Houston County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. At the 2020 census, the population was 18,843. Its county seat is Caledonia. Houston County is included in the La Crosse–Onalaska Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The area covered by today's Houston County was first organized as St. Croix County, of the Wisconsin Territory, in 1839. On October 27, 1849, part of that county was partitioned off to create Wabashaw County of the Minnesota Territory. On February 23, 1854, the territorial legislature authorized the partitioning of sections of Wabashaw to create Fillmore County and Houston County. An election on April 4, 1854, allowed the county government to be completed. The village of Houston was the first county seat. Then a land speculator made an effort to move the seat to Caledonia, and in 1855 the county board moved the county records to Caledonia, which became the de facto seat, and eventually the legal seat after several county votes. In 1855 the records were stored in the cabin of Commissioner Samuel McPhail; the first court hearings were held in that cabin, and a one-story courthouse and jail was built in Caledonia in 1857. A two-story building was built in Caledonia in 1867, and several referendums made Caledonia the county seat by 1874. From that point on, Caledonia prospered and Houston slowly declined. The only other area of prominence was La Crescent, which benefited from its connection to La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Geography

Houston County is at Minnesota's southeast corner. Its eastern border abuts Wisconsin (across the Mississippi River) and its southern border abuts Iowa. The Mississippi flows south-southeast along its eastern border. The Root River flows east through the northern part of the county, discharging into the Mississippi. Pine Creek flows east-southeast through the northeastern part of the county to discharge into the Mississippi, while Crooked Creek flows east across the southern part of the county to discharge into the Mississippi. The county's terrain consists of low rolling hills on its western end, transitioning to hills carved with drainages toward the east. The central and western portion of the county is a plateau with its highest point at ASL, near its southwest corner. The county has an area of , of which is land and (2.9%) is water.

thumb|Driftless scenery in Houston County

The county is in the Driftless Zone, marked by the absence of glacial drift and presence of bedrock cut by streams into steep hills. The plateau that surrounds Caledonia includes flat, fertile farmland and hilly, verdant pasture land. thumb|right|Soils of Houston County thumb|right|Soils of Beaver Creek Valley State Park neighborhood

Lakes

The Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge runs along the county's eastern border. Four lakes in the refuge fall within the county:

| 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)

|18,243

|18,337

|19,338

|18,482

|style='background: #ffffe6; |17,840

|99.24%

|99.13%

|98.07%

|97.14%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |94.68%

|-

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|8

|24

|58

|98

|style='background: #ffffe6; |90

|0.04%

|0.13%

|0.29%

|0.52%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.48%

|-

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|26

|48

|32

|31

|style='background: #ffffe6; |42

|0.14%

|0.26%

|0.16%

|0.16%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.22%

|-

|Asian alone (NH)

|28

|51

|73

|86

|style='background: #ffffe6; |101

|0.15%

|0.28%

|0.37%

|0.45%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.54%

|-

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|x

|x

|3

|2

|style='background: #ffffe6; |4

|x

|x

|0.02%

|0.01%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.02%

|-

|Other race alone (NH)

|31

|0

|4

|5

|style='background: #ffffe6; |31

|0.17%

|0.00%

|0.02%

|0.03%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.16%

|-

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|x

|x

|89

|191

|style='background: #ffffe6; |492

|x

|x

|0.45%

|1.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.61%

|-

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|46

|37

|121

|132

|style='background: #ffffe6; |243

|0.25%

|0.20%

|0.61%

|0.69%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.29%

|-

|Total

|18,382

|18,497

|19,718

|19,027

|style='background: #ffffe6; |18,843

|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 18,843. The median age was 44.9 years. 22.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 22.6% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 99.2 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 95.0% White, 0.5% Black or African American, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.5% from some other race, and 3.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 1.3% of the population.

There were 8,013 households in the county, of which 26.4% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 52.6% were married-couple households, 17.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 23.0% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 30.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

<!-- PresRow should be -->

{| class="wikitable"

|+County Board of Commissioners

!Position

!Name

!District

!Next election

|-

|Commissioner

|Dewey Severson

|1

|2024

|-

|Commissioner

|Eric Johnson

|2

|2026

|-

|Commissioner

|Bob Burns

|3

|2024

|-

|Commissioner

|Bob Schuldt

|4

|2026

|-

|Commissioner

|Greg Myhre

|5

|2024

|}

{| class="wikitable"

|+State Legislature (2025–2027)

! colspan="2" |Position

!Name

!Affiliation

!District

|-

| style="background-color:" |

|Senate

|Jeremy Miller

|Republican

|District 26

|-

| style="background-color:" |

|House of Representatives

|Greg Davids

|Republican

|District 26B

|}

{| class="wikitable"

|+U.S Congress (2025–2027)

! colspan="2" |Position

!Name

!Affiliation

!District

|-

| style="background-color:" |

|House of Representatives

|Brad Finstad

|Republican

|1st

|-

| style="background-color:" |

|Senate

|Amy Klobuchar

|Democrat

| rowspan="2" |N/A

|-

| style="background-color:" |

|Senate

|Tina Smith

|Democrat

|}

Education

School districts include:

  • Caledonia Public School District
  • Houston Public Schools
  • La Crescent-Hokah School District
  • Mabel-Canton Public Schools
  • Rushford-Peterson Public Schools
  • Spring Grove School District

See also

  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Houston County, Minnesota
  • Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge

References

  • Houston County
  • Houston County Health and Demographic Data
  • History of Houston County (1919), digitized version (accessed March 12, 2019)