples living together, 4.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 26.7% were non-families, and 22.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.84. The median age was 47.6 years. The median income for a household in the county was $62,308 and the median income for a family was $75,069. Males had a median income of $60,592 versus $28,409 for females. The per capita income for the county was $29,348. About 6.5% of families and 9.7% 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 13.0% of those under age 18 and 19.6% of those age 65 or over.

Population by decade

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.55,0.0,0.0) ImageSize = width:600 height:300 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:4440 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:2220 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:1110 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1890 text:1890 bar:1900 text:1900 bar:1910 text:1910 bar:1920 text:1920 bar:1930 text:1930 bar:1940 text:1940 bar:1950 text:1950 bar:1960 text:1960 bar:1970 text:1970 bar:1980 text:1980 bar:1990 text:1990 bar:2000 text:2000 bar:2010 text:2010 bar:2020 text:2020 bar:2022 text:present PlotData= color:barra width:25 align:left bar:1890 from: 0 till:464 bar:1900 from: 0 till:990 bar:1910 from: 0 till:3577 bar:1920 from: 0 till:4425 bar:1930 from: 0 till:4262 bar:1940 from: 0 till:3859 bar:1950 from: 0 till:3091 bar:1960 from: 0 till:2610 bar:1970 from: 0 till:2322 bar:1980 from: 0 till:2495 bar:1990 from: 0 till:2381 bar:2000 from: 0 till:2065 bar:2010 from: 0 till:1846 bar:2020 from: 0 till:1877 bar:2022 from: 0 till:1856 color:darkblue PlotData= bar:1890 at:464 fontsize:S text:464 shift:(-14,5) bar:1900 at:990 fontsize:S text:990 shift:(-14,5) bar:1910 at:3577 fontsize:S text:3577 shift:(-14,5) bar:1920 at:4425 fontsize:S text:4425 shift:(-14,5) bar:1930 at:4262 fontsize:S text:4262 shift:(-14,5) bar:1940 at:3859 fontsize:S text:3859 shift:(-14,5) bar:1950 at:3091 fontsize:S text:3091 shift:(-14,5) bar:1960 at:2610 fontsize:S text:2610 shift:(-14,5) bar:1970 at:2322 fontsize:S text:2322 shift:(-14,5) bar:1980 at:2495 fontsize:S text:2495 shift:(-14,5) bar:1990 at:2381 fontsize:S text:2381 shift:(-14,5) bar:2000 at:2065 fontsize:S text:2065 shift:(-14,5) bar:2010 at:1846 fontsize:S text:1846 shift:(-14,5) bar:2020 at:1877 fontsize:S text:1877 shift:(-14,5) bar:2022 at:1856 fontsize:S text:1856 shift:(-14,5) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from U.S. Census Bureau

Communities

City

* Center (county seat)

Unincorporated communities

Source: * Fort Clark *

Hannover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

* Hensler *

Price A price is the (usually not negative) quantity of payment or compensation expected, required, or given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, especially when the product is a service rather than a ph ...

* Sanger (originally "Bentley")

Politics

Oliver County voters are traditionally Republican. In only one national election since 1936 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate (as of 2024).

Education

School districts include: * Beulah Public School District 27 * Center-Stanton Public School District 1 * Glen Ullin Public School District 48 * Hazen Public School District 3 * New Salem-Almont School District * Washburn Public School District 4 Center previously had a separate school district, but it merged with Stanton's in 2004.

References

External links

Oliver County official website

Oliver County map
''North Dakota DOT'' {{Coord, 47.11, -101.35, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-ND_source:UScensus1990 1885 establishments in Dakota Territory Populated places established in 1885