Mountrail County, North Dakota facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Mountrail County
U.S. county
Mountrail County Courthouse in Stanley
Location within the U.S. state of North Dakota
North Dakota's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	North Dakota
Founded	January 4, 1873 1892 (eliminated) January 29, 1909 (reestablished)
Seat	Stanley
Largest city	Stanley
Area
• Total	1,942 sq mi (5,030 km2)
• Land	1,825 sq mi (4,730 km2)
• Water	116 sq mi (300 km2)  6.0%
Population  (2020)
• Total	9,809
• Estimate  (2021)	9,576
• Density	5.0510/sq mi (1.9502/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	At-large

Mountrail County is a county in the northwestern part of North Dakota, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 9,809. Its county seat is Stanley. The county was originally created in 1873, then removed in 1892, annexed by Ward County. It was re-created and organized in 1909.

History

Mountrail County was first established in 1873 (as Mountraille County) by the Dakota Territorial Legislature. The boundaries extended from the Missouri River north to the border with Canada. It remained a county when North Dakota became a state in 1889, but in 1892 North Dakota Legislature authorized neighboring Ward County to take over all of Mountrail's territory, and this county was eliminated.

At the November 3, 1908, general election, a vote was held in Ward County on whether to recreate Mountrail with different boundaries. The vote was 4,207 to 4,024 in favor of the new county, but North Dakota's Attorney General sued the Secretary of State over the validity of the vote. Organization of the new Mountrail County was delayed until the Supreme Court affirmed the vote in January 1909.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,942 square miles (5,030 km²), of which 1,825 square miles (4,730 km²) is land and 116 square miles (300 km²) (6.0%) is water.

Mountrail County is one of several western North Dakota counties with significant exposure to the Bakken Formation in the Williston Basin.

Adjacent counties

• Burke County (north)
• Ward County (east)
• McLean County (southeast)
• Dunn County (south)
• McKenzie County (southwest)
• Williams County (west)

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 2
• North Dakota Highway 8
• North Dakota Highway 23
• North Dakota Highway 31
• North Dakota Highway 37
• North Dakota Highway 1804

National protected areas

• Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge (part)
• Shell Lake National Wildlife Refuge

Demographics

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 7,673 people, 2,793 households, and 1,852 families in the county. The population density was 4.20/sqmi (1.62/km²). There were 4,119 housing units at an average density of 2.26/sqmi (0.87/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 65.6% white, 30.6% American Indian, 0.2% black or African American, 0.2% Asian, 0.8% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 3.7% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 36.6% were Norwegian, 24.4% were German, 6.6% were Irish, and 0.8% were American.

Of the 2,793 households, 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.3% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 33.7% were non-families, and 28.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.11. The median age was 37.0 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $53,912 and the median income for a family was $63,238. Males had a median income of $43,386 versus $29,432 for females. The per capita income for the county was $25,762. About 13.5% of families and 16.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 24.2% of those under age 18 and 14.2% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

• New Town
• Palermo
• Parshall
• Plaza
• Ross
• Stanley (county seat)
• White Earth

Townships

Unincorporated communities

• Belden
• Lostwood
• Lunds Valley
• Old Sanish
• Tagus

Images for kids

• 

  Outline map of Mountrail County, North Dakota, 1917

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Mountrail (Dakota del Norte) para niños