Golden Valley County, North Dakota facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Golden Valley County
U.S. county
Golden Valley County Courthouse in Beach
Location within the U.S. state of North Dakota
North Dakota's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	North Dakota
Founded	1912
Seat	Beach
Largest city	Beach
Area
• Total	1,002 sq mi (2,600 km2)
• Land	1,001 sq mi (2,590 km2)
• Water	1.6 sq mi (4 km2)  0.2%
Population  (2020)
• Total	1,736
• Estimate  (2022)	1,744
• Density	1.7325/sq mi (0.6689/km2)
Time zone	UTC−7 (Mountain)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−6 (MDT)
Congressional district	At-large

Golden Valley County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,736, making it the fourth-least populous county in North Dakota. The county seat is Beach.

The county should not be confused with the city of Golden Valley, which is located in Mercer County.

History

In the general election held November 8, 1910, the voters of Billings County chose to separate the western portion of Billings and form a new county. This result was immediately challenged in court; on September 19, 1912, the ND Supreme Court upheld the election result; therefore the legislature completed the county's organization on November 13, 1912.

Golden Valley was called 'Rattlesnake Flats' by early settlers, due to the large number of the snakes found in the area. The region was dubbed Golden Valley in 1902 after a group of land surveyors noticed that the sunlight gave the surrounding grasses a distinct golden color.

Geography

Golden Valley County lies on the west line of North Dakota. Its west boundary line abuts the east boundary line of the state of Montana. Beaver Creek flows east-northeastward through the upper portion of the county, and Little Missouri River flows northeastward through the southeastern corner of the county, with gullies flowing southeastward draining the lower county into the Little Mo River. The county terrain consists of semi-arid hills, dedicated to agriculture in the level areas. The terrain slopes to the east and north, with its highest point on hills at the southwestern corner at 3,251 ft (991 m) ASL. The county has a total area of 1,002 square miles (2,600 km²), of which 1,001 square miles (2,590 km²) is land and 1.6 square miles (4.1 km²) (0.2%) is water.

Major highways

• Interstate 94
• North Dakota Highway 16

Adjacent counties

National protected area

• Little Missouri National Grassland (part)

Lakes

Source:

• Bosserman Lake
• Camels Hump Lake
• Odland Dam

Demographics

2020 census

As of the census of 2020, there were 1,736 people.

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 1,680 people, 774 households, and 429 families in the county. The population density was 1.7 inhabitants per square mile (0.66/km²). There were 967 housing units at an average density of 1.0 units per square mile (0.39/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.4% white, 0.6% American Indian, 0.6% black or African American, 0.1% Pacific islander, 0.1% Asian, 0.5% from other races, and 0.8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.1% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 69.0% were German, 14.7% were Norwegian, 10.7% were Polish, 7.9% were Irish, 7.5% were English, and 2.5% were American.

Of the 774 households, 22.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.4% were married couples living together, 4.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 44.6% were non-families, and 39.4% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.10 and the average family size was 2.85. The median age was 45.9 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $33,333 and the median income for a family was $47,500. Males had a median income of $32,875 versus $26,750 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,899. About 8.9% of families and 13.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.7% of those under age 18 and 11.4% of those age 65 or over.

Population by decade

Communities

Cities

• Beach (county seat)
• Golva
• Sentinel Butte

Unincorporated communities

Source:

Townships

Former townships

• Elmwood

Unorganized territories

Notable people

• Ernest Viggo Almquist, commercial artist
• Arthur C. Townley, founder of the North Dakota Nonpartisan League.

Gallery

• 

  Rangeland, wooded drainageways, and badland

• 

  Stream valley, rangeland and badland

• 

  Church building in Trotters

See also

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