# Sargent County, North Dakota

Sargent County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. Its county seat is Forman, and its most populous city is Gwinner. The county is named in honor of Homer E. Sargent, a 19th-century general manager of the Northern Pacific Railroad Company. The county spans an agricultural region between the James River and Red River valleys in southeastern North Dakota dotted with various sloughs, lakes, and hills.
As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,862. It is the 29th-most populous county in North Dakota, and was the original home of the Bobcat Company, a manufacturer of farm and construction equipment that still produces a large number of skid-steer loaders at its facility in Gwinner.

## History

The Dakota Territory created the county on April 9, 1883, with areas partitioned from Ransom County, from previously unorganized areas and from non-county areas in the Wahpeton and Sisseton Indian Reserve. It was named for H. E. Sargent, a railroad executive. Its governing structure was not completed at that time, so it was attached to Richland for judicial purposes and to Ransom for administrative purposes. This arrangement only lasted until October 8, when the county government was effected, with Milnor as the county seat. However, in 1884, in the county's first election, Forman was chosen as the county seat.
The Northern Pacific Railway laid a line into the county in 1883, reaching Milnor. By 1900 it had been extended across the county. The county's population rapidly increased, reaching a peak in the 1920 United States census (9,655).
In 1997 the Brampton Lutheran Church (originally built in 1908) was moved to Sletta near Radøy in Norway and reconstructed there. It is now called Emigrantkirka (Emigrant Church).
The Sargent County Courthouse, a Beaux Arts-style building built in 1910, is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.

## Geography

Sargent County lies near the southeastern corner of North Dakota, abutting the state's southern border with South Dakota. The county is almost exactly rectangular in shape (consisting of 24 sections of land), with a small protrusion in the county's southeastern corner for alignment with the boundaries of the Lake Traverse Indian Reservation. The county has a total area of 867 square miles (2,250 km$^2$), of which 859 square miles (2,220 km$^2$) is land and 8.4 square miles (22 km$^2$) (1.0%) is water.
Other than small portions of the western and northern sides of the county that lie in the James River and Sheyenne River watersheds, respectively, the vast majority of the county lies within the watershed of the Wild Rice River, whose source is the termination of a drainage ditch about two miles northeast of Brampton in southwestern Sargent County. It flows generally easterly through the southern part of the county, passing through Silver Lake and Lake Tewaukon before flowing further east into Richland County about five miles southeast of De Lamere.
The county's topography is varied, with the southern and western portions of the county being dominated by glacial hills, including the northern tip of the Coteau des Prairies standing prominently along the county's southern border, gradually transitioning into the much flatter landscape of the Red River Valley in the eastern portion of the county. The flatter areas of the county are largely devoted to the production of corn, soybean, and wheat, with much of the more hilly terrain being used as pastures for grazing livestock. The terrain generally slopes to the south and east, with its highest point on its western boundary line at 1,365 ft (416 m) ASL, although a northwest–southeast rise on the eastern portion of its south boundary line rises to 1,729 ft (527 m) ASL.
Sargent County is located within the Prairie Pothole Region of the northern Great Plains, and as such has a landscape that is covered in numerous wetlands. The majority of these wetlands are shallow sloughs that vary in size in wetter and drier years, but there are also a number of larger and deeper lakes. Lake Tewaukon, located within Tewaukon National Wildlife Refuge in the southeastern portion of the county, is one of the county's largest lakes. Meanwhile, the western end of the county contains a chain of lakes, the largest of which is Kraft Lake. Many of the county's lakes are populated with fish such as yellow perch and walleye, making fishing (including ice fishing in the winter months) a popular recreation for both locals and visitors to the county.

### Adjacent counties

* Ransom County to the north
* Richland County to the east
* Roberts County, South Dakota to the southeast
* Marshall County, South Dakota to the south
* Brown County, South Dakota to the southwest
* Dickey County to the west

### National protected areas

* Storm Lake National Wildlife Refuge
* Tewaukon National Wildlife Refuge
* Wild Rice Lake National Wildlife Refuge

### Lakes

* Alkali Lake
* Borg Lake
* Buffalo Lake
* Clouds Lake
* Golden Hill Lake
* Kraft Lake
* Lake Dell
* Lake Fedge
* Lake Tewaukon
* Pickell Lake
* Silver Lake
* Sprague Lake
* Storm Lake
* White Lake

## Demographics
### 2020 census

As of the census of 2020, there were 3,862 people.

### 2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 3,829 people, 1,675 households and 1,113 families in the county. The population density was 4.46 people per square mile (1.72 people/km$^2$). There were 2,004 housing units at an average density of 2.33 units per square mile (0.90/km$^2$). The racial makeup of the county was 98.0% white, 0.5% American Indian, 0.2% Asian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 0.1% black or African American, 0.3% from other races, and 0.7% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.3% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 51.3% were German, 35.9% were Norwegian, 11.8% were Swedish, 8.4% were Irish, and 3.0% were American.
Of the 1,675 households, 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.3% were married couples living together, 4.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.6% were non-families, and 30.2% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.79. The median age was 45.9 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $49,318 and the median income for a family was $59,531. Males had a median income of $43,594 versus $30,152 for females. The per capita income for the county was $26,553. About 5.7% of families and 7.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.5% of those under age 18 and 10.4% of those age 65 or over.

### Population by decade
## Law and government
### Commissioners

Sargent County is governed by an elected and nonpartisan board of commissioners, each of which is elected at-large.
| Commissioner | In office since | Current term expires in December |
| Jason Arth | 2016 | 2024 |
| Lyle Bopp | 2018 | 2022 |
| Mark Breker | 2020 | 2024 |
| Richard Ruch | 2018 | 2022 |
| Scott Johnson | 2022 | 2022 |

## Transportation
### Major highways

* North Dakota Highway 11
* North Dakota Highway 13
* North Dakota Highway 32

## Communities
### Cities

* Cayuga
* Cogswell
* Forman (county seat)
* Gwinner
* Havana
* Milnor
* Rutland

### Census-designated place

* De Lamere

### Unincorporated communities

* Cogswell
* Crete
* Stirum
* Straubville

### Townships

* Bowen
* Brampton
* Denver
* Dunbar
* Forman
* Hall
* Harlem
* Herman
* Jackson
* Kingston
* Marboe
* Milnor
* Ransom
* Rutland
* Sargent
* Shuman
* Southwest
* Taylor
* Tewaukon
* Verner
* Vivian
* Weber
* Whitestone Hill
* Willey

## Politics

Sargent County is a swing county in presidential elections, having voted for both parties an equal number of times since 1980. From 1948 on, it has backed the national winner in every presidential election except for 1988, when a majority of the county's votes went to Democrat Michael Dukakis, and 2020, when a majority of the county's residents voted for Republican Donald Trump in his bid for reelection.
United States presidential election results for Sargent County, North Dakota :
| Year | Republican | Republican | Democratic | Democratic | Third party(ies) | Third party(ies) |
| Year | No. | % | No. | % | No. | % |
| 2024 | 1,325 | 64.86% | 663 | 32.45% | 55 | 2.69% |
| 2020 | 1,266 | 61.16% | 738 | 35.65% | 66 | 3.19% |
| 2016 | 1,088 | 54.48% | 694 | 34.75% | 215 | 10.77% |
| 2012 | 879 | 43.80% | 1,075 | 53.56% | 53 | 2.64% |
| 2008 | 778 | 40.37% | 1,115 | 57.86% | 34 | 1.76% |
| 2004 | 1,147 | 52.14% | 1,021 | 46.41% | 32 | 1.45% |
| 2000 | 1,103 | 50.50% | 959 | 43.91% | 122 | 5.59% |
| 1996 | 814 | 39.38% | 1,003 | 48.52% | 250 | 12.09% |
| 1992 | 816 | 36.20% | 961 | 42.64% | 477 | 21.16% |
| 1988 | 1,119 | 45.94% | 1,306 | 53.61% | 11 | 0.45% |
| 1984 | 1,385 | 50.83% | 1,295 | 47.52% | 45 | 1.65% |
| 1980 | 1,565 | 55.44% | 1,048 | 37.12% | 210 | 7.44% |
| 1976 | 1,344 | 44.34% | 1,644 | 54.24% | 43 | 1.42% |
| 1972 | 1,616 | 54.48% | 1,331 | 44.88% | 19 | 0.64% |
| 1968 | 1,386 | 48.65% | 1,308 | 45.91% | 155 | 5.44% |
| 1964 | 1,189 | 39.20% | 1,840 | 60.67% | 4 | 0.13% |
| 1960 | 1,591 | 48.98% | 1,655 | 50.95% | 2 | 0.06% |
| 1956 | 1,662 | 52.90% | 1,473 | 46.88% | 7 | 0.22% |
| 1952 | 2,124 | 65.76% | 1,090 | 33.75% | 16 | 0.50% |
| 1948 | 1,387 | 45.73% | 1,506 | 49.65% | 140 | 4.62% |
| 1944 | 1,488 | 50.72% | 1,426 | 48.60% | 20 | 0.68% |
| 1940 | 1,922 | 50.01% | 1,894 | 49.28% | 27 | 0.70% |
| 1936 | 863 | 24.13% | 2,306 | 64.47% | 408 | 11.41% |
| 1932 | 785 | 21.16% | 2,818 | 75.98% | 106 | 2.86% |
| 1928 | 1,772 | 46.88% | 1,989 | 52.62% | 19 | 0.50% |
| 1924 | 1,468 | 43.68% | 232 | 6.90% | 1,661 | 49.42% |
| 1920 | 2,787 | 78.18% | 673 | 18.88% | 105 | 2.95% |
| 1916 | 1,050 | 52.61% | 868 | 43.49% | 78 | 3.91% |
| 1912 | 605 | 37.00% | 641 | 39.20% | 389 | 23.79% |
| 1908 | 1,012 | 61.48% | 576 | 34.99% | 58 | 3.52% |
| 1904 | 1,045 | 71.62% | 310 | 21.25% | 104 | 7.13% |
| 1900 | 765 | 56.25% | 564 | 41.47% | 31 | 2.28% |