Cass County, Minnesota

Cass County, Minnesota
Location in the state of Minnesota
Minnesota's location in the U.S.
Founded	September 1, 1851 [1]
Named for	Lewis Cass, an explorer in the area and held various positions in government.
Seat	Walker
Largest city	East Gull Lake Lake Shore
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	2,414.21 sq mi (6,253 km²) 2,017.60 sq mi (5,226 km²) 396.61 sq mi (1,027 km²), 16.43%
Population  - (2010)  - Density	28,567 14/sq mi (5/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.co.cass.mn.us

Cass County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 28,567. Its county seat is Walker. A portion of the Leech Lake Indian Reservation is in the county.

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 2,414.21 square miles (6,252.8 km²), of which 2,017.60 square miles (5,225.6 km²) (or 83.57%) is land and 396.61 square miles (1,027.2 km²) (or 16.43%) is water.

Major highways

U.S. Highway 2 Minnesota State Highway 6 Minnesota State Highway 34 Minnesota State Highway 64 Minnesota State Highway 84

Minnesota State Highway 87 Minnesota State Highway 200 Minnesota State Highway 210 Minnesota State Highway 371

Adjacent counties

• Itasca County (northeast)
• Aitkin County (southeast)
• Crow Wing County (southeast, south)
• Morrison County (south)
• Todd County (southwest)
• Wadena County (west,southwest)
• Hubbard County (northwest)
• Beltrami County (northwest)

See also: List of counties bordering eight counties

National protected area

• Chippewa National Forest (part)

History

Cass County of 1851 (shown in pink) and today (shown in red)

Cass County was created on September 1, 1851 by the legislature of the Minnesota Territory. However, it was not formally organized until 1897. Cass County was formed from portions of Dakota, Mahkatah, Pembina and Wahnata Counties. The county was named in honor of Lewis Cass.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1860	150		—
1870	380		153.3%
1880	486		27.9%
1890	1,247		156.6%
1900	7,777		523.7%
1910	11,620		49.4%
1920	15,897		36.8%
1930	15,591		−1.9%
1940	20,646		32.4%
1950	19,468		−5.7%
1960	16,720		−14.1%
1970	17,323		3.6%
1980	21,050		21.5%
1990	21,791		3.5%
2000	27,150		24.6%
2010	28,567		5.2%
U.S. Decennial Census

As of the census of 2000, there were 27,150 people, 10,893 households, and 7,734 families residing in the county. The population density was 14 people per square mile (5/km²). There were 21,286 housing units at an average density of 11 per square mile (4/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 86.52% White, 0.11% Black or African American, 11.45% Native American, 0.28% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.14% from other races, and 1.47% from two or more races. 0.81% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 28.2% were of German, 15.0% Norwegian, 7.3% Swedish, 6.1% Irish and 6.1% American ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 10,893 households out of which 27.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.40% were married couples living together, 8.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.00% were non-families. 25.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.90.

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

In the county the population was spread out with 25.00% under the age of 18, 6.10% from 18 to 24, 23.00% from 25 to 44, 27.90% from 45 to 64, and 18.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 101.90 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.60 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $34,332, and the median income for a family was $40,156. Males had a median income of $30,097 versus $21,232 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,189. About 9.50% of families and 13.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.20% of those under age 18 and 13.30% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns

Cities	Townships		Unorganized	Unincorporated
Backus Bena Boy River Cass Lake Chickamaw Beach East Gull Lake Federal Dam Hackensack Lake Shore Longville Motley † Pillager Pine River Remer Walker	Ansel Township Barclay Township Becker Township Beulah Township Birch Lake Township Blind Lake Township Boy Lake Township Boy River Township Bull Moose Township Bungo Township Byron Township Crooked Lake Township Deerfield Township Fairview Township Gould Township Hiram Township Home Brook Township Inguadona Township Kego Township Leech Lake Township Lima Township Loon Lake Township Maple Township May Township McKinley Township	Meadow Brook Township Moose Lake Township Otter Tail Peninsula Township Pike Bay Township Pine Lake Township Pine River Township Ponto Lake Township Poplar Township Powers Township Remer Township Rogers Township Salem Township Shingobee Township Slater Township Smoky Hollow Township Sylvan Township Thunder Lake Township Torrey Township Trelipe Township Turtle Lake Township Wabedo Township Walden Township Wilkinson Township Wilson Township Woodrow Township	Wahnena North Cass North Central Cass East Cass	Ah-gwah-ching Brevik Bridgeman Casino Easterday Ellis Graff Inguadona Leader Leech Lake Mae Onigum Oshawa Outing Pontoria Raboin Schley Snowball Stoneybrook Tobique Whipholt Wilkinson

† Only a small part of Motley is in Cass County.

Climate and weather

Walker, Minnesota
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     0.7   18 0     0.6   25 5     1.4   36 18     2.2   52 32     3.3   66 44     4.1   74 54     4.1   79 59     3.4   76 57     3.5   66 48     2.8   52 36     1.3   35 21     0.9   21 6 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     18   -8 -18     16   -4 -15     36   2 -8     55   11 0     83   19 7     103   23 12     104   26 15     86   24 14     89   19 9     71   11 2     33   2 -6     22   -6 -14 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm

In recent years, average temperatures in the county seat of Walker have ranged from a low of 0 °F (−18 °C) in January to a high of 79 °F (26 °C) in July, although a record low of −44 °F (−42 °C) was recorded in February 1996 and a record high of 103 °F (39 °C) was recorded in August 1976. Average monthly precipitation ranged from 0.62 inches (16 mm) in February to 4.11 inches (104 mm) in July.

See also

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

External links

• Cass County government's website
• Minnesota Department of Transportation map of Cass County (southern portion, west central portion, east central portion, northern portion)