Roseau County, Minnesota

For other uses, see Roseau (disambiguation).

Roseau County, Minnesota
Location in the state of Minnesota
Minnesota's location in the U.S.
Founded	December 31, 1894 [1]
Named for	Roseau Lake and Roseau River
Seat	Roseau
Largest city	Roseau
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	1,678.33 sq mi (4,347 km²) 1,662.51 sq mi (4,306 km²) 15.82 sq mi (41 km²), 0.94%
PopulationEst.  - (2011)  - Density	15,540 10/sq mi (4/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.co.roseau.mn.us

Roseau County is a county located in the state of Minnesota, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 15,629. Its county seat is Roseau. It is south from the Canadian border of Manitoba.

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 1,678.33 square miles (4,346.9 km²), of which 1,662.51 square miles (4,305.9 km²) (or 99.06%) is land and 15.82 square miles (41.0 km²) (or 0.94%) is water.

Major highways

Minnesota State Highway 11 Minnesota State Highway 32 Minnesota State Highway 89 Minnesota State Highway 308

Minnesota State Highway 310 Minnesota State Highway 313

Adjacent counties and rural municipalities

• Rural Municipality of Stuartburn Manitoba (northwest)
• Rural Municipality of Piney Manitoba (north)
• Lake of the Woods County (east)
• Beltrami County (southeast)
• Marshall County (south)
• Kittson County (west)

History

Roseau County was once the home of many Chippewa, Sioux, and Mandan tribes. Archeologists have found artifacts within the county belonging to these tribes that date back 7,200 years ago.

Facts

• Lutefisk was sent through the mail, often having to be stored in the Post Office until settlers would come to pick it up.
• The first general election was held in 1888. 55 votes were polled and all but three were Republican.
• The county sent men to war in every war the United States has been involved in, starting with the Spanish-American War in 1898.
• There were eight newspapers in the county in 1907.
• There were 139 automobiles in the county in 1915.
• A 400 pound sturgeon was taken from the Roseau River and had to be hauled up the river bank by a team of horses.
• The Roseau Lake was drained in the early 1900s because of a flood control project headed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, but at one time it had a recorded depth of 50 feet deep. The lake remains drained today but does re-flood during a wet season when the Roseau River floods.

Information obtained from the Official City of Roseau History website.

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1900	6,994		—
1910	11,338		62.1%
1920	13,305		17.3%
1930	12,621		−5.1%
1940	15,103		19.7%
1950	14,505		−4.0%
1960	12,154		−16.2%
1970	11,569		−4.8%
1980	12,574		8.7%
1990	15,026		19.5%
2000	16,338		8.7%
2010	15,629		−4.3%
Est. 2011	15,540		−0.6%
U.S. Decennial Census 2011 estimate

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

As of the census of 2000, there were 16,338 people, 6,190 households, and 4,438 families residing in the county. The population density was 10 people per square mile (4/km²). There were 7,101 housing units at an average density of 4 per square mile (2/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 95.92% White, 0.13% Black or African American, 1.42% Native American, 1.73% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.08% from other races, and 0.70% from two or more races. 0.43% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 41.0% were of Norwegian, 18.8% German and 10.7% Swedish ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 6,190 households out of which 38.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.00% were married couples living together, 6.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.30% were non-families. 24.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.60 and the average family size was 3.11.

In the county the population was spread out with 29.80% under the age of 18, 6.80% from 18 to 24, 29.90% from 25 to 44, 20.80% from 45 to 64, and 12.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 105.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.00 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $39,852, and the median income for a family was $46,185. Males had a median income of $29,747 versus $23,630 for females. The per capita income for the county was $17,053. About 4.60% of families and 6.60% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.50% of those under age 18 and 12.20% of those age 65 or over.

One of the airports in the county is Piney Pinecreek Border Airport, which extends into Canada.

Cities and towns

Cities	Townships		Unorganized	Unincorporated
Badger Greenbush Roosevelt † Roseau Strathcona Warroad	Barnett Township Barto Township Beaver Township Cedarbend Township Deer Township Dewey Township Dieter Township Enstrom Township Falun Township Golden Valley Township Grimstad Township Hereim Township Huss Township Jadis Township Lake Township Laona Township Lind Township	Malung Township Mickinock Township Moose Township Moranville Township Nereson Township Palmville Township Pohlitz Township Polonia Township Poplar Grove Township Reine Township Ross Township Skagen Township Soler Township Spruce Township Stafford Township Stokes Township	Southeast Roseau North Roseau Northwest Roseau	Pinecreek Swift Winner

† A small part of Roosevelt extends into Lake of the Woods County.

Politics

Election results from statewide races
Year	Office	GOP	DEM	Others
2008	President	57.6%	40.2%	2.2%
	Senator	57.5%	31.7%	10.8%
2006	Governor	56.2%	38.8%	5.0%
	Senator	46.7%	49.4%	3.9%
2004	President	67.7%	30.9%	1.4%
2002	Governor	49.7%	42.5%	7.8%
	Senator	55.7%	40.8%	3.5%
2000	President	65.5%	29.7%	4.8%
	Senator	43.3%	48.8%	7.9%
1998	Governor	49.8%	31.2%	19.0%
1996	President	43.2%	39.9%	16.9%
	Senator	54.6%	40.9%	4.5%
1994	Governor	59.8%	37.6%	2.6%
	Senator	59.1%	36.6%	4.3%
1992	President	38.3%	32.2%	29.5%

When it comes to presidential elections, this county is the most reliable Republican county in the state. Here was John McCain's and George W. Bush's best performances in the state. Bush won here with over 65% of the vote twice. This was also won of the few counties in the state that George H. W. Bush won in 1992 and Bob Dole in 1996.

When it comes to Senate and Governor elections, it's not as reliable to the Republican Party. The Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party has won two senatorial elections here since 1992. Although, independents don't perform here as well as the rest of the state. In 1998, Norm Coleman's best performance in the state was here where he won with almost 50% of the vote.

See also

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

External links

• Official Roseau County website