Goodhue County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 47,582. Its county seat is Red Wing. Nearly all of Prairie Island Indian Community is within the county.
Goodhue County comprises the Red Wing, MN Micropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI Combined Statistical Area.
History
The county was created on March 5, 1853, with territory partitioned from Wabasha County. It was named for James Madison Goodhue (1810–1852), who published the first newspaper in the territory, The Minnesota Pioneer.
The county was originally settled exclusively by "Yankee" settlers, meaning that they both came to Goodhue County either directly from the six New England states or from upstate New York, where they were born to parents who had moved to that region from the six New England states in the immediate aftermath of the American Revolution, and that they were descended from the English Puritans who emigrated to North America during the early 1600s. Because of the prevalence of New Englanders and New England transplants from upstate New York the county was said to have a "distinctly New England character". While this was true of many neighboring counties it was considered exceptionally true of Goodhue County. The New Englanders brought with them many of their New England values, including a love of education and fervent support of the abolitionist movement. When the New Englanders arrived, they laid out farms, established post routes, and built schools and government buildings out of locally available materials. The New Englanders and their descendants made up the great majority of Goodhue County's inhabitants until the late 19th and early 20th century, when immigrants from Germany and Norway began arriving in the Minnesota-Wisconsin border region in large numbers. There were small numbers of immigrants from Germany, Norway and Sweden during the first several decades of Goodhue County's history as well.
Hamline University, Minnesota's first college of higher learning, was started in Red Wing in 1854. It closed during the Civil War, and reopened in 1869 in Saint Paul.
The county was a leading producer of wheat during the mid-19th century, and for several years the county boasted the highest wheat production in the country. Fires at two of Red Wing's mills in the 1880s and developing railroad routes across Minnesota encouraged farmers from neighboring counties to begin sending their wheat to Minneapolis mills, reducing the county's importance in the wheat trade around the start of the 20th century.
The first municipal swimming pool in the state was built in Goodhue County.
In October 1960, President Dwight D. Eisenhower visited the county for a bridge dedication ceremony. The Hiawatha Bridge had been built to replace the Old High Bridge that spanned the Mississippi River since 1895. This visit drew 20,000 people. Eisenhower hoped his visit would help in the elections, swaying Minnesota voters to vote for Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election in the coming month. But John F. Kennedy carried the state on his way to being elected the next president.
thumb|upright=1.25|Soils of Goodhue County thumb|upright=1.25|Soils of Warsaw WMA area
Geography
thumb|Rural Goodhue County from [[U.S. Route 61/63]]
Goodhue County lies on Minnesota's border with Wisconsin (across Lake Pepin). The Cannon River flows eastward through the northern part of the county on its way to discharge into Lake Pepin. The Little Cannon River flows northward through the west-central part of the county, discharging into the Cannon River at Cannon Falls. The North Fork of the Zumbro River flows eastward through the lower part of the county. The county terrain consists of rolling hills, etched with drainages and gullies, and with high bluffs against the river valleys. The terrain slopes to the east and north; its highest point is near its southwest corner at ASL. The county has an area of , of which is land and (3.0%) is water. Goodhue is one of 17 Minnesota counties with more savanna soils than either prairie or forest soils.
Lakes
Source:
| align-fn = center
| footnote = U.S. Decennial Census<br/>1790-1960 1900-1990<br/>1990-2000 2010-2020
!Pop 1990
!Pop 2000
!Pop 2010
!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" | Pop 2020
!% 1980
!% 1990
!% 2000
!% 2010
!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020
|-
|White alone (NH)
|38,223
|39,982
|42,405
|43,027
|style='background: #ffffe6; |42,516
|98.64%
|98.26%
|96.10%
|93.17%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |89.35%
|-
|Black or African American alone (NH)
|44
|81
|273
|429
|style='background: #ffffe6; |661
|0.11%
|0.20%
|0.62%
|0.93%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.39%
|-
|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)
|185
|268
|412
|474
|style='background: #ffffe6; |540
|0.48%
|0.66%
|0.93%
|1.03%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.13%
|-
|Asian alone (NH)
|151
|176
|250
|271
|style='background: #ffffe6; |348
|0.39%
|0.43%
|0.57%
|0.59%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.73%
|-
|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)
|x
|x
|12
|17
|style='background: #ffffe6; |33
|x
|x
|0.03%
|0.04%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.07%
|-
|Other race alone (NH)
|19
|10
|27
|20
|style='background: #ffffe6; |155
|0.05%
|0.02%
|0.06%
|0.04%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.33%
|-
|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)
|x
|x
|275
|603
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,532
|x
|x
|0.62%
|1.31%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.22%
|-
|Hispanic or Latino (any race)
|127
|173
|473
|1,342
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,797
|0.33%
|0.43%
|1.07%
|2.91%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.78%
|-
|Total
|38,749
|40,690
|44,127
|46,183
|style='background: #ffffe6; |47,582
|100.00%
|100.00%
|100.00%
|100.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%
|}
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 47,582. The median age was 42.9 years. 22.4% of residents were under the age of 18 and 21.0% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 98.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 96.8 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 90.1% White, 1.4% Black or African American, 1.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 1.9% from some other race, and 4.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 3.8% of the population.
There were 19,499 households in the county, of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 52.2% were married-couple households, 17.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 23.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 28.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
<!-- PresRow should be -->
{| class="wikitable"
|+County Board of Commissioners
! colspan="2" |Position
!Name
!District
!Next Election
|-
|
|Commissioner
|Linda Flanders
|District 1
|2024
|-
|
|Commissioner
|Brad Anderson
|District 2
|2026
|-
|
|Commissioner
|Todd Greseth
|District 3
|2024
|-
|
|Commissioner
|Jason Majerus
|District 4
|2026
|-
|
|Commissioner
|Susan Betcher
|District 5
|2024
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+State Legislature (2018-2020)
! colspan="2" |Position
!Name
!Affiliation
!District
|-
| style="background-color:" |
|Senate
|Mike Goggin
|Republican
|District 21
|-
| style="background-color:" |
|Senate
|Matt Little
|Democrat
|District 58
|-
| style="background-color:" |
|House of Representatives
|Barb Haley
|Republican
|District 21A
|-
| style="background-color:" |
|House of Representatives
|Steve Drazkowski
|Republican
|District 21B
|-
| style="background-color:" |
|House of Representatives
|Pat Garofalo
|Republican
|District 58B
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+U.S Congress (2018-2020)
! colspan="2" |Position
!Name
!Affiliation
!District
|-
| style="background-color:" |
|House of Representatives
|Brad Finstad
|Republican
|1st
|-
| style="background-color:" |
|Senate
|Amy Klobuchar
|Democrat
|N/A
|-
| style="background-color:" |
|Senate
|Tina Smith
|Democrat
|N/A
|}
Education
School districts include:
- Cannon Falls Public School District
- Faribault Public Schools
- Goodhue Public School District
- Hastings Public School District
- Kenyon-Wanamingo School District
- Lake City Public School District
- Northfield Public School District
- Pine Island Public School District
- Randolph Public School District
- Red Wing Public Schools
- Triton School District
- Zumbrota-Mazeppa School District
See also
- List of county roads in Goodhue County, Minnesota
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Goodhue County, Minnesota
References
External links
- Goodhue County Government's website