Red Lake 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 Northwestern part of the U.S. state of

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 3,935, making it the third-least populous county in Minnesota. 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 Red Lake Falls.

History

Red Lake County was formed on December 24, 1896, from sections of Polk County. It was named for the Red Lake River. Its designated county seat was Red Lake Falls, which had been incorporated (as a village) in 1881. The county has two sites on the National Register of Historic Places: the courthouse and Clearwater Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Geography

The Red Lake River flows southward into the county from Pennington County. It is joined near Red Lake Falls by the Clearwater River; the combined flow (still known as the Red Lake River) flows southwestward to Huot, where it is augmented by the Black River, which drains the northwestern part of the county. The Red Lake River then flows southwestward into Polk County. The county terrain consists of low rolling hills, etched by drainages and gullies. The area is devoted to agriculture.''Red Lake County MN'' Google Maps (accessed April 7, 2019)
/ref> The county terrain slopes to the west, with its highest elevation on its southeastern corner, at ASL. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.02%) is water. Despite its name, Red Lake County contains only one named lake: Moran Lake, near Huot. Red Lake County is the only landlocked county in the United States (excluding those on international borders) to border exactly two other counties.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 2 * U.S. Highway 59 * Minnesota State Highway 32 * Minnesota State Highway 92 * Minnesota State Highway 222

Adjacent counties

* Pennington County – north * Polk County – south

Protected areas

Source: * Moran State Wildlife Management Area * Old Crossing & Treaty County Wayside Park

Demographics

2020 Census

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 4,299 people, 1,727 households, and 1,131 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 1,883 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.44%

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 ...

, 1.84% Native American, 0.07% Asian, 0.12% from other races, and 0.35% from two or more races. 0.30% 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. 31.9% were of Norwegian, 25.0% German, 16.7% French and 6.3%

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

ancestry. There were 1,727 households, out of which 30.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.40% 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, 6.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.50% were non-families. 30.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.02. The county population contained 25.50% under the age of 18, 7.50% from 18 to 24, 24.70% from 25 to 44, 23.20% from 45 to 64, and 19.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 100.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.90 males. The median income for a household in the county was $32,052, and the median income for a family was $40,275. Males had a median income of $28,494 versus $20,363 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 $15,372. About 8.40% of families and 10.80% 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 11.50% of those under age 18 and 13.10% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Brooks * Oklee * Plummer * Red Lake Falls (county seat)

Unincorporated communities

* Dorothy * Garnes * Huot * Perault * Terrebonne * Wylie

Townships

* Browns Creek Township * Emardville Township * Equality Township * Garnes Township * Gervais Township * Lake Pleasant Township * Lambert Township * Louisville Township * Poplar River Township * Red Lake Falls Township * River Township * Terrebonne Township * Wylie Township

Government and politics

Red Lake County was formerly solidly Democratic, voting for that party's presidential nominee in all elections from 1928 until 1996, although since 2000 it has generally voted Republican, with the exception of its support for

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

in 2008. In 2020,

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 ...

showed the best performance by a Republican since 1904, and he broke this record again in 2024.

Media attention

The county received mention in the media when a Washington Post reporter, Christopher Ingraham, wrote a story calling Red Lake County "the absolute worst place to live in America" in a ranking of US counties by "scenery and climate". After vigorous objections from local and state inhabitants and legislators, Ingraham subsequently visited the county and not only reversed his position but later moved there with his family and wrote a book about his experience.

Footnotes

External links

Red Lake County official website
{{authority control Minnesota counties 1896 establishments in Minnesota Populated places established in 1896 Minnesota placenames of Native American origin