Watonwan County, Minnesota

Watonwan County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 11,253. Its county seat is St. James.

History

In 1849, the new territorial legislature of the recently organized Minnesota Territory authorized the creation of nine large counties across the Territory. Four years later, in 1853, one of those original counties of Dakota, had a large area separated and partitioned off to create Blue Earth County. Only two years later, by 1855, the western part of Blue Earth was then partitioned to create Brown County. Five years later, on February 25, 1860, the southern part of Brown was partitioned to create the county of Watanwan, with the town of Madelia as the original designated county seat. The county was named for its eponymous river (Watonwan River, which flows into the Blue Earth River, then the Minnesota River, then eventually into the "Father of Waters" - the Mississippi River, which drains the entire middle of the North American continent), whose name reflects the Dakota native word "watanwan," meaning "fish bait" or "plenty of fish." The word first appears in the modern written record on an 1843 map of the area so naming the river.

In 1869, the first European white settlers arrived in the area of the future town of Saint James, and the area began growing. In 1870, an extension of the St. Paul and Sioux City Railway was terminated at the village, and railway officials decided to name the terminus Saint James. By 1878, that town had grown to the extent that a vote was taken in the county to move the county seat and courthouse there from Madelia.

Geography

The terrain of Watonwan County consists of low, rolling hills carved by drainages and dotted with lakes and ponds. The area is completely devoted to agriculture where possible. The terrain slopes to the north and east, with its highest point near its southwest corner, at . According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and , or 1.1%, is water. The county is drained by the Watonwan River and its tributaries; the river flows eastward through the northern part of the county.

Major highways

20px Minnesota State Highway 4
20px Minnesota State Highway 15
20px Minnesota State Highway 30
20px Minnesota State Highway 60

Airports

St. James Municipal Airport (JYG, LID) - east of St. James

Adjacent counties

Brown County - north
Blue Earth County - east
Martin County - south
Jackson County - southwest
Cottonwood County - west

Protected areas

Bergdahl State Wildlife Management Area
Lewisville State Wildlife Management Area
Turtle Marsh State Wildlife Management Area
Wilson State Wildlife Management Area
Woodlake State Wildlife Management Area

| 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 4,314 estimated households in Watonwan County with an average of 2.55 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $70,593. Approximately 10.0% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Watonwan County has an estimated 65.4% employment rate, with 18.2% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 88.4% 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 (76.6%), Spanish (22.8%), Indo-European (0.3%), Asian and Pacific Islander (0.3%), and Other (0.0%).

The median age in the county was 40.6 years.

Watonwan 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)

| 12,074 (97.68%) || 10,990 (94.08%) || 9,848 (82.92%) || 8,632 (77.00%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |7,689 (68.33%)

| Black or African American alone (NH)

| 1 (0.01%) || 8 (0.07%) || 36 (0.30%) || 74 (0.66%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |42 (0.37%)

| Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

| 12 (0.10%) || 20 (0.17%) || 25 (0.21%) || 22 (0.20%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |13 (0.12%)

| Asian alone (NH)

| 33 (0.27%) || 57 (0.49%) || 100 (0.84%) || 86 (0.77%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |86 (0.76%)

| Pacific Islander alone (NH)

| — || — || 2 (0.02%) || 2 (0.02%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |0 (0.00%)

| Other race alone (NH)

| 2 (0.02%) || 14 (0.12%) || 1 (0.01%) || 4 (0.04%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |15 (0.13%)

| Mixed race or multiracial (NH)

| — || — || 60 (0.51%) || 53 (0.47%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |176 (1.56%)

| Hispanic or Latino (any race)

| 239 (1.93%) || 593 (5.08%) || 1,804 (15.19%) || 2,338 (20.85%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |3,227 (28.67%)

| Total

| 12,361 (100.00%) || 11,682 (100.00%) || 11,876 (100.00%) || 11,211 (100.00%) || style='background: #ffffe6; |11,253 (100.00%)

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 11,253. The median age was 39.5 years. 25.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 19.8% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 99.8 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 99.3 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 72.9% White, 0.4% Black or African American, 0.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.9% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 15.5% from some other race, and 9.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 28.7% of the population.

There were 4,476 households in the county, of which 30.5% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 49.1% were married-couple households, 20.3% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 22.5% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 29.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

{| class="wikitable"

|+County Board of Commissioners

! colspan="2" |Position

!Name

!District

!Next election

|Commissioner

|Jim Pettersen

|District 1

|2028

|Commissioner

|Bill Miller

|District 2

|2026

|Commissioner

|Jim Branstad

|District 3

|2028

|Commissioner

|Scott Westerman

|District 4

|2026

|Commissioner

|Dillon Melheim

|District 5

|2028

{| class="wikitable"

|+State Legislature (2021-2023)

! colspan="2" |Position

!Name

!Affiliation

!District

| style="background-color:" |

|Senate

|Julie Rosen

|Republican

|District 23

| style="background-color:" |

|House of Representatives

|Bjorn Olson

|Republican

|District 23A

| style="background-color:" |

|House of Representatives

|Jeremy Munson

|Republican

|District 23B

{| class="wikitable"

|+U.S Congress (2021-2023)

! colspan="2" |Position

!Name

!Affiliation

!District

| style="background-color:" |

|House of Representatives

|Brad Finstad

|Republican

|1st

| style="background-color:" |

|Senate

|Amy Klobuchar

|Democrat

|N/A

| style="background-color:" |

|Senate

|Tina Smith

|Democrat

|N/A

Watonwan County, Minnesota

History

Geography

Major highways

Airports

Adjacent counties

Protected areas

2020 census

See also

Footnotes

Further reading