County |
County
Seat |
Date
Formed |
Orgination |
Origin of
Name |
Aitkin |
Aitkin |
1857 |
Pine County and
Ramsey |
William Alexander Aitken
1785 - 1851, early fur trader with Ojibwe
Indians |
Anoka |
Anoka |
1857 |
Ramsey
County |
Dakota word meaning both
sides |
Becker |
Detroit
Lakes |
1858 |
Cass and Pembina
County |
George Loomis Becker former
state senator and third Mayor of Saint Paul
1856-1857 |
Beltrami |
Bemidji |
1866 |
unorganized territory,
Itasca, Pembina, Polk
Counties |
Giacomo Beltrami, Italian
explorer who explored the northern reaches of
Mississippi River in
1823. |
Benton |
Foley |
1849 |
One
of nine original counties; formed from residual
St. Croix County, Wisconsin
Territory. |
Thomas Hart Benton
1782-1858), former United States Senator from
Missouri (1821-1851) |
Big
Stone |
Ortonville |
1862 |
Pierce
County |
Big
Stone Lake located in the
County |
Blue
Earth |
Mankato |
1853 |
Unorganized territory,
Dakota County |
Blue Earth River that flows
through Minnesota |
Brown |
New
Ulm |
1855 |
Blue Earth
County |
Joseph Renshaw Brown
(1805-1870), member of Minnesota territorial
legislature (1854-55) and prominent
pioneer |
Carlton |
Carlton |
1857 |
Pine and Saint Louis
Counties |
Rueben B. Carlton
(1812-1863), early settler and state senator
(1857-1858) |
Carver |
Chaska |
1855 |
Hennepin and Sibley
Counties |
Jonathan Carver
(1710-1790), early explorer and cartographer of
the Mississippi river. |
Cass |
Walker |
1851 |
Dakota, Pembina, Mankahto,
Wahnata Counties |
Lewis Cass (1782-1866),
senator from Michigan (1845-1857) and U. S.
Secretary of State 1831 -
1836 |
Chippewa |
Montevideo |
1870 |
Pierce and Davice
counties |
Chippewa River that flows
through Minnesota |
Chisago |
Center
City |
1851 |
Washington and Ramsey
Counties |
Chisago Lake located in the
County |
Clay |
Moorhead |
1862 |
Pembina
County |
Henry Clay 1777 - 1852
Kentucky statesman and ninth U. S. secretary of
State 1825 - 1829 |
Clearwater |
Bagley |
1902 |
Beltrami
County |
Clearwater Lake and River
both are located in the
state. |
Cook |
Grand
Marais |
1874 |
Lake
County |
Civil War veteran Major
Michael Cook of Faribault who was territorial
and state senator 1857 -
62 |
Cottonwood |
Windom |
1857 |
Brown
County |
Cottonwood
River |
Crow
Wing |
Brainerd |
1857 |
Ramsey
County |
Crow Wing
River |
Dakota |
Hastings |
1849 |
One
of nine original counties |
from the Dakota language
after a local tribe meaning
Allies |
Dodge |
Mantorville |
1855 |
Rice
County |
Henry Dodge 1782 - 1867
Twice governor of
Wisconsin |
Douglas |
Alexandria |
1858 |
Cass and Pembina
County |
Stephen Arnold Douglas
(1813-1861), former United States Senator from
Illinois (1847-1861) |
Faribault |
Blue
Earth |
1855 |
Blue Earth
County |
Jean-Baptiste Fairbault
(1775-1860), early settler and fur
trader |
Fillmore |
Preston |
1853 |
Wabasha
County |
Millard Fillmore
(1800-1874), thirteenth president of the United
States (1850-1853) |
Freeborn |
Albert
Lea |
1855 |
Blue Earth and Rice
Counties |
William S. Freeborn
(1816-1900), member of the Territorial
Legislature |
Goodhue |
Red
Wing |
1853 |
Wasbasha and Dakota
Counties |
James Madison Goodhue, the
first newspaper editor in
Minnesota |
Grant |
Elbow
Lake |
1868 |
Stevens, Wilkin and
Traverse Counties |
Ulysses S. Grant
(1822-1885), eighteenth president of the United
States (1869-1877) |
Hennepin |
Minneapolis |
1852 |
Dakota
County |
Father Louis Hennepin
(1626-1705), early explorer of the Twin Cities
area in the 17th Century |
Houston |
Caledonia |
1854 |
Fillmore
County |
Sam
Houston (1793-1863), the second and fourth
president of the Republic of Texas and seventh
governor of Texas |
Hubbard |
Park
Rapids |
1883 |
Cass
County |
Lucius Frederick Hubbard
(1836-1913), ninth governor of Minnesota
(1882-1887) |
Isanti |
Cambridge |
1857 |
Ramsey
County |
Division of the Dakotas
called the Izatys, meaning [those that] dwell at
Knife Lake, after where they
resided. |
Itasca |
Grand
Rapids |
1849 |
One
of nine counties formed from residual La Pointe
County, Wisconsin Territory |
Lake Itasca source of the
Mississippi River located in northwestern
Minnesota |
Jackson |
Jackson |
1857 |
Brown
County |
Henry Jackson member of the
first territorial legislature and the first
merchant in St. Paul |
Kanabec |
Mora |
1858 |
Pine
County |
From the Ojibwe language
Kan-a-bec-o-si-pi meaning Snake River which
flows through the county |
Kandiyohi |
Willmar |
1858 |
Meeker, Renville, Pierce,
Davis, and Stearns Counties |
From the Souix language for
"buffalo fish" |
Kittson |
Hallock |
1879 |
Pembina
County |
Norman Kittson (1814-1888),
businessman and mayor of Saint Paul
(1858-1859) |
Koochiching |
International
Falls |
1906 |
Itasca
County |
From the Ojibwe language
Gojijiing Place of inlets which was the Cree
name for Rainy Lake and Rainy
River |
Lac
qui Parle |
Madison |
1871 |
Redwood
County |
French phrase meaning "lake
which talks" |
Lake |
Two
Harbors |
1856 |
Itasca
County |
Lake Superior which forms
one of its edges |
Lake of the
Woods |
Baudette |
1923 |
Beltrami
County |
Lake of the Woods located
in the county |
Le
Sueur |
Le
Center |
1853 |
Dakota
County |
Pierre-Charles Le Sueur
1657-1704), fur tradser and early explorer of
the Minnesota River
Valley |
Lincoln |
Ivanhoe |
1873 |
Lyon
County |
Abraham Lincoln
(1809-1865), sixteenth president of the United
States (1861-1865) |
Lyon |
Marshall |
1871 |
Redwood
County |
Nathaniel Lyon (1818-1861),
United States Army general killed during the
Civil War |
McLeod |
Glencoe |
1856 |
Carver and Sibley
County |
Martin McLeod early pioneer
and member of the territorial legislature
(1849-1856) |
Mahnomen |
Mahnomen |
1906 |
Norman
County |
Ojibwa word meaning "wild
rice". |
Marshall |
Warren |
1879 |
Kittson
County |
William Rainey Marshall
(1825-1896), fifth governor of Minnesota
(1866-1870) |
Martin |
Fairmont |
1857 |
Fairbault and Brown
Counties |
Morgan Lewis Martin
(1805-1887), delegate to Congress from Wisconsin
Territory |
Meeker |
Litchfield |
1856 |
Davis
County |
Bradley B. Meeker
(1813-1873), Associate Justice of the Minnesota
Territorial Supreme Court
(1849-1853) |
Mille
Lacs |
Milaca |
1857 |
Ramsey
County |
Mille Lacs Lake, a lake
located within the
county |
Morrison |
Little
Falls |
1856 |
Benton
County |
William & Allan
Morrison, fur trading
brothers |
Mower |
Austin |
1855 |
Rice
County |
John Edward Mower
(1815-1879), member of the Minnesota territorial
legislature in the 1850s |
Murray |
Slayton |
1857 |
Brown
County |
William Pitt Murray
(1825-1910), Minnesota statesman and member of
the territorial legislature (1852-1855) and
1857 |
Nicollet |
St.
Peter |
1853 |
Dakota
County |
Joseph Nicholas Nicollet
(1786-1843), early explore and cartographer of
the Upper Mississippi
River |
Nobles |
Worthington |
1857 |
Brown
County |
William H. Nobles, member
of the Minnesota territorial legislature in 1854
and 1856 |
Norman |
Ada |
1881 |
Polk
County |
Early Norwegian, also known
as Norman, settlers |
Olmsted |
Rochester |
1855 |
Fillmore, Wabasha, and Rice
Counties |
David Olmsted first mayor
of Saint Paul and member of territorial
legislature (1849-1850) |
Otter
Tail |
Fergus
Falls |
1858 |
Pembina, and Cass
Counties |
Otter Tail Lake in the
county |
Pennington |
Thief River
Falls |
1910 |
Red
Lake County |
Edmund Pennington b. 1848,
executive of the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault
Ste. Marie Railroad |
Pine |
Pine
City |
1856 |
Chisago and Ramsey
Counties |
Giant forests of Eastern
White Pine and Red Pine and Red Pine that
flourish in the county |
Pipestone |
Pipestone |
1857 |
Brown
County |
Name of a sacred Dakota
quarry of red pipestone found in the
county |
Polk |
Cookston |
1858 |
Pembina
County |
James K. Polk (1795-1849),
eleventh president of the United States
(1845-1849) |
Pope |
Glenwood |
1862 |
Pierce and Cass
Counties |
John Pope (1822-1892),
United States Army general during the Dakota War
of 1862 |
Ramsey |
St.
Paul |
1849 |
One
of the nine orginal counties formed from
residual St. Croix County |
Alexander Ramsey
(1815-1903), second governor of Minnesota
(1860-1863) |
Red
Lake |
Red
Lake Falls |
1896 |
Polk
County |
Red
Lake River that flows through the
county |
Redwood |
Redwood
Falls |
1862 |
Brown
County |
Redwood River that flows
through the county |
Renville |
Olivia |
1855 |
Nicollet, Pierce, and
Sibley Counties |
Joseph Renville
(1779-1846), interpreter for early explorations
of the Louisiana
Purchase |
Rice |
Faribault |
1853 |
Dakota and Wabasha
Counties |
Henry Mower Rice
(1816-1894), former United States Senator from
Minnesota (1858-1863) |
Rock |
Luverne |
1857 |
Brown
County |
Large rocky plateau located
within the county, known as "the
mound." |
Roseau |
Roseau |
1894 |
Kittson, Beltrami
Counties |
Roseau River and Roseau
Lake, both of which are located
nearby |
Saint
Louis |
Duluth |
1855 |
Itasca
County |
Saint Louis River that
flows through Minnesota |
Scott |
Shakopee |
1853 |
Dakota
County |
Winfield Scott 1786-1866),
United States Army general who served from
(1808-1861) |
Sherburne |
Elk
River |
1856 |
Benton
County |
Moses Sherburne
(1813-1873), Associate Justice of the Minnesota
Territorial Supreme Court 1853 -
1857 |
Sibley |
Gaylord |
1853 |
Dakota
County |
Henry Hastings Sibley
(1811-1891), first governor of Minnesota
(1858-1860) |
Stearns |
St.
Cloud |
1855 |
Cass, Nicollet,Pierce and
Sibley Counties |
Charles Thomas Stearns
1814-1888), early settler of St. Cloud and
member of the Minnesota territorial legislature
(1849-1858) |
Steele |
Owatonna |
1855 |
Rice, Blue Earth,Le Sueur
Counties |
Franklin Steele
(1813-1880), early settler of Minneapolis and
developer of Saint Anthony
Falls |
Stevens |
Morris |
1862 |
Pierce
County |
Isaac Ingalls Stevens (1818
- 1862) first governor of Washington Territory
(1853 - 1857) |
Swift |
Benson |
1870 |
Chippewa
County |
Henry Adoniram Swift
(1823-1869), third governor of Minnesota
(1863-1864) |
Todd |
Long
Prairie |
1855 |
Cass
County |
John Blair Smith Todd
commander of Fort Ripley (1849 - 56) general in
the Civil War delegate in Congress from Dakota
Territory (1861 and 1863 - 65) governor of
Dakota Territory (1859 -
71) |
Traverse |
Wheaton |
1862 |
Pierce
County |
Lake Traverse that is
located in the county |
Wabasha |
Wabasha |
1849 |
One
of the nine orginal counties |
Named after M'dewakanton
Dakota Indian Chief Wabasha
III |
Wadena |
Wadena |
1858 |
Cass and Todd
Counties |
Wadena Trading Post, in
turn for a Ojibway word meaning "a little round
hill". |
Waseca |
Waseca |
1857 |
Steele
County |
Dakota word meaning "rich
and fertile" |
Washington |
Stillwater |
1849 |
One
of the nine orginal counties formed from
residual St. Croix County,Wisconsin
Territory |
George Washington
(1732-1799), first president of the United
States (1789-1797) |
Watonwan |
St.
James |
1860 |
Brown
County |
Woton River a river that
flows through Minnesota |
Wilkin |
Breckinridge |
1858 |
Cass and Pembina
Counties |
Alexander Wilkin
(1820-1864), Minnesota politician and soldier
killed in the Civil War |
Winona |
Winona |
1854 |
Fillmore and Wabasha
Counties |
Named after Wee-No-Nah,
Sister or Cousin of Chief Wabasha
III |
Wright |
Buffalo |
1855 |
Cass and Sibley
Counties |
Silas Wright (1795-1847),
former United States Senator from New York
(1833-1844) |
Yellow
Medicine |
Granite
Falls |
1871 |
Redwood
County |
Yellow Medicine River that
flows through
Minnesota |