Sibley 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 South Central part of 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 14,836. 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 Gaylord.

History

The county was created on March 5, 1853. It was named for

Henry Hastings Sibley Henry Hastings Sibley (February 20, 1811 – February 18, 1891) was a fur trader with the American Fur Company, the first U.S. Congressional representative for Minnesota Territory, the first governor of the state of Minnesota, and a U.S. mi ...

. The county seat was first established at Henderson. A courthouse was built there and placed into service in 1879. It was used in that capacity until 1915, when the county seat was moved to Gaylord (after Gaylord residents presented a petition to county supervisors). Now the Henderson Community Building, the original courthouse presently houses Henderson City offices.

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 northeastward along Sibley County's eastern border. It is fed by the Rush River, whose three branches drain the lower part of the county before merging and then meeting the Minnesota below Henderson. Bevens Creek drains the upper part of the county, flowing northeastward into Carver County. The county terrain consists of rolling hills etched with drainages and dotted with lakes and ponds, with the area devoted to agriculture.''Sibley County MN'' Google Maps (accessed April 8, 2019)
/ref> The terrain slopes to the east and north, with its highest point near its northwest corner at ASL. The county has an area of , of which is land and (2.0%) is water. Most of the Rush River's watershed is in Sibley County.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 169 *

Minnesota State Highway 5 Minnesota State Highway 5 (MN 5) is a highway in Minnesota, which runs from its Intersection (road), intersection with Minnesota State Highway 19, MN 19 and Minnesota State Highway 22, MN 22 in Gaylord, Minnesota, Gaylord and continu ...

* Minnesota State Highway 15 *

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 22 Minnesota State Highway 22 (MN 22) is a highway in south-central and central Minnesota, which runs from Winnebago County Road R50 at the Iowa state line near Kiester and continues north to its northern terminus at its intersection with ...

* Minnesota State Highway 25 * Minnesota State Highway 93

Adjacent counties

* McLeod County - north * Carver County - northeast * Scott County - east * Le Sueur County - southeast * Nicollet County - south * Renville County - west

Lakes

* Altnow Lake: in Dryden Township * Beatty Lake: in Dryden Township * Clear Lake: northern half is in Severance Township; southern half is in Nicollet County * Curran Lake: in Green Isle Township * Erin Lake * Hahn Lake: in New Auburn Township * High Island Lake: in New Auburn Township * Indian Lake: in Transit Township * Kerry Lake: in Faxon Township * Kirby Lake * Mud Lake: in Dryden Township * Mud Lake: there is another Mud Lake in New Auburn Township northwest of Hahn Lake * Mud Lake: there is a third Mud Lake in New Auburn Township southeast of Hahn Lake * Mud Lake: there is a fourth Mud Lake in Severance Township * Mud Lakes: three lakes in Washington Lake Township * Round Grove Lake * Sand Lake: western two thirds is in Cornish Township; the eastern third is in Alfsborg Township * Schauer Lake: in Green Isle Township * Schilling Lake: in New Auburn Township * Severance Lake: in Green Isle Township * Silver Lake: in Jessenland Township * Swan Lake: in Severance Township * Titlow Lake: in Dryden Township: the North Branch Rush River starts at this lake. * Ward Lake (part) * Washington Lake: in Washington Lake Township

Protected areas

* Altnow Marsh State Wildlife Management Area * Indian Lake State Wildlife Management Area * Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge (part) * Revanche Wildlife Management Area * Rush River 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 15,356 people, 5,772 households, and 4,086 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 6,024 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 95.57%

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 ...

, 0.12%

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 ...

, 0.26% Native American, 0.33% Asian, 3.09% from other races, and 0.62% from two or more races. 5.43% 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. 65.7% 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 ...

and 6.3% Norwegian ancestry. There were 5,772 households, of which 33.6% had children under 18 living with them, 61.1% 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, 5.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.2% were non-families. 25.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.0% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.14. The county population was 27.7% under 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 21.3% from 45 to 64, and 16.4% 65 or older. The median age was 37. For every 100 females there were 102.9 males. For every 100 females 18 and over, there were 99.9 males. The median income for a household in the county was $41,458, and the median income for a family was $48,923. Males had a median income of $31,002 versus $22,527 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 ...

was $18,004. About 5.1% of families and 8.1% 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 9.8% of those under 18 and 7.8% of those 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Arlington * Gaylord (county seat) *

Gibbon Gibbons () are apes in the family Hylobatidae (). The family historically contained one genus, but now is split into four extant genera and 20 species. Gibbons live in subtropical and tropical forests from eastern Bangladesh and Northeast Indi ...

* Green Isle * Henderson * Le Sueur (mostly in Le Sueur County) * New Auburn * Winthrop

Unincorporated communities

* Assumption (partial) *

New Rome New Rome (, ''Néa Rhṓmē''; ; ; ) was the original name given by the Roman emperor Constantine the Great to his new imperial capital in 330 CE, which was built as an expansion of the city of Byzantium on the European coast of the Bosporus s ...

* Rush River

Townships

* Alfsborg Township * Arlington Township * Bismarck Township * Cornish Township * Dryden Township * Faxon Township * Grafton Township * Green Isle Township * Henderson Township * Jessenland Township * Kelso Township * Moltke Township * New Auburn Township * Severance Township * Sibley Township * Transit Township * Washington Lake Township

Politics

Historically, during the

Third Party System The Third Party System was a period in the history of political parties in the United States from the 1850s until the 1890s, which featured profound developments in issues of American nationalism, modernization, and race. This period was marke ...

, Sibley was a strongly Democratic county due to its

and Irish

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

populace's opposition to the Republican Party's

pietism Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christianity, Christian life. Although the movement is ali ...

. It voted Democratic in every presidential election until William Jennings Bryan’s populist-backed Free Silver campaign drove its voters to

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

. Except when voting for

Robert La Follette Robert Marion La Follette Sr. (June 14, 1855June 18, 1925), nicknamed "Fighting Bob," was an American lawyer and politician. He represented Wisconsin in both chambers of Congress and served as the 20th governor of Wisconsin from 1901 to 1906. ...

1924 Events January * January 12 – Gopinath Saha shoots Ernest Day, whom he has mistaken for Sir Charles Tegart, the police commissioner of Calcutta, and is arrested soon after. * January 20–January 30, 30 – Kuomintang in Ch ...

and

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

during his two 1930s landslides, Sibley County has been firmly Republican since 1896. It was one of only four Minnesota counties to vote for

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and major general in the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve who served as a United States senator from 1953 to 1965 and 1969 to 1987, and was the Re ...

over incumbent Democratic President

Lyndon Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after assassination of John F. Kennedy, the assassination of John F. Ken ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

, and in no presidential election since

1936 Events January–February * January 20 – The Prince of Wales succeeds to the throne of the United Kingdom as King Edward VIII, following the death of his father, George V, at Sandringham House. * January 28 – Death and state funer ...

has the Democratic nominee won a majority. In

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 ...

, Sibley was Ross Perot’s strongest county in

, losing by only 14 votes to

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

, whose pluralities in this and the 1996 election are the only Democratic victories in Sibley County since

1940 A calendar from 1940 according to the Gregorian calendar, factoring in the dates of Easter and related holidays, cannot be used again until the year 5280. Events Below, events related to World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January *Janu ...

Education

School districts include:
Text list
/ref> * Belle Plaine Public School District * Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart Public Schools * Central Public School District * Glencoe-Silver Lake School District *

GFW Schools GFW Schools is an independent public school district in south central Minnesota. Originally formed to serve the communities of Gibbon, Fairfax and Winthrop, the district has expanded over time to encompasses large portions of other surroundi ...

* Le Sueur-Henderson School District * Sibley East School District

References

External links

Sibley County government website
{{authority control Minnesota counties 1853 establishments in Minnesota Territory Populated places established in 1853