Cavalier County, North Dakota

Cavalier County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. It is south of the Canada–US border with Manitoba. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,704, and was estimated to be 3,497 in 2025.

There is also a city named Cavalier but it is not located in Cavalier County. The city of Cavalier is the county seat of Pembina County, which is east of Cavalier County.

History

The Dakota Territory legislature created Cavalier County on January 4, 1873, with territory annexed from Pembina County, but did not organize the county government structure at the time. It was named for Charles Cavileer (or Cavalier) of Pembina, an early settler. The county was organized on July 8, 1884. Its boundaries were altered in 1883 and in 1887.

After petitioning the Territorial Governor for permission to organize the county, Patrick McHugh, W. Hudson Matthews, and L.C. Noracong met on July 8, 1884. On July 26 the new county officials met for the second time and chose Noracong as chairman of the board with William H. Doyle and Matthews as Commissioners. The first Register of Deeds and County Clerk was McHugh. W.J. Mooney became the first Judge of Probate, Charles B. Nelson was the first Cavalier County Supt. of Schools, and Clarence Hawkes the first sheriff. Cavalier took its current form in 1887 after the Territorial Legislature authorized an increase in size by taking a portion from Pembina County. The expansion added 15 new townships to the county.

The first courthouse was built in 1884 at a cost of $360.00. It was used briefly and then abandoned for warmer and more centrally located quarters in a downtown bank. A large brick courthouse was built in 1895 on the present site, the contract cost was $9,099.00. The building served county officials until a courthouse was constructed in 1957–58.

Cavalier County Historical Society

Established after 1969 - The Holy Trinity Church at Dresden, North Dakota became the cornerstone of the County Museum. It now houses local historic artifacts and landmarks.

The Holy Trinity Church at Dresden replaced two previous wooden structures that both burned. The present structure was erected in 1936, built out of fieldstone collected by the local parishioners. Fabian Redmond, a Minneapolis architect designed the building. A stonemason from Rugby, North Dakota, Edroy Patterson, directed volunteer workers. Assisting in the building of the church were Andrew Bachman-head carpenter, Alphonse Hiltner, Stanley Koehmstedt and William Geisen.

Geography

Cavalier County is located on the north edge of North Dakota. Its north boundary line abuts the south boundary line of Canada. The Pembina River enters from Manitoba and flows southeasterly through the eastern part of the county, exiting near the southeast corner. The county terrain consists of rolling hills, dotted with lakes and ponds in the western part. The terrain slopes to the east, with its highest point near the midpoint of the south boundary line at ASL.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.37%) is water. It is the 16th largest county in North Dakota by total area.

Major highways

25px North Dakota Highway 1
25px North Dakota Highway 5
25px North Dakota Highway 20
25px North Dakota Highway 66

Adjacent counties and rural municipalities

Municipality of Louise, Manitoba (north)
Municipality of Pembina, Manitoba (north)
Rural Municipality of Stanley, Manitoba (north)
Pembina County (east)
Walsh County (southeast)
Ramsey County (south)
Towner County (west)

Lakes

Rush Lake

| align-fn = center

| footnote = U.S. Decennial Census 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010–2020 !! Pop. 1990 !! Pop. 2000 !! Pop. 2010 !!

| White alone (NH)

| 7,572 (99.16%) || 6,004 (99.01%) || 4,720 (97.70%) || 3,890 (97.42%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |3,485 (94.09%)

| Black or African American alone (NH)

| 1 (0.01%) || 4 (0.07%) || 6 (0.12%) || 4 (0.10%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |2 (0.05%)

| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

| 38 (0.50%) || 45 (0.74%) || 25 (0.52%) || 35 (0.88%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |28 (0.76%)

| Asian alone (NH)

| 6 (0.08%) || 3 (0.05%) || 4 (0.08%) || 9 (0.23%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |16 (0.43%)

| Pacific Islander alone (NH)

| — || — || 0 (0.00%) || 1 (0.03%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |0 (0.00%)

| Other race alone (NH)

| 3 (0.04%) || 0 (0.00%) || 2 (0.04%) || 1 (0.03%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |15 (0.40%)

| Mixed race or multiracial (NH)

| — || — || 43 (0.89%) || 29 (0.73%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |113 (3.05%)

| Hispanic or Latino (any race)

| 16 (0.21%) || 8 (0.13%) || 31 (0.64%) || 24 (0.60%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |45 (1.21%)

| Total

| 7,636 (100.00%) || 6,064 (100.00%) || 4,831 (100.00%) || 3,993 (100.00%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |3,704 (100.00%)

2024 estimate

As of the fourth quarter of 2024, the median home value in Cavalier County was $129,584. As of the 2023 American Community Survey, there are 1,539 estimated households in Cavalier County with an average of 2.32 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $67,064. Approximately 9.2% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Cavalier County has an estimated 60.4% employment rate, with 22.2% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 93.1% holding a high school diploma.

As of the 2024 estimate, there were 3,567 people and 1,539 households residing in the county. There were 2,106 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 95.0% White (92.8% NH White), 0.7% African American, 2.0% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 0.0% Pacific Islander, _% from some other races and 1.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 2.5% of the population.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 3,704 people, 1,661 households, and 1,034 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 2,097 housing units at an average density of .

Of the residents, 22.1% were under the age of 18 and 26.6% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 48.1 years. For every 100 females there were 106.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 106.5 males.

The racial makeup of the county was 94.6% White, 0.1% Black or African American, 0.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% Asian, 0.6% from some other race, and 3.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 1.2% of the population.

There were 1,661 households in the county, of which 24.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 18.5% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 32.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

External links

Cavalier County – official website
Cavalier County Museum
History of Olga, North Dakota and Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church : 1882-1982 (dead link) from the Digital Horizons website
Cavalier County maps, Sheet 1 (eastern) and Sheet 2 (western), North Dakota DOT