Red Lake County is a county in the Northwestern part of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,935, making it the third-least populous county in Minnesota. Its county seat is Red Lake Falls.

History

Red Lake County was formed on December 24, 1896, from sections of Polk County. It was named for the Red Lake River. Its designated county seat was Red Lake Falls, which had been incorporated (as a village) in 1881.

The county has two sites on the National Register of Historic Places: the courthouse and Clearwater Evangelical Lutheran Church.

Geography

The Red Lake River flows southward into the county from Pennington County. It is joined near Red Lake Falls by the Clearwater River; the combined flow (still known as the Red Lake River) flows southwestward to Huot, where it is augmented by the Black River, which drains the northwestern part of the county. The Red Lake River then flows southwestward into Polk County. The county terrain consists of low rolling hills, etched by drainages and gullies. The area is devoted to agriculture. The county terrain slopes to the west, with its highest elevation on its southeastern corner, at ASL. The county has a total area of , of which is land and (0.02%) is water.

Red Lake County is the only landlocked county in the United States (excluding those on international borders) to border exactly two other counties.

Major highways

  • 20px U.S. Highway 2
  • 20px U.S. Highway 59
  • 20px Minnesota State Highway 32
  • 20px Minnesota State Highway 92
  • 20px Minnesota State Highway 222

Adjacent counties

  • Pennington County – north
  • Polk County – south

Protected areas

Source:

| align-fn = center

| footnote = U.S. Decennial Census<br>1790–1960 1900–1990<br>1990–2000

!Pop 1990

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" | Pop 2020

!% 1980

!% 1990

!% 2000

!% 2010

!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020

|-

|White alone (NH)

|5,440

|4,469

|4,181

|3,876

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3,625

|99.43%

|98.76%

|97.26%

|94.79%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |92.12%

|-

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|0

|0

|8

|7

|style='background: #ffffe6; |15

|0.00%

|0.00%

|0.19%

|0.17%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.38%

|-

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|7

|7

|79

|52

|style='background: #ffffe6; |57

|0.13%

|0.15%

|1.84%

|1.27%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.45%

|-

|Asian alone (NH)

|8

|3

|3

|4

|style='background: #ffffe6; |5

|0.15%

|0.07%

|0.07%

|0.10%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.13%

|-

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|x

|x

|0

|0

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3

|x

|x

|0.00%

|0.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.08%

|-

|Other race alone (NH)

|2

|0

|0

|0

|style='background: #ffffe6; |14

|0.04%

|0.00%

|0.00%

|0.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.36%

|-

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|x

|x

|15

|49

|style='background: #ffffe6; |113

|x

|x

|0.35%

|1.20%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.87%

|-

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|14

|46

|13

|101

|style='background: #ffffe6; |103

|0.26%

|1.02%

|0.30%

|2.47%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.62%

|-

|Total

|5,471

|4,525

|4,299

|4,089

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3,935

|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 3,935. The median age was 42.2 years. 24.1% of residents were under the age of 18 and 21.1% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 107.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 108.0 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 92.7% White, 0.4% Black or African American, 1.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 1.3% from some other race, and 3.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 2.6% of the population.

There were 1,653 households in the county, of which 29.0% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 50.7% were married-couple households, 22.9% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 19.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 31.2% 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

|-

|

|Commissioner

|Anthony "Chuck" Flage

|District 1

|-

|

|Commissioner and Chairperson

|Ron Weiss

|District 2

|-

|

|Commissioner

|Delane "John" Dudycha

|District 3

|-

|

|Commissioner

|Allen Remick

|District 4

|-

|

|Commissioner

|Charles Simpson

|District 5

|}

{| class="wikitable"

|+State Legislature (2023–2025)

! colspan="2" |Position

!Name

!Affiliation

!District

|-

| style="background-color:" |

|Senate

|Mark Johnson

|Republican

|District 1

|-

| style="background-color:" |

|House of Representatives

|Steve Gander

|Republican

|District 1B

|}

{| class="wikitable"

|+U.S Congress (2023–2025)

! colspan="2" |Position

!Name

!Affiliation

!District

|-

| style="background-color:" |

|House of Representatives

|Michelle Fischbach

|Republican

|7th

|-

| style="background-color:" |

|Senate

|Amy Klobuchar

|Democrat

|N/A

|-

| style="background-color:" |

|Senate

|Tina Smith

|Democrat

|N/A

|}

Media attention

In 2015, the county received mention in the media when a Washington Post reporter, Christopher Ingraham, wrote a story calling Red Lake County "the absolute worst place to live in America" in a ranking of US counties by "scenery and climate" based on the USDA's Natural Amenity Scale. After vigorous objections from local and state inhabitants and legislators, Ingraham subsequently visited the county and not only reversed his position but later moved there with his family and wrote a book about his experience.

See also

  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Red Lake County, Minnesota

Footnotes

Further reading

  • Anne Healy and Sherry Kankel, A History of Red Lake County, Red Lake County, Minnesota. Red Lake Falls MN: Ray Miller, 2003.
  • Christopher Ingraham, "I Called This Place 'America’s Worst Place to Live.' Then I Went There," Washington Post, September 3, 2015.
  • Oklee Golden Jubilee Historical Committee, The Oklee Community Story. n.c.: Oklee Golden Jubilee Historical Committee, 1960.
  • Red Lake County Historical Society, A History of Red Lake County, Red Lake County, Minnesota. n.c.: Red Lake County Historical Society, 1976.
  • Jeff M Sauve and Anne Healy, Courthouse Centennial, 1910–2010. n.c.: Red Lake County Historical Society, June 2010.
  • Red Lake County official website

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