McHenry County, North Dakota

McHenry County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 5,345. Its county seat is Towner.

McHenry County is part of the Minot, ND Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History
The Dakota Territory legislature created the county on January 4, 1873, with territory annexed from Bottineau County. It was named for James McHenry, an early settler of Vermillion (in present South Dakota). The county government was not organized at that time, nor was the county attached to another county for administrative and judicial purposes. The county organization was effected on October 15, 1884. The county boundaries were altered in 1885, 1887, 1891, and in 1892. It has retained its present boundaries since 1892.

When the county was organized in 1884, Villard was named as county seat. In 1885 this designation was moved to Scriptown. In 1886 the designation was again moved, to Towner, which has remained the seat to the present time (the two former sites are now ghost towns).

Geography
The Souris River loops through the county before turning north to its eventual discharge into Lake Winnipeg. The Wintering River drains the southern part of the county. The county terrain consists of rolling hills, partly devoted to agriculture (including limited use of center pivot irrigation). The terrain slopes to the north and east, with its highest point on the west boundary line near the southwest corner, at 2,156 ft ASL. The county has a total area of 1912 sqmi, of which 1874 sqmi is land and 38 sqmi (2.0%) is water. In 2013, 131 plants were collected in the Lake George area.

Major highways

 * [[Image:US 2.svg|20px]] U.S. Highway 2
 * [[Image:US 52.svg|20px]] U.S. Highway 52
 * [[Image:North Dakota 14.svg|20px]] North Dakota Highway 14
 * [[Image:North Dakota 19.svg|20px]] North Dakota Highway 19
 * [[Image:North Dakota 41.png|20px]] North Dakota Highway 41
 * [[Image:North Dakota 53.png|20px]] North Dakota Highway 53
 * [[Image:North Dakota 97.png|20px]] North Dakota Highway 97

Adjacent counties

 * Bottineau County - north
 * Pierce County - east
 * Sheridan County - southeast
 * McLean County - southwest
 * Ward County - west
 * Renville County - northwest

National protected areas

 * Cottonwood Lake National Wildlife Refuge
 * Denbigh Experimental Forest
 * J. Clark Salyer National Wildlife Refuge (part)
 * Wintering River National Wildlife Refuge

Lakes

 * Bromley Lake
 * Buffalo Lodge Lake
 * Connia Slough
 * Erickson Lake
 * Heringen Lake
 * Horseshoe Lake (part)
 * Lake George
 * Lake Hester
 * Lauinger Lake
 * Martin Lake
 * North Lake
 * Potters Lake
 * Round Lake
 * Smoky Lake (part)
 * Stevens Slough
 * Stink Lake

2020 census
As of the census of 2020, there were 5,345 people.

2010 census
As of the census of 2010, there were 5,395 people, 2,377 households, and 1,527 families in the county. The population density was 2.88 /mi2. There were 2,948 housing units at an average density of 1.57 /mi2. The racial makeup of the county was 97.8% white, 0.6% American Indian, 0.3% Asian, 0.1% black or African American, 0.3% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.5% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 55.3% were of German, 39.5% Norwegian, 5.3% English, 3.6% Swedish, 3.5% American, 2.4% Russian and 1.7% Dutch ancestry.

Of the 2,377 households, 25.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.9% were married couples living together, 5.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 35.8% were non-families, and 31.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.81. The median age was 46.2 years.

The median income for a household in the county was $36,944 and the median income for a family was $54,350. Males had a median income of $36,625 versus $26,205 for females. The per capita income for the county was $22,911. About 6.4% of families and 12.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.1% of those under age 18 and 17.9% of those age 65 or over.

Cities

 * Anamoose
 * Balfour
 * Bantry
 * Bergen
 * Deering
 * Drake
 * Granville
 * Karlsruhe
 * Kief
 * Towner (county seat)
 * Upham
 * Velva
 * Voltaire

Unincorporated communities

 * Berwick
 * Cole Ford
 * Denbigh
 * Funston
 * Genoa
 * Guthrie
 * Kottkethal
 * Milroy
 * Newport
 * Norfolk
 * Norwich
 * Rangeley
 * Riga
 * Rising
 * Rose Hill
 * Simcoe
 * Verendrye
 * Willowdale
 * Willow Vale
 * Willow Valley
 * Willow Creek

Townships

 * Anamoose
 * Balfour
 * Bantry
 * Berwick
 * Bjornson
 * Brown
 * Cottonwood Lake
 * Deep River
 * Deering
 * Denbigh
 * Egg Creek
 * Falsen
 * Gilmore
 * Granville
 * Grilley
 * Hendrickson
 * Karlsruhe
 * Kottke Valley
 * Lake George
 * Lake Hester
 * Land
 * Layton
 * Lebanon
 * Little Deep
 * Meadow
 * Mouse River
 * Newport
 * Normal
 * North Prairie
 * Norwich
 * Odin
 * Olivia
 * Pratt
 * Riga
 * Rose Hill
 * Round Lake
 * Saline
 * Schiller
 * Spring Grove
 * Strege
 * Velva
 * Villard
 * Voltaire
 * Wagar
 * Willow Creek

Notable people

 * Sondre Norheim, pioneer of modern skiing
 * Cordell Volson, professional football player

Politics
McHenry County voters have traditionally voted Republican. In only one national election since 1936 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate.