Wilkin 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 of Wilkin County was 6,506. 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 Breckenridge. The county is named for Colonel

Alexander Wilkin Alexander Wilkin (December 1, 1819 – July 14, 1864) was a soldier during the Mexican–American War and the American Civil War. Wilkin also played a role in the development of the Minnesota Territory, having been its second territorial secreta ...

, a lawyer who served as Minnesota's U.S. marshal and was later killed in the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. Wilkin County is part of the Wahpeton, ND—MN Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Fargo-Wahpeton, ND-MN Combined Statistical Area.

History

In 1849, the newly organized

Minnesota Territory The Territory of Minnesota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 3, 1849, until May 11, 1858, when the eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Minnesota and the w ...

legislature authorized the creation of nine large counties across the territory. One of those, Pembina (later renamed as Kittson), contained areas that were partitioned off on March 8, 1858, to create Toombs County, named after

Robert Toombs Robert Augustus Toombs (July 2, 1810 – December 15, 1885) was an American politician from Georgia, who was an important figure in the formation of the Confederacy. From a privileged background as a wealthy planter and slaveholder, Toomb ...

(1810–85) of Georgia. Toombs had been a member of the US House of Representatives (1845–1853), and US Senate (1853–1861). He became the Confederate secretary of state in 1861; this disloyalty to the Union displeased county residents, who petitioned for a name change. Accordingly, in 1863, the county was renamed Andy Johnson County for

Andrew Johnson Andrew Johnson (December 29, 1808July 31, 1875) was the 17th president of the United States, serving from 1865 to 1869. The 16th vice president, he assumed the presidency following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Johnson was a South ...

, who was serving as the military governor of Tennessee at the time. However, Johnson's actions and positions as US President (1865–1869) also displeased county residents, so on March 6, 1868, the county name was again changed, to Wilkin County. It was named for Colonel Alexander Wilkin, a Minnesota attorney and secretary to the Minnesota Territory governor. The future

Breckenridge, Minnesota Breckenridge is a city and county seat of Wilkin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 3,430 at the 2020 census. Breckenridge's twin city is Wahpeton, North Dakota. It is part of the Wahpeton, ND—MN Micropolitan Statistic ...

was settled beginning in the 1850s, and a town was platted there in the spring of 1857. Thus, when Toombs County was authorized in 1858, Breckenridge was listed as the county seat. It continued as the county seat through the subsequent county name changes.

Geography

Wilkin County lies on the west side of Minnesota. Its west border abuts the east border of the 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 ...

(across a river). The Bois de Sioux River flows northward along the county's west border. The Rabbit River flows westward through the lower part of the county and discharges into the Bois de Sioux on the county's lower west border. The Otter Tail River flows west-northwestward through the central part of the county and merges with the Bois de Sioux at Breckenridge to form the Red River, which continues to flow along the county's west line northward toward the

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...

in Canada. Wilkin County terrain consists of low rolling hills, completely devoted to agriculture.Wilkin County MN Google Maps (accessed April 21, 2019)
/ref> The terrain slopes to the west and north, with its highest point on the upper east border at ASL. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.03%) is water.

Major highways

Interstate 94 Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern ter ...

* U.S. Highway 52 * U.S. Highway 75 *

Minnesota State Highway 9 State Highway 9 or Trunk Highway 9 (MN 9, TH 9) is a state highway in west-central and northwest Minnesota, which runs from its intersection with Minnesota State Highway 23, MN 23 in New London, Minnesota, New London a ...

Minnesota State Highway 55 Minnesota State Highway 55 (MN 55) is a state highway that runs across the central part of state taking a diagonal route from its western most at the North Dakota state line near Tenney to its easternmost point at the intersection with U.S. H ...

* Minnesota State Highway 108 * Minnesota State Highway 210

Adjacent counties

Clay County Clay County is the name of 18 counties in the United States. Most are named for Henry Clay, U.S. Senator and statesman: * Clay County, Alabama * Clay County, Arkansas (named for John Clayton, and originally named Clayton County) * Clay County, Fl ...

- north * Otter Tail County - east *

Grant County Grant County may refer to: Places ;Australia * County of Grant, Victoria ;United States * Grant County, Arkansas * Grant County, Indiana * Grant County, Kansas *Grant County, Kentucky Grant County is a county located in the northern pa ...

- southeast * Traverse County - south *

Richland County, North Dakota Richland County is a County (United States), county in the far southeast corner of the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 16,529, and was estimated to be 16,658 in 2024. The county s ...

- west

Protected areas

* Akron State Wildlife Management Area * Atherton State Wildlife Management Area * Richard M. and Mathilde Rice Elliot Scientific and Natural Area * Rothsay State Wildlife Management Area * Sunnyside Township State Game Refuge * Western Prairie Scientific and Natural Area

Lakes

* Breckenridge Lake - formed by a dam on the Otter Tail River in Breckenridge Township

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 7,138 people, 2,752 households, and 1,926 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 3,105 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.77%

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 ...

, 0.15%

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 ...

, 0.42% Native American, 0.15% Asian, 0.01%

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 ...

, 0.49% from other races, and 0.99% from two or more races. 1.54% 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. 41.8% 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 29.2% Norwegian ancestry. There were 2,752 households, out of which 35.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.5% 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, 7.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.0% were non-families. 25.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.09. The county population contained 27.8% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 16.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 95.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.1 males. The median income for a household in the county was $38,093, and the median income for a family was $46,220. Males had a median income of $31,273 versus $20,925 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 $16,873. About 6.2% 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 8.9% of those under age 18 and 8.3% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

* Breckenridge (county seat) * Campbell * Doran * Foxhome *

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

* Nashua * Rothsay (part) *

Wolverton Wolverton ( ) is a constituent town of Milton Keynes Milton Keynes ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in Buckinghamshire, England, about north-west of London. At the 2021 Census, the population of Milton Keynes urban ar ...

Unincorporated communities

* Brushvale * Childs * Everdell * Lawndale * McCauleyville * Tenney

Townships

Akron Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...

Andrea Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that re ...

* Atherton *

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

* Brandrup * Breckenridge * Campbell *

Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world champi ...

* Connelly * Deerhorn * Foxhome * Manston * McCauleyville *

Meadows A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable condition ...

* Mitchell * Nilsen * Nordick * Prairie View * Roberts * Sunnyside * Tanberg *

Politics

Wilkin County voters have traditionally voted Republican. In no national election since 1976 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate (as of 2024).

References

External links

Wilkin County government’s website
{{authority control Minnesota counties Wahpeton micropolitan area 1868 establishments in Minnesota Populated places established in 1868