Nobles County, Minnesota

Nobles County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 22,290. Its county seat is Worthington. Nobles County comprises the Worthington, MN Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

thumb|left|1874 map of Nobles County - Note that six townships had yet to be named

Nobles County was first occupied by the Sisseton Sioux. The first white man to set foot on the land was Joseph Nicollet who came to map out the area in 1838. Nicollet named Lake Okabena (there were two Lake Okabenas at the time), Lake Ocheda, East and West Graham Lake and the Kanaranzi Creek.

The first settlement was near Graham Lakes in 1846. Nobles County was established May 23, 1857, and organized October 27, 1870. The county was named for William H. Nobles, a member of the Minnesota territorial legislature in 1854 and 1856. In Autumn 1856 he began the construction of a wagon road for the US government, crossing southwestern Minnesota and Nobles County, to extend from Fort Ridgely to South Pass in the Rocky Mountains. This work was continued in 1857 but was not completed. Nobles County was created by the Minnesota Territory legislature just before the full force of the Panic of 1857 was felt. Settlers were further discouraged from coming by the Spirit Lake Massacre of 1857, where a band of Sioux murdered settlers in Spirit Lake and along the Des Moines River in Jackson and Cottonwood Counties. The few whites in the area were understandably reluctant to stay.

alt=Exterior of the Nobles County Heritage Center|thumb|left|[[Nobles County Heritage Center]]

During the summer of 1867, a mail route was established from Blue Earth through the Graham Lakes settlement to Yankton, South Dakota. In January, a Post Office was established in each settlement. The population in the spring of 1870 was 117 and nearly doubled by fall. County Government did not start until 1870. The first railroad, the St. Paul & Sioux City Railway, was built in 1871. This later became the Chicago Northwestern Railroad and is now operated by the Union Pacific Railroad.

In 1871, a group of men from Toledo, Ohio organized a company to locate a colony of settlers in some western county. After traveling 20,000 miles in the Midwest, they decided on Nobles County and by the spring of 1872, hundreds of people came in and took up land. Worthington was platted in 1871, and became the county seat in 1873. The Worthington & Sioux Falls Railway was established in 1876. This led to rapid settlement in Rushmore, Adrian, and the western portions of the county.

The 1860 census of Nobles County showed 11 families, 35 persons, (3 from Norway, 3 from Bavaria, 1 from Ireland and the rest from the eastern states). In 1880, the population was 4,435. In 1895, the population was 11,905, and in 1970, the population was up to 23,208. In 2000, the population was 20,832, and the 2010 census showed a population of 21,378.

Economy

thumb|right|Minnesota Soybean Processors plant and rail lineNobles County's economy is largely driven by agriculture, with corn, soybeans, and hogs as the county's leading agricultural products. Food processing and fabricated metals are important manufacturing sectors, and tourism is a growing industry that benefits from the county's lakes, parks, and historical sites.

Geography

thumb|right|Soils of Nobles County

thumb|right|Map of Nobles County from 1882 Geological Report

Nobles County is on the southern side of Minnesota. Its southern border abuts the northern border of the state of Iowa. According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.0%) is water.

Transit

Prairieland Transit System

Major highways

20px Interstate 90
20px U.S. Highway 59
20px Minnesota State Highway 60
20px Minnesota State Highway 91
20px Minnesota State Highway 264

Adjacent counties

Murray County - north
Cottonwood County - northeast
Jackson County - east
Osceola County, Iowa - southeast
Lyon County, Iowa - southwest
Rock County - west

Lakes

Source: Its bedrock is formed of Cretaceous shale, sandstone and clay that lie above the pinkish-red Upper Precambrian Sioux Quartzite. These units are covered in most areas by thick deposits of glacial drift, which consist of up to of pre-Wisconsin age glacial till left after the glaciers receded. The inner coteau is made up of extremely stream-eroded glacial deposits of pre-Wisconsin glacial drift, which is then covered by a 6-15' (1.8-4.6m) thick deposit of a wind-blown silt called loess.

| align-fn = center

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

As of the 2023 American Community Survey, there are 7,689 estimated households in Nobles County with an average of 2.82 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $62,973. Approximately 12.2% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Nobles County has an estimated 66.2% employment rate, with 17.1% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 79.4% 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 (67.7%), Spanish (23.8%), Indo-European (0.4%), Asian and Pacific Islander (4.7%), and Other (3.4%).

Racial and ethnic composition

Nobles County, Minnesota – 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)

| 21,492 (98.41%) || 19,318 (96.12%) || 17,232 (82.72%) || 14,365 (67.20%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |12,147 (54.50%)

| Black or African American alone (NH)

| 30 (0.14%) || 49 (0.24%) || 212 (1.02%) || 727 (3.40%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |978 (4.39%)

| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

| 52 (0.24%) || 63 (0.31%) || 42 (0.20%) || 67 (0.31%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |66 (0.30%)

| Asian alone (NH)

| 99 (0.45%) || 399 (1.99%) || 816 (3.92%) || 1,144 (5.35%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |1,329 (5.96%)

| Pacific Islander alone (NH)

| — || — || 0 (0.00%) || 7 (0.03%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |41 (0.18%)

| Other race alone (NH)

| 17 (0.08%) || 7 (0.03%) || 10 (0.05%) || 25 (0.11%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |42 (0.19%)

| Mixed race or multiracial (NH)

| — || — || 195 (0.94%) || 223 (1.04%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |416 (1.87%)

| Hispanic or Latino (any race)

| 150 (0.69%) || 262 (1.30%) || 2,325 (11.16%) || 4,820 (22.55%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |7,271 (32.62%)

| Total

| 21,840 (100.00%) || 20,098 (100.00%) || 20,832 (100.00%) || 21,378 (100.00%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |22,290 (100.00%)

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 22,290. The median age was 34.9 years. 28.0% of residents were under the age of 18 and 16.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 102.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 103.6 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 58.8% White, 4.4% Black or African American, 2.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 6.1% Asian, 0.2% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 19.6% from some other race, and 8.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 32.6% of the population.

There were 7,851 households in the county, of which 34.8% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 51.7% were married-couple households, 19.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 21.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 25.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

References

External links

Nobles County – official website
Rose's History of Nobles County
Nobles County Historical Society