Hennepin County, Minnesota

Hennepin County, Minnesota
Seal
Location in the state of Minnesota
Minnesota's location in the U.S.
Founded	March 6, 1852 [1]
Named for	Louis Hennepin, a Franciscan missionary, explorer, and author.
Seat	Minneapolis
Largest city	Minneapolis
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	606.38 sq mi (1,571 km²) 556.62 sq mi (1,442 km²) 49.77 sq mi (129 km²), 8.21%
Population  - (2010)  - Density	1,152,425 2,048/sq mi (774/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.hennepin.us

Hennepin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota, named in honor of the 17th-century explorer Father Louis Hennepin. As of 2010 the population was 1,152,425. Its county seat is Minneapolis. It is by far the most populous county in Minnesota; more than one in five Minnesotans live in Hennepin County. The center of population of Minnesota is located in Hennepin County, in the city of Rogers.

History

Hennepin County was created in 1852 by the Minnesota Territorial Legislature. Father Louis Hennepin's name was chosen because he originally named St. Anthony Falls and recorded some of the earliest accounts of the area for the Western world. Hennepin County's early history is closely linked to the establishment of the cities of Minneapolis and St. Anthony.

Law and government

Hennepin County Government Center located in the county seat of Minneapolis. Its stylized letter "H" shape serves as the logo for Hennepin County.

Like all counties in Minnesota, Hennepin is governed by an elected and nonpartisan board of commissioners. In Minnesota, county commissions usually have five members, but Hennepin, Ramsey, and St Louis counties have seven members. Each commissioner represents a district of equal population. In Hennepin the county commission appoints the medical examiner, county auditor-treasurer and county recorder. The sheriff and county attorney are also elected on a nonpartisan ticket. The county government's headquarters are in downtown Minneapolis in the Hennepin County Government Center. The county oversees the Hennepin County Library system (which merged with the Minneapolis Public Library system in 2008), and Hennepin County Medical Center.

The county commission elects a chair who presides at meetings. Commissioners as of May 2011

District	Commissioner	In office since	Current term expires in January
1st	Mike Opat (chair)	1993	2015
2nd	Mark Stenglein	1997	2015
3rd	Gail Dorfman	1999	2015
4th	Peter McLaughlin	1991	2015
5th	Randy Johnson	1979	2013
6th	Jan Callison	2009	2013
7th	Jeff Johnson	2009	2013

Key staff

Hennepin County's normal operations are coordinated by the County Administrator Richard Johnson, Deputy County Administrator David Hough, Assistant County Administrator for Human Services and Public Health Dan Engstrom, and Assistant County Administrator for Public Works Marthand Nookala.

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 606.38 square miles (1,570.5 km²), of which 556.62 square miles (1,441.6 km²) (or 91.79%) is land and 49.77 square miles (128.9 km²) (or 8.21%) is water. The highest waterfall on the Mississippi River, the Saint Anthony Falls, discovered by Louis Hennepin, is in Hennepin County next to downtown Minneapolis, but in the 19th century, the falls were converted to a series of dams. Barges and boats now pass through locks to move between the parts of the river above and below the dams.

Major highways

Interstate 35W Interstate 94 Interstate 394 Interstate 494 Interstate 694 U.S. Highway 12 U.S. Highway 52 U.S. Highway 169 U.S. Highway 212 Minnesota State Highway 5 Minnesota State Highway 7 Minnesota State Highway 47

Minnesota State Highway 55 Minnesota State Highway 62 Minnesota State Highway 65 Minnesota State Highway 77 Minnesota State Highway 100 Minnesota State Highway 101 Minnesota State Highway 121 Minnesota State Highway 312 Minnesota State Highway 252 Minnesota State Highway 280 Minnesota State Highway 610

Adjacent counties

• Anoka County (northeast)
• Ramsey County (east)
• Dakota County (southeast)
• Scott County (south)
• Carver County (southwest)
• Wright County (northwest)

National protected areas

• Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge (part)
• Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (part)

Economy

Hennepin County has major economic centers in downtown Minneapolis and Bloomington.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1860	12,849		—
1870	31,566		145.7%
1880	67,013		112.3%
1890	185,294		176.5%
1900	228,340		23.2%
1910	333,480		46.0%
1920	415,419		24.6%
1930	517,785		24.6%
1940	568,899		9.9%
1950	676,579		18.9%
1960	842,854		24.6%
1970	960,080		13.9%
1980	941,411		−1.9%
1990	1,032,431		9.7%
2000	1,116,200		8.1%
2010	1,152,425		3.2%
U.S. Decennial Census

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

Located across the street from the Government Center, the Hennepin County Public Safety Facility serves as the county jail

As of the census² of 2000, there were 1,116,200 people, 456,129 households, and 267,291 families residing in the county. The population density was 774/km² (2,005/mi²). There were 468,824 housing units at an average density of 325/km² (842/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 80.53% White, 8.95% Black or African American, 1.00% Native American, 4.80% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 2.06% from other races, and 2.60% from two or more races. 4.07% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 22.8% were of German, 12.0% Norwegian, 7.6% Irish and 7.2% Swedish ancestry according to Census 2000. There were 456,129 households out of which 28.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.30% were married couples living together, 9.90% had a female householder with no husband present, and 41.40% were non-families. 31.80% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.07.

In the county the population was spread out with 24.00% under the age of 18, 9.70% from 18 to 24, 33.70% from 25 to 44, 21.70% from 45 to 64, and 11.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 97.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.70 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $51,711, and the median income for a family was $65,985 (these figures had risen to $60,115 and $79,970 respectively as of a 2007 estimate). Males had a median income of $42,466 versus $32,400 for females. The per capita income for the county was $28,789. About 5.00% of families and 8.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.50% of those under age 18 and 5.90% of those age 65 or over.

Hennepin County is the wealthiest county in the state of Minnesota and one of the 100 Highest-income counties in the United States.

Foreign languages spoken by major immigrant groups in Hennepin County include Arabic, Hmong, Khmer, Lao, Russian, Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese.

Cities and towns

Cities		Townships	Unorganized
Bloomington Brooklyn Center Brooklyn Park Champlin Chanhassen‡ Corcoran Crystal Dayton† Deephaven Eden Prairie Edina Excelsior Golden Valley Greenfield Greenwood Hanover‡ Hopkins Independence Long Lake Loretto Maple Grove Maple Plain	Medicine Lake Medina Minneapolis Minnetonka Minnetonka Beach Minnetrista Mound New Hope Orono Osseo Plymouth Richfield Robbinsdale Rockford‡ Rogers Shorewood Spring Park St. Anthony Village† St. Bonifacius St. Louis Park Tonka Bay Wayzata Woodland	Hassan Township	Fort Snelling

† While mostly in Hennepin County, the city extends beyond the county border.
‡ Located in another county, but a part of the city extends into Hennepin County.

Colleges and universities

• Augsburg College in Minneapolis
• Dunwoody College of Technology in downtown Minneapolis
• Hennepin Technical College in Brooklyn Park and Eden Prairie
• Metropolitan State University in downtown Minneapolis
• Minneapolis College of Art and Design in Minneapolis
• Minneapolis Community and Technical College in downtown Minneapolis
• Minnesota State University, Mankato at 7700 France, Edina
• Normandale Community College in Bloomington
• North Central University in downtown Minneapolis
• North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park
• Northwestern Health Sciences University in Bloomington
• University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Campus in Minneapolis
• University of St. Thomas Minneapolis Campus in downtown Minneapolis

Miscellaneous topics

Target Field

In August 2006, the Board voted 4–3 to levy a 0.15% sales tax within the county to fund the majority of the cost for a baseball stadium for the Minnesota Twins. Legislation passed by the Minnesota Legislature in the waning hours of the 2005-2006 session, and signed by Governor Tim Pawlenty, authorized the county to levy the tax without a voter referendum. It also created the Minnesota Ballpark Authority which constructed and manages the stadium on behalf of the county. The tax will be in effect for 30 years, with clauses allowing it to be increased by the board of commissioners. The stadium, Target Field, opened in April 2010.

See also

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

External links

• Hennepin County Government website
• Hennepin County Library website
• Bloomington Convention & Visitors Bureau

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