# Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota *County in southwestern Minnesota, United States* Lac qui Parle County lies in the southwestern part of [[Minnesota]]. The 2020 census counted 6,719 residents there. Madison is the county seat, and Dawson is the largest city.[^1] The county's western edge is the state line with South Dakota, and most of its land is farmed.[^2] Its name renders in French the [[Dakota]] name "Mde Iyedan," meaning "lake that speaks."[^3] The county was created in two attempts. In 1862 the [[Minnesota Legislature]] authorized a county called Lac qui Parle on land north of the [[Minnesota River]]. The voters affected did not approve it, so that county never came into being.[^3] Nine years later, on March 6, 1871, the legislature authorized the present county south of the river, and local voters approved it.[^3] In presidential elections the county voted Republican in all but four contests from its founding through 1956. It voted Democratic in every election from 1960 to 2012 except 1980 and 1984, and it has voted Republican again since 2016.[^4] ## History The 1871 county's first seat was the village of Lac qui Parle.[^3] In 1884 a settlement was platted at the railway stop in Madison Township, which takes its name from Madison, Wisconsin. The settlement, also called Madison, was incorporated in 1885 and became a city in 1902.[^3] According to the Wikipedia account, a county-wide vote in 1886 selected Madison as the seat. A party of 150 men with 40 horse teams then went to Lac qui Parle village, where the town hall then stood, and hauled the building to Madison.[^3] The same account places the move of county government from Lac qui Parle village to Madison in 1889.[^3] Madison gained a new county courthouse in 1899, and its City Hall was finished in 1903.[^3] In the early 1900s four fires burned through the city's main district. Afterward, brick buildings took the place of most of the wooden ones.[^3] Lac qui Parle was a dry county until county option was abolished in May 1965. Until then, beverages stronger than 3.2% alcohol could not be sold there.[^3] In March 2011 the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation published a study that placed the county first among Minnesota counties for health.[^3] The county's population was highest in 1920, at 15,554. Madison, the seat, kept growing until 1960.[^3] ## Geography The county is on Minnesota's western side and shares its west border with South Dakota.[^2] The Minnesota River runs southeast along the county's northeastern edge and forms Marsh Lake and Lac qui Parle Reservoir.[^2] Two tributaries add to its flow. The Yellow Bank River joins near the county's north corner, and the Lac qui Parle River joins near the east border, close to the community of Lac qui Parle.[^2] The south fork of the Yellow Bank runs north through the western part of the county and meets the north fork in the county's north end.[^2] In the west the ground is made up of rolling hills, knolls and short bluffs. In the east it ends at a steep bluff above the Minnesota River valley.[^2] The land falls toward the north and east. Its highest point, at 1,404 feet (428 m) above sea level, is near the southwest corner.[^2] The county covers 778 square miles. Of that, 765 square miles are land and 13 square miles (1.7%) are water.[^2] Salt Lake, on the western border, is the only alkaline lake in Minnesota.[^2] The lake is a bird-watching destination. It hosts 145 bird species not found elsewhere in the area, and rare plants and insects have also been recorded there.[^2] ## Demographics The 2020 census counted 6,719 residents, with a median age of 48.0 years.[^5] Of these residents, 21.5% were younger than 18 and 26.0% were 65 or older. There were 104.7 males for every 100 females.[^5] The census reported the population as 93.6% White, 0.5% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, and 0.6% Asian. It also reported less than 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 1.7% some other race, and 3.3% two or more races.[^5] Hispanic or Latino residents of any race were 3.0% of the population.[^5] The census classed 100.0% of residents as rural, with less than 0.1% in urban areas.[^5] The county had 2,954 households in 2020. Children under 18 lived in 24.7% of them, and 51.9% were married-couple households.[^5] Single-person households made up 32.9% of the total, and 16.9% were people 65 or older living alone.[^5] Of 3,471 housing units, 14.9% stood vacant, and owners occupied 80.9% of the occupied units.[^5] The 2000 census had counted 8,067 people, 3,316 households and 2,225 families. Population density that year was 10.5 per square mile, and there were 3,774 housing units.[^5] ## Communities The county's cities are Bellingham, Boyd, Dawson, Louisburg, Madison (the county seat), Marietta and Nassau.[^6] Its unincorporated communities are Cerro Gordo, Haydenville, Lac qui Parle, Providence and Rosen. Williamsburg is listed as an extinct town.[^6] The county has twenty-two townships: Agassiz, Arena, Augusta, Baxter, Camp Release, Cerro Gordo, Freeland, Garfield, Hamlin, Hantho, Lac qui Parle, Lake Shore, Madison, Manfred, Maxwell, Mehurin, Perry, Providence, Riverside, Ten Mile Lake, Walter and Yellow Bank.[^6] ## Law and government County Administrator Jake Sieg and the county's department heads coordinate day-to-day operations.[^7] The current [[sheriff]] is Allen Anderson. He took office in 2017 after Sheriff Lou Sager resigned and won election in 2018.[^7] Andrew Stock is chief of police for the City of Dawson.[^7] ## Politics From its founding through 1956, the county backed the Republican candidate in every presidential election but four, usually by wide margins.[^4] The four exceptions were Theodore Roosevelt, a former Republican running as the Progressive candidate, in 1912; Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt in his 1932 and 1936 landslides; and Democrat Harry S. Truman in the close 1948 race.[^4] From 1960 through 2012 the county voted Democratic, except for Ronald Reagan's landslide wins in 1980 and 1984.[^4] Jimmy Carter, with Minnesota native [[Walter Mondale]] as his running mate, carried at least 60% of the county vote in 1976.[^4] In 2016 Donald Trump carried the county by more than 25%, the widest margin for either party there since 1964.[^4] In 2020 he won by nearly 27% and took more than 62% of the vote. He was the first candidate of any party to reach 60% since Carter in 1976, and the first Republican to do so since Warren G. Harding a century before.[^4] In 2024 his margin rose to 32%, the strongest Republican presidential result in the county since Harding in 1920.[^4] ## Education School districts serving the county are Canby Public School District, Dawson-Boyd Public School District, Lac qui Parle Valley School District, Montevideo Public School District, Ortonville Public School, and Yellow Medicine East School District.[^8] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota* (revision 1375330276, retrieved 2026-10-25) — introductory section: location, 2020 population, county seat, largest city. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac_qui_Parle_County,_Minnesota [^2]: Wikipedia, *Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota* (revision 1375330276, retrieved 2026-10-25) — Geography section: borders, rivers, terrain, area, Salt Lake. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac_qui_Parle_County,_Minnesota [^3]: Wikipedia, *Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota* (revision 1375330276, retrieved 2026-10-25) — History section: name, 1862 and 1871 authorizations, county seat, courthouse and City Hall, dry-county status to 1965, 2011 health ranking, 1920 peak population. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac_qui_Parle_County,_Minnesota [^4]: Wikipedia, *Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota* (revision 1375330276, retrieved 2026-10-25) — Politics section: presidential voting from founding to 2024. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac_qui_Parle_County,_Minnesota [^5]: Wikipedia, *Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota* (revision 1375330276, retrieved 2026-10-25) — Demographics section: 2020 and 2000 census figures. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac_qui_Parle_County,_Minnesota [^6]: Wikipedia, *Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota* (revision 1375330276, retrieved 2026-10-25) — Communities section: cities, unincorporated communities, townships, extinct town. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac_qui_Parle_County,_Minnesota [^7]: Wikipedia, *Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota* (revision 1375330276, retrieved 2026-10-25) — Law and government section: county administrator, sheriff, Dawson police chief. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac_qui_Parle_County,_Minnesota [^8]: Wikipedia, *Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota* (revision 1375330276, retrieved 2026-10-25) — Education section: school districts. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lac_qui_Parle_County,_Minnesota