Otter Tail County, Minnesota

The Otter Tail County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. In 2010, the County had 57 303 inhabitants and a population density of 11.2 inhabitants per square kilometer. The administrative headquarters ( County Seat) is Fergus Falls.

Geography

The County is located north-west of the geographical center of Minnesota and is drained by the Otter Tail River, next to the Bois de Sioux River one of the two sources of the Red River of the North. The largest lake in the county is traversed by the Otter Tail River Otter Tail Lake.

The county has an area of ​​5762 square kilometers, of which 635 square kilometers are water surface. At the Otter Tail County borders the following Nachbarcountys:

History

The oldest surviving testimony of human settlement are the 13,000 year-old remains of the so-called Minnesota Girl, which were found in Pelican Rapids. Prior to white settlement, there were Indians of the Dakota and the enemy with these Anishinabe.

The first white who came to the territory of today's County, were French and British fur traders. On Leaf Lake and the Otter Tail Lake trading post were built. Timber industry and agriculture developed into the largest economic activity of the region in the 19th century. Extensive deciduous and coniferous forests, the convenient location and the markets made Fergus Falls became a center of the timber industry.

The Otter Tail County was formed on March 18, 1858 from portions of Cass County and the defunct Pembina County. It was named after Otter Tail Lake and Otter Tail River. 1868, the administration of the county was organized; first county seat was Ottertail.

In 1870, the County had approximately 2000 inhabitants. The then most spoken languages ​​in addition to English were Norwegian, Swedish and German.

Demographic data

According to the census in 2010 in Otter Tail County lived 57 303 people in 24,560 households. The population density was 11.2 inhabitants per square kilometer. In the 24,560 households lived statistically 2.28 per person.

The racial the population was composed of 96.8 percent white, 0.9 percent African American, 0.6 percent Native American, 0.5 percent Asian, 0.1 percent Polynesians as well as other ethnic groups; 1.1 percent were descended from two or more races. Regardless of ethnicity were 2.7 percent of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

21.4 percent of the population were under 18 years old, 57.2 percent were between 18 and 64 and 21.4 percent were 65 years or older. 49.8 percent of the population was female.

The median income for a household was $ 45,494. The per capita income was $ 24,740. 12.9 percent of the population lived below the poverty line.

Towns in Otter Tail County

Citys

  • Battle Lake
  • Bluffton
  • Clitherall
  • Dalton
  • Deer Creek
  • Dent
  • Elizabeth
  • Erhard
  • Fergus Falls
  • Henning
  • New York Mills
  • Ottertail
  • Parkers Prairie
  • Pelican Rapids
  • Perham
  • Richville
  • Rothsay1
  • Underwood
  • Urbank
  • Vergas
  • Vining
  • Wadena2

Unincorporated communities

  • Almora
  • Basswood
  • Dunvilla
  • Parkton

1 - partially in Wilkin County 2 - partially in Wadena County

Structure

The Otter Tail County County is divided into 62 townships in addition to the 22 -cities:

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