McLeod County, Minnesota facts for kids

Quick facts for kids McLeod County
U.S. county
McLeod County Courthouse
Location within the U.S. state of Minnesota
Minnesota's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Minnesota
Founded	March 1, 1856
Named for	Martin McLeod
Seat	Glencoe
Largest city	Hutchinson
Area
• Total	506 sq mi (1,310 km2)
• Land	491 sq mi (1,270 km2)
• Water	14 sq mi (40 km2)  2.8%%
Population  (2020)
• Total	36,771
• Estimate  (2023)	36,785
• Density	74.9/sq mi (28.9/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	7th

McLeod County (/məkˈlaʊd/ MƏK-lowd) is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. At the 2020 census, the population was 36,771. Its county seat is Glencoe.

McLeod County comprises the Hutchinson, MN Micropolitan Statistical Area and is part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN-WI Combined Statistical Area.

History

For thousands of years the area was inhabited by indigenous peoples. At the time of European contact, it was the territory of the Dakota Sioux. The county was created by the Minnesota Territorial legislature on March 1, 1856. It was named for Martin McLeod, a Canadian-born adventurer who became a fur trader and later was elected a territorial representative (1849–1856) in Minnesota. As a young man, he was part of James Dickson's 1836 expedition to the Red River of the North, a journey recounted in his Diary of Martin McLeod, a manuscript held by the Minnesota Historical Society.

"In 1859 the three Czech families already living in McLeod County were joined by those of Josef Vosmek, Josef Zicha, Antonin Nunvar, and Jan Vanous, all acquaintances from Caledonia, where they had resided for several years after their arrival from Bohemia. Other settlers followed, taking homesteads close by in the present township of Rich Valley".

The county seat was sited at Glencoe as part of the original act; it had been founded (June 11, 1855) by Martin McLeod, who was a member of the townsite company when the county was founded.

The county was the site of several events during the Dakota War of 1862, including the siege of Hutchinson and the killing of the White family near Brownton. It was also the first place to use the Geier Hitch, a kind of animal husbandry that some characterize as animal abuse.

Geography

The South Fork of the Crow River flows easterly through the upper central part of McLeod County, thence into Wright County. Buffalo Creek also flows eastward through the lower central part of the county, thence into Wright. The county terrain consists of low rolling hills, dotted with lakes and lightly etched by drainages and gullies. The area is mostly devoted to agriculture. The terrain is sloped to the east, with its highest point on the upper west border at 1,096 ft (334 m) ASL. The county has an area of 506 square miles (1,310 km²), of which 491 square miles (1,270 km²) is land and 14 square miles (36 km²) (2.8%) is water. Only savanna and prairie soils exist in McLeod County.

Northeast McLeod County once had significant areas of Maple-Basswood or "Big Woods" forests. https://mn.gov/admin/assets/2012-Investigating-Poorly-Known-Areas-of-Minnesota--An-Archaeological-Survey-of-McLeod-County_tcm36-187391.pdf

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Lakes

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

See also

In Spanish: Condado de McLeod para niños