Golden Valley County, North Dakota

Golden Valley County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,736, and was estimated to be 1,808 in 2025,

The county should not be confused with the city of Golden Valley, which is located in Mercer County.

History

In the general election held November 8, 1910, the voters of Billings County chose to separate the western portion of Billings and form a new county. This result was immediately challenged in court; on September 19, 1912, the ND Supreme Court upheld the election result; therefore the legislature completed the county's organization on November 13, 1912.

Golden Valley was called 'Rattlesnake Flats' by early settlers, due to the large number of the snakes found in the area. The region was dubbed Golden Valley in 1902 after a group of land surveyors noticed that the sunlight gave the surrounding grasses a distinct golden color.

Election controversy

The vote in 1910 to create Golden Valley County was 837 for and 756 against. Shortly after the vote was certified, suit was filed against the Billings County Commission to overturn the result. The plaintiffs alleged that the certification of election was improper, and that certain pre-marked "unofficial" ballots printed by supporters of the new county were cast in place of official ballots, and should be voided. The trial court originally ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. The county appealed to the North Dakota Supreme Court, which upheld the county's certification of the election. The court also ruled the pre-marked ballots were invalid, but that the number of invalid votes was not sufficient to overturn the election results. The court's decision upholding the new county was made on September 19, 1912, and Golden Valley was formally organized on November 13, 1912.

thumb|Outline map of Golden Valley County, North Dakota, 1919

Geography

Golden Valley County lies on the west line of North Dakota. Its west boundary line abuts the east boundary line of the state of Montana. Beaver Creek flows east-northeastward through the upper portion of the county, and Little Missouri River flows northeastward through the southeastern corner of the county, with gullies flowing southeastward draining the lower county into the Little Mo River. The county terrain consists of semi-arid hills, dedicated to agriculture in the level areas. The terrain slopes to the east and north, with its highest point on hills at the southwestern corner at ASL.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.16%) is water. It is the 38th largest county in North Dakota by total area.

Major highways

25px Interstate 94
25px North Dakota Highway 16

Adjacent counties

McKenzie County (north)
Billings County (east)
Slope County (south)
Fallon County, Montana (southwest)
Wibaux County, Montana (west)

National protected area

Little Missouri National Grassland (part)

Lakes

Source:

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

As of the 2023 American Community Survey, there are 663 estimated households in Golden Valley County with an average of 2.48 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $76,528. Approximately 11.7% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Golden Valley County has an estimated 59.3% employment rate, with 18.0% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 96.6% holding a high school diploma.

The top five reported ancestries (people were allowed to report up to two ancestries, thus the figures will generally add to more than 100%) were English (98.7%), Spanish (0.5%), Indo-European (0.2%), Asian and Pacific Islander (0.6%), and Other (0.0%).

Golden Valley County, North Dakota – racial and ethnic composition

{| class="wikitable sortable collapsible" style="font-size: 95%;"

! Race / ethnicity (NH = non-Hispanic)

! Pop. 1980 !! Pop. 1990 !! Pop. 2000 !! Pop. 2010 !!

| White alone (NH)

| 2,377 (99.41%) || 2,087 (99.00%) || 1,870 (97.19%) || 1,613 (96.01%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |1,600 (92.17%)

| Black or African American alone (NH)

| 2 (0.08%) || 0 (0.00%) || 0 (0.00%) || 9 (0.54%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |5 (0.29%)

| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

| 6 (0.25%) || 12 (0.57%) || 12 (0.62%) || 10 (0.60%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |12 (0.69%)

| Asian alone (NH)

| 0 (0.00%) || 8 (0.38%) || 2 (0.10%) || 1 (0.06%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |1 (0.06%)

| Pacific Islander alone (NH)

| — || — || 0 (0.00%) || 1 (0.06%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |1 (0.06%)

| Other race alone (NH)

| 3 (0.13%) || 0 (0.00%) || 0 (0.00%) || 0 (0.00%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |4 (0.23%)

| Mixed race or multiracial (NH)

| — || — || 20 (1.04%) || 11 (0.65%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |65 (3.74%)

| Hispanic or Latino (any race)

| 3 (0.13%) || 1 (0.05%) || 20 (1.04%) || 35 (2.08%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |48 (2.76%)

| Total

| 2,391 (100.00%) || 2,108 (100.00%) || 1,924 (100.00%) || 1,680 (100.00%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |1,736 (100.00%)

2024 estimate

As of the 2024 estimate, there were 1,795 people and 663 households residing in the county. There were 911 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 95.4% White (91.5% NH White), 0.9% African American, 1.3% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, _% from some other races and 2.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 4.5% of the population.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, there were 1,736 people, 721 households, and 445 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 899 housing units at an average density of .

Of the residents, 26.6% were under the age of 18 and 22.8% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 42.1 years. For every 100 females there were 106.7 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 104.2 males.

The racial makeup of the county was 93.3% White, 0.3% African American, 0.7% Native American, 0.1% Asian, 0.3% from some other race, and 5.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 2.8% of the population.

There were 721 households, of which 26.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 21.5% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 34.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Education

School districts include:

Beach Public School District 3
Lonetree Public School District 6

Notable people

Ernest Viggo Almquist, commercial artist
Arthur C. Townley, founder of the North Dakota Nonpartisan League.