# Dodge County, Minnesota *County in southeastern Minnesota, United States* Dodge County is a county in southeastern [[Minnesota]], with its seat at Mantorville; the 2020 census counted 20,867 residents.[^1] The county belongs to the Rochester, MN Metropolitan Statistical Area.[^1] Before settlement the area was hunting ground for the [[Mdewakanton]] Sioux and a place of conflict with Sauk and Meskwaki people who entered it.[^2] The county is named for Henry Dodge, the Wisconsin governor under whose direction two 1837 treaties ceded Ojibway and Sioux lands in what became eastern Minnesota.[^2] The county has voted Republican for decades. Its only vote for the Democratic Party since 1964 (as of 2024) came in 1996.[^8] ## History The earliest non-indigenous visitor may have been a French fur trader out of Canada, in 1655.[^2] Fur trappers and explorers were followed by settlers from New England.[^2] Wikipedia ties a wave of emigration in the 1820s and 1830s to the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 and to the close of the Black Hawk War, which it dates to 1831.[^2] Those settlers founded many schools, backed abolitionism, and belonged to Congregational or Episcopal churches. The article compares the county's nineteenth-century culture to that of colonial New England.[^2] On July 29, 1837, Henry Dodge, the first [[governor]] of Wisconsin (1836–1841), concluded a treaty with the Ojibways at [[Fort Snelling]], which was then within Wisconsin.[^2] Under it the Ojibways ceded to the United States their pine and farm lands along the upper St. Croix and its tributaries. The ceded tract extended west into the upper Rum River basin and on to the Mississippi between Sauk Rapids and the mouth of the Crow Wing River.[^2] In September 1837 roughly twenty Sioux chiefs and braves travelled to Washington under Dodge's direction, accompanied by the agent Major Taliaferro. There they signed a treaty giving up all their lands east of the Mississippi, together with the river's islands.[^2] The two treaties opened a large part of eastern Minnesota to settlement, including the future sites of St. Paul and St. Anthony; that land was then part of Wisconsin.[^2] The county takes its name from Dodge.[^2] ## Geography The county lies in southeastern Minnesota and measures 24 miles (39 km) long by 18 miles (29 km) wide.[^3] Its total area is 440 square miles (1,100 km²). Of that, 439 square miles are land and 0.3 square miles (0.07%) is water.[^3] The terrain is rolling, farmed where possible, and falls toward the northeast. The highest point, at 1,352 ft (412 m) above sea level, is on the eastern stretch of the southern boundary.[^3] The South Branch of the Middle Fork of the Zumbro River crosses the upper central county toward the east-northeast. Salem and Harkcom creeks carry drainage eastward.[^3] The central and northern parts are hilly and wooded, with loose, pebbly soil suited to wheat. The flat, wet south lends itself to grazing livestock, and Wikipedia describes the soil as a fertile heavy black loam.[^3] It lists Dodge among seven southern Minnesota counties that have only prairie and savanna soils and no forest ecosystems.[^3] Local sand and rock made the area a center for building. Mantorville's quarries yield thick layers of stone that can be cut to shape, and Wasioja gives its name to "Wasioja stone".[^3] Other streams in the county include Dodge Center, Henslin, Masten, Millikin and Tompkins creeks and the Little Cedar River. Its lakes include part of Rice Lake and the Zumbro River Reservoir.[^4] U.S. Highways 14 and 218 and Minnesota State Highways 30, 56 and 57 cross the county, and Dodge Center Municipal Airport serves it.[^4] The neighboring counties are Rice to the northwest, Goodhue to the northeast, Olmsted to the east, Mower to the south and Steele to the west.[^4] ## Demographics The 2020 census counted 20,867 people, with a median age of 38.4. Of these residents, 26.5% were under 18 and 15.2% were 65 or older.[^5] There were 100.7 males for every 100 females overall, and 99.4 for every 100 females among adults.[^5] In the census race categories, 91.5% of residents were White, 0.6% Black or African American, and 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native. Another 0.5% were Asian, under 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 2.3% some other race and 4.7% two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race made up 5.1%.[^5] Rural residents made up 63.3% of the population and urban residents 36.7%.[^5] The county had 7,903 households. Of these, 35.1% included children under 18 and 58.4% were married-couple households. About 22.2% consisted of one person, and in 9.8% someone 65 or older lived alone.[^5] There were 8,291 housing units, 4.7% of them vacant. Owners occupied 84.4% of occupied units and renters 15.6%, with vacancy rates of 0.8% for owners and 5.4% for rentals.[^5] In 2000 the census recorded 17,731 residents in 6,420 households, 4,853 of them families. The population density was 40.4 per square mile, and the county had 6,642 housing units.[^6] White residents were then 96.58% of the population and Black or African American residents 0.20%.[^6] ## Communities Dodge County's seven cities are Blooming Prairie (which extends into Steele County), Claremont, Dodge Center, Hayfield, Kasson, Mantorville (the county seat) and West Concord.[^7] Its unincorporated communities are Berne, Concord, Danesville (in part), Eden, Oslo, Wasioja and the ghost town of Rice Lake.[^7] The twelve townships are Ashland, Canisteo, Claremont, Concord, Ellington, Hayfield, Mantorville, Milton, Ripley, Vernon, Wasioja and Westfield.[^7] ## Politics For decades the county's voters have supported the [[Republican Party (United States)]].[^8] Between 1964 and 2024, the county voted for the [[Democratic Party (United States)]] only once, in 1996, when Bill Clinton carried it.[^8] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Dodge County, Minnesota* (revision 1380620112, retrieved 2026-10-25), CC BY-SA 4.0 — lead section: location, 2020 population, county seat, metropolitan area. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_County,_Minnesota [^2]: Wikipedia contributors, *Dodge County, Minnesota* (revision 1380620112, retrieved 2026-10-25), CC BY-SA 4.0 — History section: Indigenous use, early visitors and settlers, the 1837 treaties, naming for Henry Dodge. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_County,_Minnesota [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *Dodge County, Minnesota* (revision 1380620112, retrieved 2026-10-25), CC BY-SA 4.0 — Geography section: dimensions, area, terrain, drainage, soils, building stone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_County,_Minnesota [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *Dodge County, Minnesota* (revision 1380620112, retrieved 2026-10-25), CC BY-SA 4.0 — Geography subsections: streams, lakes, highways, airport, adjacent counties. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_County,_Minnesota [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *Dodge County, Minnesota* (revision 1380620112, retrieved 2026-10-25), CC BY-SA 4.0 — Demographics, 2020 census: population, age, race, households, housing. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_County,_Minnesota [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *Dodge County, Minnesota* (revision 1380620112, retrieved 2026-10-25), CC BY-SA 4.0 — Demographics, 2000 census: population, households, families, density, housing units. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_County,_Minnesota [^7]: Wikipedia contributors, *Dodge County, Minnesota* (revision 1380620112, retrieved 2026-10-25), CC BY-SA 4.0 — Communities section: cities, unincorporated communities, townships. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_County,_Minnesota [^8]: Wikipedia contributors, *Dodge County, Minnesota* (revision 1380620112, retrieved 2026-10-25), CC BY-SA 4.0 — Politics section: Republican voting record and the 1996 exception. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge_County,_Minnesota