Kanabec County, Minnesota

Kanabec County
County
Kanabec County Courthouse in Mora (2007)
Location within the U.S. state of Minnesota
Minnesota's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 45°57′N93°18′W / 45.95°N 93.3°W / 45.95; -93.3
Country	United States
State	Minnesota
Founded	March 13, 1858 (created) 1882 (fully organized)
Named for	Snake River
Seat	Mora
Largest city	Mora
Area
• Total	534 sq mi (1,380 km2)
• Land	522 sq mi (1,350 km2)
• Water	12 sq mi (30 km2)  2.3%
Population  (2020)
• Total	16,032
• Estimate  (2023)	16,602
• Density	30.7/sq mi (11.9/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	8th
Website	www.kanabeccounty.org

Kanabec County ( /kəˈneɪbɪk/ kə-NAY-bik) ^[1] is a county in the East Central part of U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,032. ^[2] Its county seat is Mora. ^[3]

History

The Minnesota legislature authorized creation of Kanabec County on March 13, 1858, ^[4] with territory partitioned from Pine County. No county seat was designated at that time, and the county organization was not effected at that time. The county name came from the Ojibwe term ginebig, meaning "snake," after the Snake River — Kanabecosippi (Ginebigo-ziibi in the modern spelling) — which flows through the county. ^[5]

The area of Kanabec County was attached to Chisago County for administrative and judicial purposes. What county business was handled locally was performed by part-time County Auditor and County Treasurer, in a single room in a stopping place operated by lumber-trader George Staples at Millet Rapids.

In 1871 the county was detached from Chisago, and assigned to Pine County. This assignment lasted through 1881.

The 1870 United States census listed 53 occupants of the Kanabec County area. However, an influx of settlers into its southern areas occurred in the early 1870s, and by 1876 an official county building was needed. A one-room wood building was erected at Millet Rapids, put into use in 1876. In 1881 the county was detached from Pine, and the government structure was finalized, with the county seat being designated at Brunswick. Only one court term was held at Brunswick; in the 1882 general election, a nearly-unanimous vote designated Mora as the county seat. The old courthouse building was sold to a local farmer, who moved it to his property to use as a home. The wood courthouse erected at Mora was used until 1894, when it burned and was replaced by a more fireproof building. ^[6]

Geography

The Snake River Flowing in the Spring of 2020

The Snake River flows south-southeasterly through the central part of the county, fed by Groundhouse River (flowing northeasterly from the county's SW corner) and Red Creek and Mud Creek. The Snake continues easterly into Pine County. The county terrain consists of partly-wooded rolling hills, etched by drainages. It is largely devoted to agriculture. ^[7] The terrain slopes to the south and east, with its highest point near the NW corner, at 1,309 ft (399 m) ASL. ^[8] The county has a total area of 534 square miles (1,380 km²), of which 522 square miles (1,350 km²) is land and 12 square miles (31 km²) (2.3%) is water. ^[9]

Sunset over Fish Lake in Kanabec County

Lakes

Source: ^[7]

• Ann Lake
• Bachman Dam
• Bass Lake (part)
• Beauty Lake
• Featherbed Lake
• Fish Lake
• Kent Lake
• Knife Lake
• Lake Eleven
• Lake Five
• Lake Full of Fish
• Lewis Lake
• Long Lake
• Pennington Lake
• Pomroy Lake
• Rice Lake
• Spring Lake
• Thirteen Lake
• White Lily Lake

Adjacent counties

• Aitkin County - north
• Pine County - east
• Chisago County - southeast
• Isanti County - south
• Mille Lacs County - west

Protected areas

Source: ^[7]

• Ann Lake State Wildlife Management Area
• Bean Dam State Wildlife Management Area
• Hay-Snake State Wildlife Management Area
• Rice Creek State Wildlife Management Area
• Rum River State Forest (part)
• Tosher Creek State Wildlife Management Area
• Whited State Wildlife Management Area

Historic Locations

Source: ^[10]

• Ann River Logging Company Farm
• Kanabec County Courthouse
• Knife Lake prehistoric district
• Ogilvie Watertower
• C. E. Williams House
• Zetterberg Company

Infrastructure

Airports

• Mora Municipal Airport

Highways

• Minnesota State Highway 23
• Minnesota State Highway 27
• Minnesota State Highway 47
• Minnesota State Highway 65
• Minnesota State Highway 70
• Minnesota State Highway 107

County Roads

• County Road 1 - County Road 30

Demographics

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1860	30		—
1870	93		210.0%
1880	505		443.0%
1890	1,579		212.7%
1900	4,614		192.2%
1910	6,461		40.0%
1920	9,086		40.6%
1930	8,558		−5.8%
1940	9,651		12.8%
1950	9,192		−4.8%
1960	9,007		−2.0%
1970	9,775		8.5%
1980	12,161		24.4%
1990	12,802		5.3%
2000	14,996		17.1%
2010	16,239		8.3%
2020	16,032		−1.3%
2023 (est.)	16,602	[11]	3.6%
U.S. Decennial Census [12] 1790-1960 [13] 1900-1990 [14] 1990-2000 [15] 2010-2020 [2]

2020 Census

Kanabec County Racial Composition ^[16]

Race	Num.	Perc.
White (NH)	14,954	93.3%
Black or African American (NH)	65	0.4%
Native American (NH)	113	0.7%
Asian (NH)	80	0.5%
Pacific Islander (NH)	0	0%
Other/Mixed (NH)	582	3.63%
Hispanic or Latino	238	1.5%

2010 census

2022 US Census population pyramid for Kanabec County, from ACS 5-year estimates

As of the census of 2010, there were 16,239 people and 6,277 households in the county. The population density was 31.1 per square mile (12.0/km²). There were 7,808 housing units (2014 estimate). The racial makeup of the county was 96.6% White, 0.6% Black or African American, 0.8% Native American or Alaska Native, 0.4% Asian, <0.1% Pacific Islander or Native Hawaiian, and 1.6% from other races or two or more races. 1.7% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. As of the 2000 census, 30.2% were of German, 18.1% Swedish, 13.1% Norwegian, 5.5% American and 5.4% Irish ancestry.

In the census of 2000, there were 5,759 households, out of which 34.10% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.80% were married couples living together, 8.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.00% were non-families. 23.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.58 and the average family size was 3.03.

The county population contained 24.0% under the age of 18 and 16.4% who were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 101.2 males.

The median income for a household in the county was $47,068. The per capita income for the county was $22,291. About 14.2% of the population were below the poverty line.

Communities

Cities

• Braham (mostly in Isanti County)
• Grasston
• Mora (county seat)
• Ogilvie
• Quamba

Unincorporated communities

• Brunswick
• Coin
• Grass Lake
• Kroschel
• Lewis Lake
• Warman
• Woodland

Abandoned Communities

Locations where the US Post office used to operate but no longer exist. ^[17]

• Bronson
• Fisk
• Heiden
• Hillman
• Mull
• Raritan
• Riverdale

Townships

• Ann Lake Township
• Arthur Township
• Brunswick Township
• Comfort Township
• Ford Township
• Grass Lake Township
• Hay Brook Township
• Hillman Township
• Kanabec Township
• Knife Lake Township
• Kroschel Township
• Peace Township
• Pomroy Township
• South Fork Township
• Whited Township

Politics

Kanabec County voters have moved toward the Republican Party in the past few decades; since 1980 the county has selected the Republican Party candidate in 67% of national elections (as of 2020).

United States presidential election results for Kanabec County, Minnesota ^[18]

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party(ies)
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2024	6,818	70.27%	2,718	28.01%	167	1.72%
2020	6,278	67.93%	2,774	30.02%	190	2.06%
2016	5,230	63.96%	2,327	28.46%	620	7.58%
2012	4,328	53.10%	3,593	44.09%	229	2.81%
2008	4,479	52.70%	3,743	44.04%	277	3.26%
2004	4,527	54.89%	3,592	43.55%	129	1.56%
2000	3,480	51.09%	2,831	41.57%	500	7.34%
1996	1,924	32.35%	2,927	49.21%	1,097	18.44%
1992	1,876	29.83%	2,532	40.27%	1,880	29.90%
1988	2,571	45.93%	2,970	53.05%	57	1.02%
1984	3,027	52.88%	2,660	46.47%	37	0.65%
1980	2,500	45.39%	2,654	48.18%	354	6.43%
1976	1,943	36.58%	3,188	60.03%	180	3.39%
1972	2,395	51.71%	1,969	42.51%	268	5.79%
1968	1,847	43.48%	2,154	50.71%	247	5.81%
1964	1,348	33.50%	2,666	66.25%	10	0.25%
1960	2,278	54.33%	1,890	45.08%	25	0.60%
1956	1,950	52.80%	1,736	47.01%	7	0.19%
1952	2,205	55.85%	1,714	43.41%	29	0.73%
1948	1,531	38.56%	2,305	58.06%	134	3.38%
1944	1,913	51.52%	1,776	47.83%	24	0.65%
1940	2,311	50.85%	2,185	48.07%	49	1.08%
1936	1,350	33.02%	2,579	63.09%	159	3.89%
1932	1,268	35.17%	2,106	58.42%	231	6.41%
1928	2,380	68.35%	1,040	29.87%	62	1.78%
1924	1,507	47.57%	128	4.04%	1,533	48.39%
1920	2,436	75.68%	332	10.31%	451	14.01%
1916	776	49.02%	608	38.41%	199	12.57%
1912	218	16.99%	270	21.04%	795	61.96%
1908	803	69.52%	242	20.95%	110	9.52%
1904	872	86.08%	106	10.46%	35	3.46%
1900	658	73.44%	210	23.44%	28	3.13%
1896	484	64.11%	256	33.91%	15	1.99%
1892	182	53.53%	38	11.18%	120	35.29%
1888	162	45.25%	82	22.91%	114	31.84%
1884	280	87.50%	40	12.50%	0	0.00%
1880	101	67.79%	48	32.21%	0	0.00%
1876	109	78.99%	29	21.01%	0	0.00%
1872	22	62.86%	13	37.14%	0	0.00%
1868	8	88.89%	1	11.11%	0	0.00%
1860	15	100.00%	0	0.00%	0	0.00%

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Kanabec County, Minnesota

References

1. "Minnesota Pronunciation Guide". Associated Press . Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved July 4, 2011.
2. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved April 23, 2023.
3. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
4. Minnesota State Government Series - State Counties
5. Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. p.  172.
6. About Us. Kanabec County website (accessed March 13, 2019)
7. Kanabec County MN Google Maps (accessed March 13, 2019)
8. ""Find an Altitude/Kanabec County MN" Google Maps (accessed March 13, 2019)". Archived from the original on May 21, 2019. Retrieved March 13, 2019.
9. "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
10. "National Register of Historical Places - MINNESOTA (MN), Kanabec County". nationalhistoricalregister.com. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
11. "Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties: April 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023" . Retrieved March 18, 2024.
12. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on April 26, 2015. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
13. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
14. "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
15. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 27, 2010. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
16. "P2 HISPANIC OR LATINO, AND NOT HISPANIC OR LATINO BY RACE – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Kanabec County, Minnesota".
17. "Notification Service | Post Offices". www.postalhistory.com. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
18. Leip, David. "Atlas of US Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved September 19, 2018.

Further reading

• Ziegler, Frank and Robert H Beck (1981). Ken-ā-big : the story of Kanabec County: an illustrated history of Kanabec County, its early years. Mora, MN: B & W Printers. ISBN   978-1-199-49133-6. ISBN   1-199-49133-0.

External links

• Mn/DOT map of Kanabec County

45°57′N93°18′W / 45.95°N 93.30°W / 45.95; -93.30