Ransom 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 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 5,703. Its

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Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

History

The Dakota Territory legislature created Ransom County on January 4, 1873. It was so named due to its military fort, which had been named Fort Ransom for Civil War veteran Major General Thomas E.G. Ransom. The fort had operated between 1867 and 1872. The county was not organized at that time, nor was it attached to another county for administrative or judicial purposes. Its proposed boundaries were altered two times during 1881. On April 4, 1881, the county government was effected. The county's area was again reduced in 1883 when Sargent County was created. Ransom County has retained its present configuration since that time.

Geography

The Sheyenne River meanders through Ransom County. The county terrain consists of rolling hills, dotted with lakes and ponds in its western part. The area is largely devoted to agriculture. The terrain slopes to the east and south; its highest point is on the north boundary line near its northwestern corner, at ASL. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.2%) is water.

Major highways

* North Dakota Highway 27 * North Dakota Highway 32 * North Dakota Highway 46

Adjacent counties

* Cass County - northeast * Richland County - east * Sargent County - south * Dickey County - southwest * LaMoure County - west * Barnes County - northwest

Protected areas

* Browns Ranch * Fort Ransom State Historic Site * Fort Ransom State Park * Nature Conservancy's Sheyenne Delta * North Country Trail * Pigeon Point Reserve * Sheyenne National Grassland (part) * Sheyenne State Forest''What to do''
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Lakes

* Lone Tree 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 5,704 people.

2010 census

As of the

of 2010, there were 5,457 people, 2,310 households, and 1,466 families in the county. The population density was . There were 2,656 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.8% white, 0.4% Asian, 0.4% American Indian, 0.3% black or African American, 0.1% Pacific islander, 0.1% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.2% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 54.2% were German, 36.6% were Norwegian, 9.0% were Irish, 6.9% were Swedish, 5.1% were English, and 1.6% were American. Of the 2,310 households, 27.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.8% were married couples living together, 5.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 36.5% were non-families, and 32.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.89. The median age was 45.2 years. The median income for a household in the county was $46,044 and the median income for a family was $59,973. Males had a median income of $42,380 versus $28,209 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,995. About 7.5% of families and 9.4% 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 13.2% of those under age 18 and 11.6% 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:675 height:325 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:12000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:3000 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:1500 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1880 text:1880 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:1880 from: 0 till:537 bar:1890 from: 0 till:5393 bar:1900 from: 0 till:6919 bar:1910 from: 0 till:10345 bar:1920 from: 0 till:11618 bar:1930 from: 0 till:10983 bar:1940 from: 0 till:10061 bar:1950 from: 0 till:8876 bar:1960 from: 0 till:8078 bar:1970 from: 0 till:7102 bar:1980 from: 0 till:6698 bar:1990 from: 0 till:5921 bar:2000 from: 0 till:5890 bar:2010 from: 0 till:5457 bar:2020 from: 0 till:5704 bar:2022 from: 0 till:5640 color:darkblue PlotData= bar:1880 at:537 fontsize:S text:537 shift:(-14,5) bar:1890 at:5393 fontsize:S text:5393 shift:(-14,5) bar:1900 at:6919 fontsize:S text:6919 shift:(-14,5) bar:1910 at:10345 fontsize:S text:10345 shift:(-14,5) bar:1920 at:11618 fontsize:S text:11618 shift:(-14,5) bar:1930 at:10983 fontsize:S text:10983 shift:(-14,5) bar:1940 at:10061 fontsize:S text:10061 shift:(-14,5) bar:1950 at:8876 fontsize:S text:8876 shift:(-14,5) bar:1960 at:8078 fontsize:S text:8078 shift:(-14,5) bar:1970 at:7102 fontsize:S text:7102 shift:(-14,5) bar:1980 at:6698 fontsize:S text:6698 shift:(-14,5) bar:1990 at:5921 fontsize:S text:5921 shift:(-14,5) bar:2000 at:5890 fontsize:S text:5890 shift:(-14,5) bar:2010 at:5457 fontsize:S text:5457 shift:(-14,5) bar:2020 at:5704 fontsize:S text:5704 shift:(-14,5) bar:2022 at:5640 fontsize:S text:5640 shift:(-14,5) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from U.S. Census Bureau

Communities

Cities

* Elliott * Enderlin (partly in Cass County) * Fort Ransom *

(county seat) * Sheldon

Census-designated places

* Englevale * McLeod

Townships

* Aliceton * Alleghany * Bale * Big Bend * Casey * Coburn * Elliott * Fort Ransom * Greene * Hanson * Island Park * Isley * Liberty * McLeod * Moore * Northland * Owego * Preston * Rosemeade * Sandoun * Scoville * Shenford * Springer * Sydna * Tuller

Politics

Ransom County is a swing county in presidential elections, having voted for both parties an equal number of times between

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

and

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

. It voted for the Democrat in the

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

and

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

gubernatorial elections, and for the Republican in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, and

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

. It is also a bellwether county at the presidential level, having voted for the winner in every presidential election between the 1964 and 1984 and again from

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

. The county broke its bellwether streak in 1988 and

, voting for the Democratic nominee Michael Dukakis in 1988 and Republican nominee

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

in 2020, who both would lose the general election. Ransom County is one of the most Democratic counties in North Dakota. In the 2018 election for U.S. Senate, it gave Heidi Heitkamp her 4th-highest total (60.6%), behind only Sioux, Rolette, and Benson counties.

Education

References

External links

Ramson County official website

Ransom County map
''North Dakota DOT'' {{Coord, 46.46, -97.66, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-ND_source:UScensus1990 1881 establishments in Dakota Territory Populated places established in 1881