Ortonville is a city in and the

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 ...

of Big Stone County 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 ...

at the southern tip of

Big Stone Lake Big Stone Lake () is a long, narrow freshwater lake and reservoir on the border between western Minnesota and northeastern South Dakota in the United States. Description The lake covers , stretching from end to end and averaging around wide. ...

, along the

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 ...

border. The population was 2,021 at the 2020 census.

Big Stone Lake State Park Big Stone Lake State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, on the shore of Big Stone Lake, the headwaters of the Minnesota River. It is home to wildlife including deer, raccoons, squirrels, meadowlarks, sedge wrens, pheasants, bobo ...

is nearby.

History

Ortonville was

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

ted in 1872 by Cornelius Knute Orton, and named for him. Ortonville was incorporated as a city in 1881. The Big Stone County Courthouse was built in 1902.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has an area of , of which is land and is water. U.S. Highways 12 and 75 bypass the city and Minnesota State Highway 7 is one of the main routes in the city.

Demographics

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 1,916 people, 884 households, and 509 families living in the city. 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 1,090 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.0%

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 ...

, 0.3%

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 ...

, 0.6% Native American, 0.1% Asian, 0.7% from other races, and 1.3% from two or more races.

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 were 1.0% of the population. There were 884 households, of which 22.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.5% 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, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 42.4% were non-families. 38.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 21.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.07 and the average family size was 2.71. The median age in the city was 49.8 years. 19.7% of residents were under the age of 18; 6.2% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 18.5% were from 25 to 44; 26.7% were from 45 to 64; and 28.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 46.5% male and 53.5% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 2,158 people, 923 households, and 594 families living in the city. The population density was . There were 1,125 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 97.68%

, 0.42%

, 0.88% Native American, 0.09% Asian, 0.28% from other races, and 0.65% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.56% of the population. There were 923 households, out of which 28.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.0% were

living together, 8.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.6% were non-families. 33.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 20.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.88. In the city, the population was spread out, with 23.9% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 20.2% from 25 to 44, 24.6% from 45 to 64, and 26.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 84.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 79.8 males. The median income for a household in the city was $30,614, and the median income for a family was $39,375. Males had a median income of $30,590 versus $20,179 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 city was $17,132. About 7.2% of families and 9.2% 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 ...

, including 9.5% of those under age 18 and 10.1% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Education

Public schools Public school may refer to: *Public school (government-funded), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government *Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging private schools in England and Wales *Great Public Schools, ...

in independent district 2903 ( Ortonville Public School), which covers Ortonville, include Ortonville Secondary School and James Knoll Elementary School. The schools are housed in one building, making the public education in Ortonville

K-12 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993 by karateka Kazuyoshi Ishii. Originally under the ownership of the Fighting and Entertainment Group (FEG), K-1 was considered to be the largest Kickboxing organization in the world. ...

. Ortonville's athletic teams are called the Trojans, and the school's colors are orange and black. The district has no

private school A private school or independent school is a school not administered or funded by the government, unlike a State school, public school. Private schools are schools that are not dependent upon national or local government to finance their fina ...

s. The Ortonville Public Library is a part of the Pioneerland Library System. There is no university in Ortonville, but high school students may take college-level courses via the

College in the Schools College in the Schools (CIS) is an educational program for Minnesota high school students run by the University of Minnesota. It allows students to take college level classes in their high school and, as a result, earn college and high school credit ...

program.

Media

Newspaper

The '' Ortonville Independent'' is a weekly newspaper published in Ortonville on Tuesdays. As of 2019, it had a circulation of 1,911 and was owned by the Kaercher Group.

AM radio

FM radio

Notable people

* Samuel Russell Barr, Minnesota state legislator * Agnes Gardner Eyre, pianist and composer * Mike Hunt, former professional American football player. *

Dan Jurgens Dan Jurgens (; born June 27, 1959) is an American comic book writer and artist. He is known for his work on the DC Comics, DC comic book storyline "The Death of Superman" and for creating characters such as Doomsday (DC Comics), Doomsday, Hank H ...

, comic book writer and artist, known for his work on the Superman comic books * Edwin Joseph Martinson, member of the

Minnesota House of Representatives The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower chamber of the U.S. state of Minnesota's Minnesota Legislature, legislature. It operates in conjunction with the Minnesota Senate, the state's upper chamber, to write and pass legislation, whic ...

Liz Olson Liz Olson is an American politician who formerly served in the Minnesota House of Representatives. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party (DFL), Olson represented District 8A in northeastern Minnesota, which includes parts o ...

, member of the

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Cities in Big Stone County, Minnesota Cities in Minnesota County seats in Minnesota