Swift County, Minnesota

Swift County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,838. Its county seat is Benson.

Swift County is in west central Minnesota and consists of with three tiers of seven townships each.

History

The Native Americans in the area before American settlement were the Dakota.

The Indians had grievances against the United States government, including delays in sending annuities that caused near starvation several times. In August 1862, the Dakota War broke out in Minnesota. The warfare reached the settlements just getting started in what was to become northeastern Swift County. By late September 1862, the war was almost over but the settlers hesitated to venture back to the area until 1865, when all danger was apparently over due to the forcible removal of all Native Americans. Scandinavians and Germans were in decided majority among the early settlers. Norwegian settlers were the first in 1866 at Camp Lake and Swenoda.

The Swift County Courthouse was built in 1897 and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976. Railroad tracks run through Benson's downtown business district with parks on each side.

Historic buildings

Historic buildings in Swift County include:

Gethsemane Episcopal Church in Appleton built in 1879 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.

Geography

The Minnesota River flows southeast along the county's lower western border. The Pomme de Terre River flows south-southwest through the county's western part, discharging into the Minnesota. The Chippewa River flows south-southwest through the county's central part, discharging into the Minnesota south of the county. The county's terrain consists of rolling hills, largely devoted to agriculture. It slopes to south and the west, with its highest point near its northeast corner at ASL. The county has an area of , of which is land and (1.3%) is water.

Swift County is primarily agricultural, but also hosts agriculture equipment manufacturers and an ethanol plant. It has 24 lakes and nine rivers and streams. Lake Oliver is one of the county's biggest, at . Caltopo shows the true highpoint to be 1300 ft in elevation about 1/3 of a mile southwest of the Monson State Wildlife Management Area:latitude 45.3046&longitude=-95.3031thumb|right|Soils of Swift County

Major highways

20px U.S. Highway 12
20px U.S. Highway 59
20px Minnesota State Highway 7
20px Minnesota State Highway 9
20px Minnesota State Highway 29
20px Minnesota State Highway 104
20px Minnesota State Highway 119

Adjacent counties

Stevens County - northwest
Pope County - northeast
Kandiyohi County - east
Chippewa County - south
Lac qui Parle County - southwest
Big Stone County - west

Airport

Appleton Municipal Airport provides general aviation service for Swift County.

Protected areas

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)

|12,824

|10,566

|10,728

|9,271

|style='background: #ffffe6; |8,618

|99.26%

|98.53%

|89.73%

|94.77%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |87.60%

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|319

|48

|style='background: #ffffe6; |79

|0.02%

|0.04%

|2.67%

|0.49%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.80%

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|19

|37

|59

|30

|style='background: #ffffe6; |26

|0.15%

|0.35%

|0.49%

|0.31%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.26%

|Asian alone (NH)

|36

|37

|167

|21

|style='background: #ffffe6; |78

|0.28%

|0.35%

|1.40%

|0.21%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.79%

|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|179

|style='background: #ffffe6; |133

|1.50%

|0.03%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.35%

|Other race alone (NH)

|style='background: #ffffe6; |5

|0.05%

|0.01%

|0.03%

|0.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.05%

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|181

|60

|style='background: #ffffe6; |237

|1.51%

|0.61%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.41%

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|33

|79

|320

|350

|style='background: #ffffe6; |662

|0.26%

|0.74%

|2.68%

|3.58%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |6.73%

|Total

|12,920

|10,724

|11,956

|9,783

|style='background: #ffffe6; |9,838

|100.00%

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

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 9,838. The median age was 42.6 years. 23.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 22.5% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 101.0 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 99.9 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 89.5% White, 0.9% Black or African American, 0.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8% Asian, 1.4% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 2.8% from some other race, and 4.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 6.7% of the population.

There were 4,064 households in the county, of which 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 48.5% were married-couple households, 21.2% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 23.5% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 32.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. In 2016, a dramatic swing against the Democrats in the Rust Belt saw Swift County shifting a massive 36% toward the Republican Party, with Donald Trump winning it over Hillary Clinton by 26%, and further increasing his margin of victory to nearly 30% against Joe Biden in 2020, and to over 34% against Kamala Harris in 2024. Each of these were the best Republican performances in the county since 1920.

References

External links

Swift County official website
Swift County Monitor website