Washington County, Minnesota

For counties with a similar name, see Washington County (disambiguation).

Washington County, Minnesota
Location in the state of Minnesota
Minnesota's location in the U.S.
Founded	October 27, 1849 [2]
Named for	U.S. President George Washington
Seat	Stillwater
Largest city	Woodbury
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	423.16 sq mi (1,096 km²) 391.70 sq mi (1,014 km²) 31.46 sq mi (81 km²), 7.43%
PopulationEst.  - (2012)  - Density	244,088 577.7/sq mi (222.8/km²)
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.co.washington.mn.us

Washington County is a county established in 1849 in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2010 census, the population was 238,136. Its county seat is Stillwater.

History

Washington County was one of the nine original counties created when the Minnesota Territory was organized in 1849. The county was officially established October 27, 1849, named after George Washington.

A view of the forested St. Croix River valley, looking south towards Afton

Early development in the area was on the St. Croix River, which now forms the boundary with Wisconsin on the county's eastern side. The river not only provided a means of transportation to move people upstream, but also move logs downstream. The area was heavily forested and the early economy was dependent on the logging and lumber industries.

The first settlement and seat was named Dacotah, and was located as early as 1838 in what is now northern Stillwater, where Brown's Creek flows into the St. Croix River. The creek's name is from the founder of this settlement, Joseph Renshaw Brown. However, a sawmill was built at Marine-on-St.-Croix in 1839, and another was built in the current location of downtown Stillwater in 1844. The success of these soon attracted the settlers from Dacotah, and Stillwater became the county seat in 1846.

During this early period, the region was part of the Wisconsin Territory, but Wisconsin became a state in 1848. Brown and other leaders called together settlers in this now-ungoverned territory to what has become known as the "Stillwater Convention" on August 26, 1848. Held in John McKusick’s store, the settlers drafted a Memorial to Congress that a new territory be created with the name “Minnesota,” and elected Henry Hastings Sibley to deliver this citizen’s petition to the U.S. Congress. Because of this convention, Stillwater calls itself the “Birthplace of Minnesota.”

After officially becoming a territory, growth continued, with the first Sheriff of Washington County appointed by Governor Alexander Ramsey in 1849, and the county's school district founded in 1850.

After the forests were depleted, the economy of Washington County became primarily agricultural. With the growth of neighboring Ramsey County and St. Paul, some of Washington County developed based on tourism and recreation, as with Mahtomedi and Landfall. Late in the 20th century, the population greatly increased with the suburban expansion of St. Paul.

Geography

According to the 2000 census, the county has a total area of 423.16 square miles (1,096.0 km²), of which 391.70 square miles (1,014.5 km²) (or 92.57%) is land and 31.46 square miles (81.5 km²) (or 7.43%) is water.

Major highways

Interstate 35 Interstate 94 Interstate 494 Interstate 694 U.S. Highway 8 U.S. Highway 10 U.S. Highway 12 U.S. Highway 61

Minnesota State Highway 5 Minnesota State Highway 36 Minnesota State Highway 95 Minnesota State Highway 96 Minnesota State Highway 97 Minnesota State Highway 120 Minnesota State Highway 244

Adjacent counties

• Chisago County (north)
• Polk County, Wisconsin (northeast)
• St. Croix County, Wisconsin (east)
• Pierce County, Wisconsin (southeast)
• Dakota County (southwest)
• Ramsey County (west)
• Anoka County (northwest)

National protected areas

• Mississippi National River and Recreation Area (part)
• Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway (part)

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1850	1,056		—
1860	6,123		479.8%
1870	11,809		92.9%
1880	19,563		65.7%
1890	25,992		32.9%
1900	27,808		7.0%
1910	26,013		−6.5%
1920	23,761		−8.7%
1930	24,753		4.2%
1940	26,430		6.8%
1950	34,544		30.7%
1960	52,432		51.8%
1970	83,003		58.3%
1980	113,571		36.8%
1990	145,896		28.5%
2000	201,130		37.9%
2010	238,136		18.4%
Est. 2012	244,088		2.5%
U.S. Decennial Census 2012 Estimate

As of the census of 2000, there were 201,130 people, 71,462 households, and 54,668 families residing in the county. The population density was 514 people per square mile (198/km²). There were 73,635 housing units at an average density of 188 per square mile (73/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 93.63% White, 1.83% Black or African American, 0.39% Native American, 2.14% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.60% from other races, and 1.37% from two or more races. 1.94% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 32.7% were of German, 11.1% Norwegian, 9.8% Irish and 7.5% Swedish ancestry according to the 2000 census.

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

There were 71,462 households out of which 41.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.80% were married couples living together, 8.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.50% were non-families. 18.70% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.19.

In the county the population was spread out with 29.40% under the age of 18, 6.80% from 18 to 24, 32.90% from 25 to 44, 23.20% from 45 to 64, and 7.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 98.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.80 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $66,305, and the median income for a family was $74,576 (these figures had risen to $78,067 and $90,867 respectively as of a 2007 estimate). Males had a median income of $49,815 versus $33,804 for females. The per capita income for the county was $28,148. About 2.00% of families and 2.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.50% of those under age 18 and 4.10% of those age 65 or over.

Superfund sites and environmental damage

Washington County has had three locations listed as Environmental Protection Agency Superfund sites due to soil and groundwater contamination. The Baytown Township Ground Water Plume and the Oakdale Dump are currently listed, while the Washington County Landfill was cleaned up and removed from the Superfund list in 1996.

Communities

Washington County Courthouse

Cities		Townships	Unincorporated communities	Ghost towns
Afton Bayport Birchwood Village Cottage Grove Dellwood Forest Lake Grant Hastings † Hugo Lake Elmo Lake St. Croix Beach Lakeland Shores Lakeland	Landfall Mahtomedi Marine on St. Croix Newport Oak Park Heights Oakdale Pine Springs Scandia St. Marys Point St. Paul Park Stillwater Willernie White Bear Lake ‡ Woodbury	Baytown Denmark Grey Cloud Island May Stillwater West Lakeland	Arcola	Garen Point Douglas

† Hastings is the county seat of Dakota County, but a small part extends into Washington County.
‡ mostly in Ramsey County; a small part extends into Washington County.

Points of interest

• Afton State Park
• Afton Alps Ski Area
• Gateway State Trail
• William O'Brien State Park

Regional (County) Parks

• Big Marine Park Reserve
• Cottage Grove Ravine Regional Park
• Lake Elmo Park Reserve
• Pine Point Park
• Point Douglas Park
• St. Croix Bluffs Regional Park
• Square Lake County Park

Records

Presidential Election Results 1960–2012

Year	Democrat	Republican
2012	49.39% 70,203	48.64% 69,137
2008	51.3% 70,277	46.9% 64,334
2004	47.8% 61,395	51.2% 65,751
2000	46.4% 49,637	48.1% 51,502
1996	51.2% 45,119	35.5% 31,219
1992	41.9% 35,820	31.1% 26,568
1988	52.6% 34,952	46.5% 30,850
1984	49.2% 28,527	50.1% 29,046
1980	46.7% 25,634	41.4% 22,718
1976	54.5% 26,454	42.6% 20,716
1972	44.6% 16,102	53.0% 19,142
1968	56.8% 16,449	37.7% 10,921
1964	67.0% 18,108	32.8% 8,850
1960	51.3% 11,870	48.4% 11,202

Washington County records are available for research use. They include school records, Welfare Board records, County Auditor records, Probate Court files, Stillwater Municipal Court files, birth and death records, marriage, naturalization, deed records, and agency histories.

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Washington County, Minnesota
• List of Superfund sites in Minnesota

External links

• Washington County government’s website
• Washington County, Minnesota at the Open Directory Project
• Baytown Township Groundwater Plume EPA Factsheet
• Oakdale Dump EPA Factsheet
• Washington County Landfill EPA Factsheet