List of counties in Minnesota explained

There are 87 counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. There are also several historical counties.

On October 27, 1849, nine counties were established: Benton, Dahkotah, Itasca, Ramsey, Mahkahta, Pembina, Wabasha, Washington, and Wahnata. Six of these names still exist. With the foundation of Kittson County on March 9, 1878, Pembina County no longer existed.^[1] When Minnesota was organized as a state, 57 of the present 87 counties were established. The last county to be created was Lake of the Woods County in 1923.^[2]

The names of many of the counties allude to the long history of exploration. Over ten counties are named for Native American groups residing in parts of what is now Minnesota. Another fifteen counties are named after physical geographic features, and the remainder for politicians.

The FIPS county code is the five-digit Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) code which uniquely identifies counties and county equivalents in the United States. The three-digit number is unique to each individual county within a state, but to be unique within the entire United States, it must be prefixed by the state code. This means that, for example, the number 001 is shared by Aitkin County, Minnesota, Adams County, Wisconsin, and Adair County, Iowa. To uniquely identify Aitkin County, Minnesota, one must use the state code of 27 plus the county code of 001; therefore, the unique nationwide identifier for Aitkin County, Minnesota is 27001. The links in the column FIPS County Code are to the Census Bureau Info page for that county.^[3]

List

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Historical counties

Before statehood

• St. Clair County, Indiana Territory (1801–1812) (Transferred to Illinois in 1809)
• St. Charles County, Louisiana Territory (1809–1813) (Transferred to Missouri Territory in 1812)
• Madison County, Illinois Territory (1812–1818) Formed from St. Clair County
• Michilimackinac County, Michigan Territory (1818–1837)
• Crawford County, Michigan Territory (1818–1840) (Transferred to Wisconsin Territory in 1837)
• Chippewa County, Michigan Territory (1827–1837)
• Dubuque County, Michigan Territory (1834–1837)
• Fayette County, Wisconsin Territory (1837–1849)
• St. Croix County, Wisconsin Territory (1840–1849)
• La Pointe County, Wisconsin Territory (1845–1849) Formed from St. Croix
• Mahkatah County (1849–1851) (Mahkahto) (One of Original 9 counties) Dissolved to Pembina and Cass
• Wahnata County (1849–1851) (One of Original 9 counties) Dissolved to Pembina and Cass
• Superior County (February 20, 1855 to March 3, 1855) Name changed to Saint Louis, then to Lake
• Newton County (1855–1856) Formed from Itasca County and Un-organized. Name Changed from Doty County, then to Saint Louis County.
• Saint Louis County (1855-1856) Name changed from Superior, then to Lake. Saint Louis name given to former Newton County

After statehood

• Buchanan County (1857–1861) Formed from Pine County, dissolved back to Pine
• Pierce County (1853–1862) Formed from Dakota County
• Davis County (1855–1862) Formed from Cass, Nicollet, and Sibley Counties
• Toombs County (1858–1862) Formed from Pembina, name changed to Andy Johnson
• Monroe County (1858-1860) Merged with Mille Lacs
• Lincoln County (1861–1868) Formed from Renville County
• Lac qui Parle County (1862–1868) Formed from Davis
• Manomin County (1857–1869) Formed from Ramsey County, Merged into Anoka County.
• Monongalia County (1861–1870) Formed from Ramsey, Pierce, and un-organized counties. Dissolved to Kandiyohi County.
• Aiken County (1857–1872) Formed from Pine and Ramsey counties, name changed to Aitkin
• Pembina County (1849–1878) (One of Original 9 counties) Name changed to Kittson
• Breckenridge County (1858–1862) Formed from Pembina, name changed to Clay
• Andy Johnson County (1862–1868) Formerly Toombs, name changed to Wilkin
• Midway County (1857–1858) Area created from Brown county, overlapped Pipestone county. Dissolved in 1858 when the State of Minnesota was formed and the rest of the territory not added to the state became unorganized.

External links

• Map of the Organized Counties of Minnesota, 1850

Notes and References

1. Web site: Minnesota Place Names. Minnesota Historical Society. September 17, 2007. https://web.archive.org/web/20070814134732/http://mnplaces.mnhs.org/upham/. August 14, 2007. dead.
2. Web site: Minnesota County History. Association of Minnesota Counties. September 2, 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070813020231/http://www.mncounties.org/about_counties.htm . August 13, 2007.
3. Web site: EPA County FIPS Code Listing. EPA. April 9, 2007.