| Otter Tail County, Minnesota | |
| Map | |
 Location in the state of Minnesota |
|
 Minnesota's location in the U.S. |
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| Statistics | |
| Founded | March 18, 1858 [1] |
|---|---|
| Seat | Fergus Falls |
| Largest city | Fergus Falls |
| Area - Total - Land - Water |
2,225 sq mi (5,762 km²) 1,980 sq mi (5,127 km²) 245 sq mi (635 km²), 11.02% |
| PopulationEst. - (2008) - Density |
56,786 29/sq mi (11/km²) |
| Time zone | Central: UTC-6/-5 |
| Website: www.co.otter-tail.mn.us | |
| Named for: Otter Tail Lake and Otter Tail River | |
Otter Tail County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2000, the population was 57,159. Its county seat is Fergus Falls[1].
Contents |
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,225 square miles (5,762 km²), of which 1,980 square miles (5,127 km²) is land and 245 square miles (635 km²) (11.02%) is water. According to the official web site, Otter Tail County contains over 1000 lakes and two Minnesota state parks, Maplewood and Glendalough. The highest point in Otter Tail County is Inspiration Peak in the Leaf Mountains, at 1750 feet above sea level.
Major highways
Adjacent counties
- Becker County (north)
- Wadena County (northeast)
- Todd County (southeast)
- Douglas County (south)
- Grant County (southwest)
- Wilkin County (west)
- Clay County (northwest)
History
Native Americans used the survey area for hunting and fishing and had permanent dwelling sites. Two Native American tribes were in constant conflict. The Dakota (Sioux) were being pushed from their home area by the Ojibwa (Chippewa) during the late 1700’s and early 1800’s. Burial mounds and artifacts can still be found. Some of the oldest remains of Native Americans were found near Pelican Rapids, Minnesota. The remains, nicknamed Minnesota Girl, were dated at about 11,000 B.C. (Otter Tail County Historical Museum).
The first white men to enter the county were French and British fur traders. Efforts were made to set up trading posts on the Leaf Lakes and Otter Tail Lake. In the late 1800’s, most of the towns were built along the railroad lines. Lumber and agriculture were the major industries in the county at that time. The pine and hardwood forests, transportation system, and markets were instrumental in the development of Fergus Falls into a lumber center.
In 1870, the population of the county was about 2,000. At that time the principal languages spoken in the county were Norwegian, Swedish, German, and English. Otter Tail County was established in March 1858 by a legislative act. It was organized in 1868. The original county seat was Ottertail City.
The people of Fergus Falls organized a new county named Holcomb. In 1872, a legislative act abolished Holcomb County, added additional townships to the west, and established Fergus Falls as the county seat of Otter Tail County. There are 62 townships in the county. The county is named for Otter Tail Lake and the Otter Tail River. [2]
Demographics
| Historical populations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1860 | 240 |
|
|
| 1870 | 1,968 | 720.0% | |
| 1880 | 18,675 | 848.9% | |
| 1890 | 34,232 | 83.3% | |
| 1900 | 45,375 | 32.6% | |
| 1910 | 46,036 | 1.5% | |
| 1920 | 50,818 | 10.4% | |
| 1930 | 51,006 | 0.4% | |
| 1940 | 53,192 | 4.3% | |
| 1950 | 51,320 | −3.5% | |
| 1960 | 48,960 | −4.6% | |
| 1970 | 46,097 | −5.8% | |
| 1980 | 51,937 | 12.7% | |
| 1990 | 50,714 | −2.4% | |
| 2000 | 57,159 | 12.7% | |
| Est. 2008 | 56,786 | −0.7% | |
As of the census[3] of 2000, there were 57,159 people, 22,671 households, and 15,779 families residing in the county. The population density was 29 people per square mile (11/km²). There were 33,862 housing units at an average density of 17 per square mile (7/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.11% White, 0.29% African American, 0.51% Native American, 0.44% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.84% from other races, and 0.78% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.67% of the population. 35.5% were of German and 31.2% Norwegian ancestry according to Census 2000.
There were 22,671 households out of which 30.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.1% were married couples living together, 6.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.4% were non-families. 26.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.46 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the county the population was spread out with 24.9% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 19.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 100.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.8 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $35,395, and the median income for a family was $42,740. Males had a median income of $30,151 versus $20,930 for females. The per capita income for the county was $18,014. About 6.7% of families and 10.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.1% of those under age 18 and 11.1% of those age 65 or over.
Politics
In the U.S. Presidential Elections, Otter Tail County has mainly been a Republican county.
During the time period of the Great Depression, however, there was actually a communist faction within the county. The areas where the movement was centered in the county are quite desolate today, however, during mid-1932, the worst possible time for farmers, there were over 900 members involved with one of the state's communist organizations. [4] “The members of the communist party were very active in the New York Mills area of Newton, Leaf Lake, Blowers, Deer Creek and Paddock Townships. They held meetings, recruited members, placed candidates on local and state tickets, and distributed propaganda. They held dances in Heinola, Menahga, and Sebeka where the Soviet hammer and sickle was proudly displayed and ran a summer camp on East Leaf Lake.”[4] Heinola is a ghost town today. The low activity and population among these areas today suggests that they were set up by outsiders during the Depression. When the communist movement died out, so did much of the activity and population has been on the decline ever since. This leads to the idea that the most of Otter Tail had strongly conservative roots; the few "communists" in the area were farmers under the influence of outsiders.
By the time Franklin D. Roosevelt implemented some of the New Deal programs in the county, most of the communist movement began to lose all its steam. In addition, the Winter War in Europe between Finland and the U.S.S.R. soured the taste of communism to many Finnish immigrants (the Fins were a major denomination among the communists at the time). Carl Peltoniemi, a former supporter of the organization, said, “The communist movement within the Finnish community basically ended at the start of the Winter War in 1939-1940.”
Ever since the United States presidential election of 1936, Otter Tail County has voted Republican for every Presidential election. In the U.S. Presidential Election of 2008, 55% of the voters voted for John McCain while 42% voted for Barack Obama.
| Year | Democrat | Republican |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 42% 13,856 | 55% 18,077 |
| 2004 | 37% 12,038 | 61% 19,734 |
| 2000 | 35% 9844 | 59% 16,963 |
Cities and towns
† a part of Rothsay extends into Wilkin County.
‡ Wadena is in Wadena County, but a small part of the city extends into Otter Tail County.
References
- ^ "Find a County". National Association of Counties. http://www.naco.org/Template.cfm?Section=Find_a_County&Template=/cffiles/counties/usamap.cfm. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ Otter Tail County Website http://www.co.otter-tail.mn.us/gis/soilsurvey03history.php
- ^ "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. http://factfinder.census.gov. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- ^ a b Tweton, Jerome (1988). The New Deal at the Grass Roots: Programs for the People in Otter Tail County, Minnesota. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press. pp. 29-31.
External links
- Otter Tail Country Tourism Association
- Otter Tail County government’s website
- Otter Tail County Historical Society
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Clay County | Becker County | Wadena County | |
| Wilkin County |  |
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 Otter Tail County, Minnesota  |
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| Grant County | Douglas County | Todd County |
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