Stearns County, Minnesota

Stearns County, Minnesota
Stearns County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 158,292. Its county seat and largest city is St. Cloud.
Included within the Minnesota Territory since 1849, the county was founded by European Americans in 1855. It was originally named for Isaac Ingalls Stevens, then renamed for Charles Thomas Stearns. Stearns County is part of the St. Cloud Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Combined Statistical Area.
History
The Stearns County area was formerly occupied by numerous indigenous tribes, such as the Sioux (Dakota), Chippewa (Ojibwe) and Winnebago (Ho-chunk). The first large immigration was of German Catholics in the 1850s. Early arrivals also came from eastern states. The Wisconsin Territory was established by the federal government effective July 3, 1836, and existed until its eastern portion was granted statehood (as Wisconsin) in 1848.
The federal government set up the Minnesota Territory effective March 3, 1849. The newly organized territorial legislature created nine counties across the territory in October of that year. The original counties had portions partitioned off in 1851 to create Cass County and in 1853 to create Sibley, Pierce, and Nicollet counties. In 1855 parts of those counties were partitioned off to create Stearns County. It was to be named Stevens County for territorial governor Isaac Ingalls Stevens, who had conducted an expedition through the area in 1853, but due to a clerical error, the county was named Stearns for Charles Thomas Stearns, a member of the Territorial Council. (To compensate for this error the area two counties west was later named Stevens County.)
The February 20, 1855, act that created the county directed the naming of three county commissioners and specified St. Cloud as the county seat. The first courthouse was put into service on July 12, 1864, and it remained in use until the present courthouse was dedicated in 1922. In 1913 a campaign was mounted to shift the county seat to Albany, due to its more central location. The effort was not successful.
Stearns County Minnesota was also founded off of farmers markets and crop trades, Making Stearns County Minnesota one of the top grossing crop producting counties in the state of Minnesota
Geography
Stearns County borders nine counties. The Mississippi River flows southeast along its northeast border, and the Sauk River drains the central part of the county into the Mississippi at St. Cloud. The county terrain consists of low rolling hills, lightly wooded, dotted with lakes and ponds, and carved with drainages. All available area is devoted to agriculture or has been developed. The terrain slopes to the east and south, with its highest point a local protuberance at west and south of St. Joseph, at ASL. The county's total area is , of which is land and (3.4%) is water.
The northeastern border of Stearns County is formed by the Mississippi River. The land consists of rolling hills, scenic lakes, prairies, savannas and woodlands of a mixture of coniferous and deciduous trees. Stearns is one of 17 Minnesota savanna region counties with more savanna soils than either prairie or forest soils. The county has 166 lakes.
Major highways
Interstate 94
U.S. Highway 52
U.S. Highway 71
Minnesota State Highway 4
Minnesota State Highway 15
Minnesota State Highway 22
Minnesota State Highway 23
Minnesota State Highway 24
Minnesota State Highway 28
Minnesota State Highway 55
Minnesota State Highway 237
Minnesota State Highway 238
List of county roads
Airports
Source:
Brooten Municipal Airport (6D1) - east of Brooten
Paynesville Municipal Airport (PEX) - west of Paynesville
Sauk Centre Municipal Airport (D39) - south-southeast of Sauk Centre
St. Cloud Regional Airport (STC) - east-southeast of St. Cloud
Adjacent counties
Todd County - north
Morrison County - northeast
Benton County - northeast
Sherburne County - east
Wright County - southeast
Meeker County - south
Kandiyohi County - southwest
Pope County - west
Douglas County - northwest
Protected areas
Sources:
Avon Hills Forest Scientific and Natural Area
Birch Lakes State Forest
Christopher Kurilla Wildlife Management Area
Cold Spring Heron Colony Scientific and Natural Area
Crow River Wildlife Management Area
Edward Raymond Mohs Wildlife Management Area
Follies Wildlife Management Area (part)
Lake Koronis Regional Park
Legacy Marsh Wildlife Management Area
Miller Wildlife Management Area
Milton Kjedahl Wildlife Management Area
Norman T. Dahlman Wildlife Management Area
Oxcart Crossing Wildlife Management Area
Padua State Wildlife Management Area
Patch Woods Scientific and Natural Area
Quarry Park and Nature Preserve
Quarry Park Scientific and Natural Area
Rockville County Park and Nature Preserve
Roscoe Prairie Scientific and Natural Area
Saint Wendel Tamarack Bog Scientific and Natural Area
Sauk River Wildlife Management Area
Sedan Brook Prairie Scientific and Natural Area
Stearns Prairie Heritage Wildlife Management Area
Tamarack State Wildlife Management Area
Tower State Wildlife Management Area
Tribute Wildlife Management Area
Victor Winder Wildlife Management Area
Warner Lake County Park
Zion State Wildlife Management Area
Demographics
2020 census
Note: the US Census treats Hispanic/Latino as an ethnic category. This table excludes Latinos from the racial categories and assigns them to a separate category. Hispanics/Latinos can be of any race.
2000 census
As of the census of 2000, there were 133,166 people, 47,604 households, and 32,132 families in the county. The population density was . There were 50,291 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 95.99% White, 0.83% Black or African American, 0.26% Native American, 1.58% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.47% from other races, and 0.82% from two or more races. 1.37% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 56.9% were of German and 9.4% Norwegian ancestry.
There were 47,604 households, out of which 35.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.30% were married couples living together, 7.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.50% were non-families. 23.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.40% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.15.
The county population contained 25.70% under the age of 18, 16.10% from 18 to 24, 28.00% from 25 to 44, 19.10% from 45 to 64, and 11.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 101.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.80 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $42,426, and the median income for a family was $51,553. Males had a median income of $34,268 versus $23,393 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,211. About 4.30% of families and 8.70% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.70% of those under age 18 and 8.60% of those age 65 or over.
Communities
Cities
Albany
Avon
Belgrade
Brooten (part)
Clearwater (part)
Cold Spring
Eden Valley (part)
Elrosa
Freeport
Greenwald
Holdingford
Kimball
Lake Henry
Meire Grove
Melrose
New Munich
Paynesville
Richmond
Rockville
Roscoe
Saint Anthony
Saint Augusta
Saint Cloud (county seat; partial)
Saint Joseph
Saint Martin
Saint Rosa
Saint Stephen
Sartell (part)
Sauk Centre
Spring Hill
Waite Park
Census-designated place
Fairhaven
St. John's University
Unincorporated communities
Collegeville
Farming
Five Points
Georgeville
Jacobs Prairie
Marty
Opole
Padua
Saint Anna
Saint Francis
Saint Nicholas
Saint Wendel
Townships
Albany Township
Ashley Township
Avon Township
Brockway Township
Collegeville Township
Crow Lake Township
Crow River Township
Eden Lake Township
Fair Haven Township
Farming Township
Getty Township
Grove Township
Holding Township
Krain Township
Lake George Township
Lake Henry Township
Le Sauk Township
Luxemburg Township
Lynden Township
Maine Prairie Township
Melrose Township
Millwood Township
Munson Township
North Fork Township
Oak Township
Paynesville Township
Raymond Township
Saint Joseph Township
Saint Martin Township
Saint Wendel Township
Sauk Centre Township
Spring Hill Township
Wakefield Township
Zion Township
Politics and government
In its early history Stearns County was heavily Democratic due to being largely German Catholic and opposed to the pietistic Scandinavian Lutheran Republican Party of that era. It did not vote Republican until Theodore Roosevelt swept every Minnesota county in 1904. Anti-Woodrow Wilson feeling from World War I caused the county to shift overwhelmingly to Warren G. Harding in 1920 before swinging to Robert M. La Follette, coreligionist Al Smith and fellow “wet” Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt.
In 1936 the county's isolationism gave strong support to William Lemke’s Union Party. Stearns County turned Republican until another Catholic nominee, John F. Kennedy, returned it to the Democratic ranks sufficiently to be one of only 130 counties nationwide to back George McGovern in 1972. Since the “Reagan Revolution”, Stearns County has voted reliably Republican, with no Democrat gaining a majority since Jimmy Carter in 1976, and Bill Clinton in 1996 the only one to manage a plurality. The county's growing social conservative bent has fueled the Republican trend.
In 2016 Donald Trump won the county with 59.8% of the vote, the highest percentage any presidential candidate has received since President Eisenhower in 1956. He improved on that in 2020 with 60.3% of the vote.
As of 2020, two cities in the county lean Democratic: St. Cloud, the largest city, and neighboring Waite Park.
See also
Crow Lake (Stearns County, Minnesota)
National Register of Historic Places listings in Stearns County, Minnesota
References
Further reading
Mitchell, William Bell. History of Stearns County, Minnesota (2vols.) H.C. Cooper Jr., 1915. Online. Volume 1 and Volume 2
Simpson, Lee M. A. Stearns County, Minnesota. Chicago: Arcadia Publishing, 2000. Print. ,
External links
Stearns County official website
Sartell Historical Society - Sartell, MN
Stearns History Museum official website
St. Cloud, Minnesota metropolitan area
Minnesota counties on the Mississippi River
1855 establishments in Minnesota Territory
Populated places established in 1855