Renville 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 14,723. 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 Olivia.

History

The Minnesota Territory legislature created the county on February 20, 1855. It was named for Joseph Renville, a fur trapper, trader, British officer in the

War of 1812 The War of 1812 was fought by the United States and its allies against the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom and its allies in North America. It began when the United States United States declaration of war on the Uni ...

, and interlocutor with local Native American groups. Organization of the county's governing structure was completed on November 8, 1866, with Beaver Falls as county seat. Beginning in 1885, citizens in and around Olivia began pressing for the seat to be moved to Olivia, which happened in 1900.

1862 Dakota War

Renville County, located directly across the Minnesota River from the Lower Sioux Agency, was the site of extensive combat during the

Dakota War of 1862 The Dakota War of 1862, also known as the Sioux Uprising, the Dakota Uprising, the Sioux Outbreak of 1862, the Dakota Conflict, or Little Crow's War, was an armed conflict between the United States and several eastern bands of Dakota people, Da ...

. The U.S. army's defeats at the Battle of Redwood Ferry and the Battle of Birch Coulee at the hands of the Dakota both occurred in Birch Cooley Township, in addition to numerous Dakota raids on white homesteads in the county. The burned-out Joseph Brown House Ruins still stand, and various monuments throughout the County memorialize

settlers A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a Human settlement, settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among ...

killed in the conflict.

Geography

The

Minnesota River The Minnesota River () is a tributary of the Mississippi River, approximately 332 miles (534 km) long, in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It drains a watershed of in Minnesota and about in South Dakota and Iowa. It rises in southwestern ...

flows southeast along the county's southwestern border. Hawk Creek flows south through the county's western end, discharging into the Minnesota. Beaver Creek drains the central part of the county, flowing southeast before turning southwest to discharge into the Minnesota. The county terrain consists of rolling hills etched by drainages and sprinkled with lakes and ponds. The area is devoted to agriculture.''Renville County MN'' Google Maps (accessed April 5, 2019)
/ref> The county terrain slopes to the south, with its highest point near the midpoint of the northern border, at ASL. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.4%) is water.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 71 * U.S. Highway 212 *

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 19 Minnesota State Highway 19 (MN 19) is a highway in southern Minnesota, which runs from South Dakota Highway 30 at the South Dakota state line near Ivanhoe, Minnesota, Ivanhoe and continues east to its eastern terminus at its Intersection (road) ...

Minnesota State Highway 23 Minnesota State Highway 23 (MN 23) is a state highway that stretches from southwestern to northeastern Minnesota. At in length, it is the second longest state route in Minnesota, after MN 1. This route, signed east–west, runs roug ...

Adjacent counties

* Kandiyohi County - north * Meeker County - northeast * McLeod County - east * Sibley County - southeast * Nicollet County - southeast * Brown County - south * Redwood County - southwest * Yellow Medicine County - west * Chippewa County - northwest Renville, Beltrami, and Stearns are Minnesota's only counties that abut nine other counties.

Lakes

Source: * Beckendorf Lake * Boon Lake * Hodgson Lake * Lake Allie * Mud Lake * Phare Lake * Preston Lake * Round Grove Lake (part) * Round Lake

Protected areas

Source: * Beaver Falls County Park * Camp Town Park * County Park No. 2 * County Park No. 4 * Fort Ridgely State Park (part) * Birch Coulee Battlefield * Prieve State Wildlife Management Area (part) * Skalbekken County 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 17,154 people, 6,779 households, and 4,623 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 7,413 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 95.72%

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 ...

, 0.06%

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 ...

, 0.51% Native American, 0.20% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 2.77% from other races, and 0.73% from two or more races. 5.11% 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. 50.9% 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 ...

, 16.3% Norwegian and 5.1% Swedish ancestry. There were 6,779 households, out of which 31.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.10% 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, 5.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.80% were non-families. 28.50% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 3.05. The county population contained 26.50% under the age of 18, 6.60% from 18 to 24, 25.30% from 25 to 44, 21.70% from 45 to 64, and 19.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 99.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.50 males. The median income for a household in the county was $37,652, and the median income for a family was $45,065. Males had a median income of $30,473 versus $22,179 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 county was $17,770. About 6.30% of families and 8.80% 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 10.80% of those under age 18 and 8.10% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Bird Island * Buffalo Lake *

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

* Fairfax * Franklin *

Hector In Greek mythology, Hector (; , ) was a Trojan prince, a hero and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. He is a major character in Homer's ''Iliad'', where he leads the Trojans and their allies in the defense of Troy, killing c ...

* Morton * Olivia (county seat) * Renville *

Sacred Heart The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus () is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus Christ is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devotion to Christ is p ...

Unincorporated communities

* Beaver Falls * Bechyn * Churchill * Lakeside

Ghost town

* Vicksburg

Townships

* Bandon Township * Beaver Falls Township * Birch Cooley Township * Bird Island Township * Boon Lake Township * Brookfield Township * Cairo Township * Camp Township * Crooks Township * Emmet Township * Ericson Township * Flora Township * Hawk Creek Township * Hector Township * Henryville Township * Kingman Township * Martinsburg Township * Melville Township * Norfolk Township * Osceola Township * Palmyra Township * Preston Lake Township * Sacred Heart Township * Troy Township * Wang Township * Wellington Township * Winfield Township

Politics

Before 1996, Renville County was a fairly balanced precinct. Since 1996, only Republican Party candidates have received the county vote in national elections (as of 2024), although Democratic candidate

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 ...

only lost the county by 52 votes in 2008. In 2016, 2020 and 2024,

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 ...

's performances were the best by a Republican in the county since 1920.

References

External links

Renville County government’s website
{{Coord, 44.72, -94.96, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-MN_source:UScensus1990 Minnesota counties 1866 establishments in Minnesota Populated places established in 1866