McLeod County, Minnesota

McLeod County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. At the 2020 census, the population was 36,771. Its county seat is Glencoe.

McLeod County comprises the Hutchinson, MN Micropolitan Statistical Area and is part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI Combined Statistical Area.

History

For thousands of years the area was inhabited by indigenous peoples. At the time of European contact, it was the territory of the Dakota Sioux. The county was created by the Minnesota Territorial legislature on March 1, 1856. It was named for Martin McLeod, a Canadian-born adventurer who became a fur trader and later was elected a territorial representative (1849–1856) in Minnesota. As a young man, he was part of James Dickson's 1836 expedition to the Red River of the North, a journey recounted in his Diary of Martin McLeod, a manuscript held by the Minnesota Historical Society.

"In 1859 the three Czech families already living in McLeod County were joined by those of Josef Vosmek, Josef Zicha, Antonin Nunvar, and Jan Vanous, all acquaintances from Caledonia, where they had resided for several years after their arrival from Bohemia. Other settlers followed, taking homesteads close by in the present township of Rich Valley".

The county seat was sited at Glencoe as part of the original act; it had been founded (June 11, 1855) by Martin McLeod, who was a member of the townsite company when the county was founded. a kind of animal husbandry that some characterize as animal abuse.

Geography

The South Fork of the Crow River flows easterly through the upper central part of McLeod County, thence into Wright County. Buffalo Creek also flows eastward through the lower central part of the county, thence into Wright. The county terrain consists of low rolling hills, dotted with lakes and lightly etched by drainages and gullies. The area is mostly devoted to agriculture. The terrain is sloped to the east, with its highest point on the upper west border at ASL. The county has an area of , of which is land and (2.8%) is water. Only savanna and prairie soils exist in McLeod County.

thumb|right|Soils of McLeod County

Northeast McLeod County once had significant areas of Maple-Basswood or "Big Woods" forests. https://mn.gov/admin/assets/2012-Investigating-Poorly-Known-Areas-of-Minnesota--An-Archaeological-Survey-of-McLeod-County_tcm36-187391.pdf

Major highways

20px US Highway 212
20px Minnesota State Highway 7
20px Minnesota State Highway 15
20px Minnesota State Highway 22
List of county roads

Adjacent counties

Wright County - northeast
Carver County - east
Sibley County - south
Renville County - west
Meeker County - northwest

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)

|29,308

|31,543

|33,108

|34,005

|style='background: #ffffe6; |32,559

|98.82%

|98.48%

|94.87%

|92.78%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |88.55%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|12

|30

|67

|184

|style='background: #ffffe6; |226

|0.04%

|0.09%

|0.19%

|0.50%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.61%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|36

|49

|56

|81

|style='background: #ffffe6; |102

|0.12%

|0.15%

|0.16%

|0.22%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.28%

|Asian alone (NH)

|107

|124

|189

|265

|style='background: #ffffe6; |230

|0.36%

|0.39%

|0.54%

|0.72%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.63%

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|17

|16

|style='background: #ffffe6; |27

|0.05%

|0.04%

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

|Other race alone (NH)

|20

|30

|10

|style='background: #ffffe6; |64

|0.07%

|0.00%

|0.09%

|0.03%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.17%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|163

|279

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,008

|0.47%

|0.76%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.74%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|174

|284

|1,268

|1,811

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2,555

|0.59%

|0.89%

|3.63%

|4.94%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |6.95%

|Total

|29,657

|32,030

|34,898

|36,651

|style='background: #ffffe6; |36,771

|100.00%

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

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 36,771. The median age was 41.5 years. 22.5% of residents were under the age of 18 and 19.7% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 100.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 98.5 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 90.3% White, 0.6% Black or African American, 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 2.5% from some other race, and 5.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 6.9% of the population.

There were 15,004 households in the county, of which 27.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 51.8% were married-couple households, 18.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 22.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

References

External links

McLeod County government’s website