Meeker County, Minnesota facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Meeker County
U.S. county
Grand Army of the Republic Hall in Litchfield, Minnesota.
Location within the U.S. state of Minnesota
Minnesota's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Minnesota
Founded	February 23, 1856
Named for	Bradley B. Meeker, an associate justice of Minnesota Territorial Court
Seat	Litchfield
Largest city	Litchfield
Area
• Total	645 sq mi (1,670 km2)
• Land	608 sq mi (1,570 km2)
• Water	37 sq mi (100 km2)  5.7%%
Population  (2020)
• Total	23,400
• Estimate  (2023)	23,490
• Density	38.5/sq mi (14.9/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	7th

Meeker County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 23,400. Its county seat is Litchfield.

History

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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. One of those original counties, Dakota, had portions partitioned off to create Cass (1851), Nicollet (1853), Pierce (1853), and Sibley (1853) counties. In 1855 portions of those counties were carved out to create Davis, and on February 23, 1856, the territorial legislature created Meeker County from a portion of Davis. It was named for Bradley B. Meeker (1813-1873), who served on the Minnesota Territorial Supreme Court from 1849 to 1853. The area of Forest City was first settled in the 1850s, and the village was named the county seat in 1856. It was platted as Forest City in 1857.

In 1856 the first settlers moved into the future Litchfield; the resulting settlement was named Ness. The area grew, and with the arrival of a spur from the St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, the vote was taken to move the county seat to this area in the fall of 1869. Upon being platted in 1869, the city was renamed Litchfield.

On March 20, 1858, the western portion of Meeker County was partitioned off to create Kandiyohi County. Meeker County's boundaries have remained unchanged since then.

The murder of five white homesteaders in Acton on August 17, 1862, by four young Dakota men sparked the 1862 Dakota War, and the battle of Acton on September 3 saw the 75 men of Company B, 9th Minnesota ambushed by a superior force of Dakota and forced to retreat to Hutchinson. The Dakota attacked Forest City shortly thereafter, and numerous monuments to people killed in the conflict can be found in the county.

Geography

Meeker County's terrain consists of low rolling hills, lightly wooded and heavily dotted with lakes and ponds. The available area is devoted to agriculture. The terrain slopes to the south and east, with its highest point just southwest of Lake Hope, 7.9 miles (12.7 km) west-southwest of Litchfield, at 1,261 ft (384 m) ASL. The county has a total area of 645 square miles (1,670 km²), of which 608 square miles (1,570 km²) is land and 37 square miles (96 km²) (5.7%) is water.

Soils of Greenleaf Lake SRA

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Protected areas

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.

Communities

Cities

Unincorporated communities

Townships

There were, as of 1888, 17 Townships in Meeker County.

Notable people

• Magnus Johnson (1871-1936) - local farmer and United States Senator (1923-1925)

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Meeker para niños