Steele County, North Dakota

History

The Dakota Territory legislature created the county on June 2, 1883, with territories partitioned from Griggs and Traill counties. It was not organized at that time but was attached to Traill for administrative and judicial purposes. It was named for businessman Edward H. Steele, who had pushed for its creation.

On June 13, 1883, the county organization was affected and Steele County was detached from Traill County; Sherbrooke, North Dakota was chosen as the county seat. In 1897 the town of Finley was founded, and by 1919 its growth had eclipsed Sherbrooke to the point that the county seat was transferred to Finley. The county's boundaries have been unchanged since its creation.

Geography

The Sheyenne River flows south near and into the county's west boundary line. The Goose River flows southeast through the northeastern part of the county. The terrain consists of rolling hills dotted with lakes and ponds. The area is devoted to agriculture. The terrain slopes to the south and east; its highest point is near its northwestern corner, at 1,562 ft ASL.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 715.400 sqmi, of which 712.143 sqmi is land and 3.257 sqmi (0.46%) is water. It is the 50th largest county in North Dakota by total area.

Major highways

• [[Image:ND-32 (2015).svg|25px]] North Dakota Highway 32
• [[Image:ND-38 (2015).svg|25px]] North Dakota Highway 38
• [[Image:ND-200 (2015).svg|25px]] North Dakota Highway 200

Adjacent counties

• Grand Forks County - north
• Traill County - east
• Cass County - southeast
• Barnes County - southwest
• Griggs County - west
• Nelson County - northwest

Lakes

Source:

• Golden Lake
• Golden Rush Lake
• Lake Tobiason
• Lone Tree Lake
• North Golden Lake
• Stony Lake
• Willow Lake

Demographics

|align-fn=center 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010–2020

Recent estimates

As of the fourth quarter of 2024, the median home value in Steele County was $127,570.

As of the 2023 American Community Survey, there are 731 estimated households in Steele County with an average of 2.37 persons per household. The county has a median household income of $80,313. Approximately 13.3% of the county's population lives at or below the poverty line. Steele County has an estimated 59.7% employment rate, with 29.6% of the population holding a bachelor's degree or higher and 94.5% holding a high school diploma.

The top five reported ancestries (people were allowed to report up to two ancestries, thus the figures will generally add to more than 100%) were English (98.6%), Spanish (0.0%), Indo-European (1.4%), Asian and Pacific Islander (0.0%), and Other (0.1%).

Steele County, North Dakota – racial and ethnic composition 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 may be of any race.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 1,798, 788 households, and 515 families residing in the county. Of the residents, 21.7% were under the age of 18 and 24.4% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 48.4 years. For every 100 females there were 114.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 117.1 males.

There were 788 households, of which 27.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 14.0% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

The population density was 2.52 PD/sqmi. There were 1,091 housing units at an average density of 1.53 /sqmi. Of those units, 27.8% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 81.9% were owner-occupied and 18.1% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.0% and the rental vacancy rate was 15.6%.

The racial makeup of the county was 96.3% White, 0.2% Black or African American, 0.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.0% Asian, 0.22% Pacific Islander, 0.3% from some other race, and 2.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 2.0% of the population.

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 1,975 people, 864 households, and 589 families residing in the county. The population density was 2.8 PD/sqmi. There were 1,171 housing units at an average density of 1.6 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 97.57% White, 0.15% African American, 1.16% Native American, 0.10% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.41% from some other races and 0.61% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 1.01% of the population.

In terms of ancestry, 60.0% were Norwegian, 35.2% were German, 5.4% were Irish, and 1.0% were American.

There were 864 households, 24.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.4% were married couples living together, 4.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 31.8% were non-families, and 27.8% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.78. The median age was 47.7 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $44,191 and the median income for a family was $54,625. Males had a median income of $36,588 versus $25,648 for females. The per capita income for the county was $27,728. About 4.3% of families and 4.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.1% of those under age 18 and 5.1% of those age 65 or over.

Population by decade

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PlotData= color:barra width:25 align:left bar:1890 from: 0 till:3777 bar:1900 from: 0 till:5888 bar:1910 from: 0 till:7616 bar:1920 from: 0 till:7401 bar:1930 from: 0 till:6972 bar:1940 from: 0 till:6193 bar:1950 from: 0 till:5145 bar:1960 from: 0 till:4719 bar:1970 from: 0 till:3749 bar:1980 from: 0 till:3106 bar:1990 from: 0 till:2420 bar:2000 from: 0 till:2258 bar:2010 from: 0 till:1975 bar:2020 from: 0 till:1798 bar:2024 from: 0 till:1788 color:darkblue

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TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from U.S. Census Bureau

Communities

Cities

• Finley (county seat)
• Hope
• Luverne
• Sharon

Unincorporated communities

Source:

• Blabon
• Colgate
• Pickert
• Sherbrooke (original county seat; now mostly uninhabited)

Townships

• Beaver Creek
• Broadlawn
• Carpenter
• Colgate
• Easton
• Edendale
• Enger
• Finley
• Franklin
• Golden Lake
• Greenview
• Hugo
• Melrose
• Newburgh
• Primrose
• Riverside
• Sharon
• Sherbrooke
• Westfield
• Willow Lake

Politics

Steele County was a Democratic-leaning swing county in presidential elections until 2016, when Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump by nearly 20 points, an almost total flip from Barack Obama's 20 point win in 2008. In 2020, Joe Biden fared even worse despite a national increase for the Democratic Party from 2016. He was the first Democrat to win without the county since John F. Kennedy in 1960, and had the lowest proportion of the county's vote of any winning Democrat since Woodrow Wilson in 1912. Since 1964 Steele County has favored the Democratic presidential candidate in 64% of elections.

Education

School districts include:

• Dakota Prairie Public School District 1
• Finley-Sharon Public School District 19
• Griggs County Central School District 18
• Hatton Public School District 7
• Hope-Page School District 85 (merger of Hope Public School District 10 and Page Public School District 80)
• May-Port CG Public School District 14
• Northwood Public School District 129

Former districts:

• Hope Public School District 10 - Consolidated with Page district in 2020
• Page Public School District 80 - Consolidated with Hope district in 2020

In 1964 the county had 992 students in four schools; at the time there were five school districts but Colgate was not operating any schools as its school closed in 1964.

References

References

1. "Explore Census Data". [[United States Census Bureau]].
2. "Find a County". [[National Association of Counties]].
3. (2006). "Dakota Territory, South Dakota, and North Dakota: Individual County Chronologies". The [[Newberry Library]].
4. "County History". State of North Dakota.
5. "Steele County, North Dakota". [[Google Maps]].
6. ""Find an Altitude/Steele County ND" Google Maps (accessed February 20, 2019)".
7. "2024 County Gazetteer Files – North Dakota". [[United States Census Bureau]].
8. "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Steele County, North Dakota".
9. "County Population Totals and Components of Change: 2020-2024".
10. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau.
11. (2007). "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library.
12. Forstall, Richard L.. (April 20, 1995). "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau.
13. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000". United States Census Bureau.
14. "County Median Home Price". [[National Association of Realtors]].
15. "U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Steele County, North Dakota".
16. "Steele County, North Dakota — Population by Race". CensusScope.
17. (October 6, 2022). "1990 Census of Population: General Population Characteristics North Dakota".
18. "P004: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2000: DEC Summary File 1 – Steele County, North Dakota". [[United States Census Bureau]].
19. "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2010: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Steele County, North Dakota". [[United States Census Bureau]].
20. "P2: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino by Race – 2020: DEC Redistricting Data (PL 94-171) – Steele County, North Dakota". [[United States Census Bureau]].
21. "US Census Bureau, Table P16: Household Type". United States Census Bureau.
22. (2021). "2020 Decennial Census Demographic Profile (DP1)". United States Census Bureau.
23. "How many people live in Steele County, North Dakota". USA Today.
24. (2021). "2020 Decennial Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171)". United States Census Bureau.
25. [https://web.archive.org/web/20081205084341/http://www.sonictremormedia.com/gnd/sherbrooke.html Ghosts of North Dakota: Sherbrooke]
26. "Earth Point".
27. Leip, David. "Atlas of US Presidential Elections".
28. (January 15, 2021). "2020 Census - School District Reference Map: Steele County, ND". [[United States Census Bureau]].
29. "Enrollment History Public School Districts 2009-2021". [[North Dakota Department of Public Instruction]].
30. "Per Pupil Costs Are Analyzed For County". [[Steele County Press]].