Aitkin County, Minnesota

Aitkin County, Minnesota
Location in the state of Minnesota
Minnesota's location in the U.S.
Founded	May 23, 1857 [1]
Named for	William Alexander Aitken, a fur trader with the Ojibway Indians.
Seat	Aitkin
Largest city	Aitkin
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	1,995.31 sq mi (5,168 km²) 1,819.30 sq mi (4,712 km²) 176.01 sq mi (456 km²), 8.82%
Population  - (2010)  - Density	16,202 8/sq mi (3/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.co.aitkin.mn.us

Aitkin County (pronunciation: /ˈeɪkɨn/ AY-kin) is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population is 16,202. Its county seat is Aitkin. A portion of the Mille Lacs Indian Reservation is in the county.

History

Aitkin County was established in 1857 as Aiken County and had a spelling change of its name to the current spelling in 1872. Aitkin County was named after William Alexander Aitken, a fur trader for the American Fur Company, under John Jacob Astor. Formed from Ramsey and Pine counties, Aiken County originally consisted of the 17 townships closest to Mille Lacs Lake. It acquired out-lands of Ramsey, Itasca and Pine Counties to its north and east. It was reorganized in 1871, taking up lands from Cass and Itasca Counties and losing a point located in the southwestern corner to Crow Wing County to form its current boundaries.

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 1,995.31 square miles (5,167.8 km²), of which 1,819.30 square miles (4,712.0 km²) (or 91.18%) is land and 176.01 square miles (455.9 km²) (or 8.82%) is water.

Major highways

U.S. Highway 169 Minnesota State Highway 18 Minnesota State Highway 47

Minnesota State Highway 65 Minnesota State Highway 200 Minnesota State Highway 210 Minnesota State Highway 232

Adjacent counties

• Itasca County (north)
• St. Louis County (northeast)
• Carlton County (east)
• Pine County (southeast)
• Kanabec County (south)
• Mille Lacs County (south)
• Crow Wing County (southwest)
• Cass County (northwest)

See also: List of counties bordering eight counties

National protected area

• Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Climate and weather

Aitkin, Minnesota
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     1   20 0     0.8   26 4     1.7   38 16     2.6   54 30     3.1   66 40     4.5   75 51     4.2   80 56     3.2   77 53     3.3   68 45     2.9   55 34     1.6   38 21     1   24 7 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches Source: The Weather Channel
Metric conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     25   -7 -18     20   -3 -16     43   3 -9     66   12 -1     79   19 4     113   24 11     105   27 13     81   25 12     84   20 7     73   13 1     40   3 -6     26   -4 -14 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Aitkin have ranged from a low of 0 °F (−18 °C) in January to a high of 80 °F (27 °C) in July, although a record low of −47 °F (−44 °C) was recorded in January 1972 and a record high of 100 °F (38 °C) was recorded in August 1976. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 0.79 inches (20 mm) in February to 4.46 inches (113 mm) in June.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1860	2		—
1870	178		8,800.0%
1880	366		105.6%
1890	2,462		572.7%
1900	6,473		162.9%
1910	10,371		60.2%
1920	15,043		45.0%
1930	15,009		−0.2%
1940	17,865		19.0%
1950	14,327		−19.8%
1960	12,162		−15.1%
1970	11,403		−6.2%
1980	13,404		17.5%
1990	12,425		−7.3%
2000	15,301		23.1%
2010	16,202		5.9%
U.S. Decennial Census

Age pyramid of county residents based on 2000 U.S. census data.

As of the census of 2010, there were 16,202 people, 7,542 households, and 4,458 families residing in the county. The population density was 8.9 people per square mile (3/km²). There were 16,626 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile (3/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.6% White, 0.4% Black or African American, 2.4% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0% Pacific Islander, 0.16% from other races, and 1.3% from two or more races. 0.9% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 29.5% were of German, 14.3% Norwegian, 13.0% Swedish, 6.2% Irish, 5.3% United States or American and 5.2% Finnish ancestry.

There were 6,644 households out of which 22.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.50% were married couples living together, 6.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.90% were non-families. 28.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.00% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.76.

In the county the population was spread out with 20.90% under the age of 18, 5.50% from 18 to 24, 21.60% from 25 to 44, 29.10% from 45 to 64, and 23.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females there were 101.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.90 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $44,139, and the median income for a family was $58,290. Males had a median income of $51,604 versus $30,633 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,848. About 5.20% of families and 7.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.50% of those under age 18 and 11.00% of those age 65 or over.

On ePodunk : Aitkin County & Aitkin Cty. ancestry

Cities and towns

Aitkin County Courthouse

Cities	Townships		Unorganized	Unincorporated Communities
Aitkin Hill City McGrath McGregor Palisade Tamarack	Aitkin Township Ball Bluff Township Balsam Township Beaver Township Clark Township Cornish Township Farm Island Township Fleming Township Glen Township Haugen Township Hazelton Township Hill Lake Township Idun Township Jevne Township Kimberly Township Lakeside Township Lee Township Libby Township Logan Township Macville Township	Malmo Township McGregor Township Millward Township Morrison Township Nordland Township Pliny Township Rice River Township Salo Township Seavey Township Shamrock Township Spalding Township Spencer Township Turner Township Verdon Township Wagner Township Waukenabo Township Wealthwood Township White Pine Township Williams Township Workman Township	Davidson Jewett Northeast Aitkin Northwest Aitkin	Arthyde Ball Bluff Bennettville Cutler East Lake (Minisinaakwaang) Giese Glen Glory Haypoint Jacobson Kimberly Lake Minnewawa Lawler Libby	Malmo Nichols Pliny Rabey Red Top Ronald Rossburg Sandy Lake (Gaa-mitaawangaagamaag) Sheshabee Shovel Lake Swatara Thor Waukenabo Wealthwood

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Aitkin County, Minnesota

External links

• Aitkin County government’s website
• Minnesota Department of Transportation map of Aitkin County (southern portion, northern portion)