Le Sueur County, Minnesota

Le Sueur County ( ) is a county located in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,674. Its county seat is Le Center.

Le Sueur County is part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The Minnesota Territory legislature established several counties in 1853. This county was created on March 5 of that year. It was named for French explorer Pierre-Charles Le Sueur, who visited the area in 1700.

The settlement of Le Sueur (actually two competing settlements, Le Sueur and Le Sueur City) had sprung up on the east bank of the Minnesota River, both being platted in 1852. The legislature named the combined area as the first county seat. However, its remoteness from most of the county meant hardship for most of the area's residents since the county was covered with dense hardwood forest and existing roads were impassable when wet.

Several efforts were made to acquire a more central location. In the early 1870s, Cleveland (established in 1857, inland from the river in the SW part of the county) held a referendum to become the county seat. The referendum passed, but was challenged due to voting irregularities. In 1875 another referendum made Cleveland the county seat (1875-1876). In 1876, another referendum approved moving the seat to the newly created town of Le Sueur Center; the seat was promptly moved there. In the 1870s, businessmen from Waterville gained ownership of a quarter-section of land near the county's center, cleared the timber, and platted the city of Le Sueur Center (1876). The seat was moved there after a county referendum approved it. The county seat has remained in Le Sueur Center (renamed Le Center in 1930) since 1876.

The first railroad entered the county in 1867. This began the era of greater access and mobility. The first purpose-built courthouse in Le Sueur Center was constructed in 1896–7. It has been extensively remodeled and enlarged two times since.thumb|right|Soils of Le Sueur County

Geography

The Minnesota River flows northeastward along the west border of Le Sueur County, on its way to discharge into the Mississippi. The terrain consists of low rolling hills, dotted with lakes and ponds. The soil is rich and black. The terrain slopes to the north and east, with its highest point near the midpoint of its east border, at ASL. The county has an area of , of which is land and (5.3%) is water. Le Sueur is one of seven Minnesota savanna region counties where no forest soils exist and one of 17 counties where savanna soils dominate.

thumb|right|Soils of Sakatah Lake State Park area

Lakes

The following lakes are partially or completely within Le Sueur 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)

|23,236

|22,987

|24,097

|25,691

|style='background: #ffffe6; |25,463

|99.16%

|98.92%

|94.77%

|92.74%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |88.80%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|13

|38

|88

|style='background: #ffffe6; |262

|0.03%

|0.06%

|0.15%

|0.32%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.91%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|34

|50

|65

|72

|style='background: #ffffe6; |67

|0.15%

|0.22%

|0.26%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.23%

|Asian alone (NH)

|61

|62

|76

|159

|style='background: #ffffe6; |134

|0.26%

|0.27%

|0.30%

|0.57%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.47%

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|10

|style='background: #ffffe6; |20

|0.04%

|0.02%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.07%

|Other race alone (NH)

|11

|17

|style='background: #ffffe6; |58

|0.05%

|0.02%

|0.01%

|0.06%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.20%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|140

|227

|style='background: #ffffe6; |798

|0.55%

|0.82%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.78%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|86

|123

|997

|1,444

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,872

|0.37%

|0.53%

|3.92%

|5.21%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |6.53%

|Total

|23,434

|23,239

|25,426

|27,703

|style='background: #ffffe6; |28,674

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 28,674. The median age was 41.5 years. 23.8% of residents were under the age of 18 and 18.2% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 103.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 102.6 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 90.6% White, 0.9% Black or African American, 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 2.4% from some other race, and 5.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 6.5% of the population.

There were 11,287 households in the county, of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 55.9% were married-couple households, 17.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 18.5% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 25.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

Townships

Cleveland Township
Cordova Township
Derrynane Township
Elysian Township
Kasota Township
Kilkenny Township
Lanesburgh Township
Lexington Township
Montgomery Township
Ottawa Township
Sharon Township
Tyrone Township
Washington Township
Waterville Township

Politics

Le Sueur County residents usually vote Republican. The last Democrat to win an absolute majority in the county was Jimmy Carter in 1976, although Bill Clinton did carry the county by narrow pluralities in 1992 and 1996 due to high third-party performance. Democratic candidate Michael Dukakis also came close to flipping the county in 1988, only losing it by 5 votes. In 2020, Donald Trump performed better than any Republican in the county since Warren G. Harding in 1920, and he broke this record again in 2024, receiving 66% of the county's vote in the latter election.

References

External links

Le Sueur County government’s website