Wells County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

North Dakota North Dakota ( ) is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota people, Dakota and Sioux peoples. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minneso ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,982. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Fessenden.

History

The

Dakota Territory The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of ...

legislature created the county on January 4, 1873. Its government was not organized at that time, nor was it attached for administrative or judicial purposes to another county. It was named Gingras County; this name continued until February 26, 1881, when the name was changed to Wells County, named for Edward Payson Wells, a Jamestown banker, early promoter of the James River Valley, and member of the legislature in 1881. The county government was organized on August 28, 1884, with Sykeston as the county seat. In 1894 the county seat was transferred to Fessendon. The county boundary was altered in 1883 when a parcel was transferred to Foster County, and again in 1885 when it received land from Foster County. Its boundary has remained unchanged since 1885. The

center of population In Demography, demographics, the center of population (or population center) of a region is a geographical point that describes a centerpoint of the region's population. There are several ways of defining such a "center point", leading to dif ...

of North Dakota is located in the extreme southeastern corner of Wells County, about southeast of Sykeston.

Geography

The

James River The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowli ...

flows east-northeasterly through Wells County. The county terrain consists of rolling hills with occasional protuberances, dotted with lakes and ponds in its SW portion."Wells County ND"

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View ...

. Accessed February 21, 2019. The terrain slopes to the east and north; its highest point is a protuberance near the southwestern corner, at ASL. Ihe county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.5%) is water.

Major highways

* U.S. Highway 52 * North Dakota Highway 3 *

North Dakota Highway 15 North Dakota Highway 15 (ND 15) is a east–west state highway in central North Dakota. The western terminus is at U.S. Route 52 (US 52) in Fessenden and the eastern terminus is at Interstate 29 (I-29) and US 81 near Thomps ...

* North Dakota Highway 30 * North Dakota Highway 91 * North Dakota Highway 200 * County 1 * County 5 * Wells County Route 52

Adjacent counties

* Benson County - north * Eddy County - east * Foster County - east * Stutsman County - southeast *

Kidder County Kidder County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 2,394. Its county seat is Steele, North Dakota, Steele. History The Dakota Territ ...

- south * Sheridan County - west * Pierce County - northwest

Protected areas

Source: * Karl T. Frederick State Game Management Area * Upland State Game Refuge

Lakes

Source: * Big Slough * Crystal Lake * Egg Lake * Lake Ontario * Silver Lake * Sorenson Lake

Demographics

2020 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2020, there were 3,982 people.

2010 census

As of the

of 2010, there were 4,207 people, 1,943 households, and 1,223 families in the county. The population density was . There were 2,481 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 98.9% white, 0.3% American Indian, 0.1% black or African American, 0.1% Asian, 0.0% from other races, and 0.6% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.5% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 65.9% were German, 25.9% were Norwegian, 6.7% were Irish, and 1.8% were American. Of the 1,943 households, 19.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.1% were married couples living together, 5.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 37.1% were non-families, and 34.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.10 and the average family size was 2.67. The median age was 51.5 years. The median income for a household in the county was $40,136 and the median income for a family was $52,400. Males had a median income of $38,442 versus $25,597 for females. The per capita income for the county was $23,531. About 6.1% of families and 10.3% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 12.5% of those under age 18 and 17.1% of those age 65 or over.

Population by decade

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.8) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.55,0.0,0.0) ImageSize = width:600 height:300 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:13300 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = late ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:3325 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:1663 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:1890 text:1890 bar:1900 text:1900 bar:1910 text:1910 bar:1920 text:1920 bar:1930 text:1930 bar:1940 text:1940 bar:1950 text:1950 bar:1960 text:1960 bar:1970 text:1970 bar:1980 text:1980 bar:1990 text:1990 bar:2000 text:2000 bar:2010 text:2010 bar:2020 text:2020 bar:2022 text:present PlotData= color:barra width:25 align:left bar:1890 from: 0 till:1212 bar:1900 from: 0 till:8310 bar:1910 from: 0 till:11814 bar:1920 from: 0 till:12957 bar:1930 from: 0 till:13285 bar:1940 from: 0 till:11198 bar:1950 from: 0 till:10417 bar:1960 from: 0 till:9237 bar:1970 from: 0 till:7847 bar:1980 from: 0 till:6979 bar:1990 from: 0 till:5864 bar:2000 from: 0 till:5102 bar:2010 from: 0 till:4207 bar:2020 from: 0 till:3982 bar:2022 from: 0 till:3930 color:darkblue PlotData= bar:1890 at:1212 fontsize:S text:1212 shift:(-14,5) bar:1900 at:8310 fontsize:S text:8310 shift:(-14,5) bar:1910 at:11814 fontsize:S text:11814 shift:(-14,5) bar:1920 at:12957 fontsize:S text:12957 shift:(-14,5) bar:1930 at:13285 fontsize:S text:13285 shift:(-14,5) bar:1940 at:11198 fontsize:S text:11198 shift:(-14,5) bar:1950 at:10417 fontsize:S text:10417 shift:(-14,5) bar:1960 at:9237 fontsize:S text:9237 shift:(-14,5) bar:1970 at:7847 fontsize:S text:7847 shift:(-14,5) bar:1980 at:6979 fontsize:S text:6979 shift:(-14,5) bar:1990 at:5864 fontsize:S text:5864 shift:(-14,5) bar:2000 at:5102 fontsize:S text:5102 shift:(-14,5) bar:2010 at:4207 fontsize:S text:4207 shift:(-14,5) bar:2020 at:3982 fontsize:S text:3982 shift:(-14,5) bar:2022 at:3930 fontsize:S text:3930 shift:(-14,5) TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from U.S. Census Bureau

Communities

Cities

* Bowdon *

Cathay Cathay ( ) is a historical name for China that was used in Europe. During the early modern period, the term ''Cathay'' initially evolved as a term referring to what is now Northern China, completely separate and distinct from ''China'', which w ...

* Fessenden (county seat) * Hamberg * Harvey * Hurdsfield * Sykeston

Census-designated place

* Heimdal

Unincorporated communities

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

Chaseley Chaseley is an unincorporated community in southwestern Wells County, North Dakota, United States. It lies along North Dakota Highway 200 southwest of the city of Fessenden, the county seat of Wells County. It formerly had a post office ...

* Dover * Emrick * Heaton (ghost town) *

Manfred ''Manfred: A dramatic poem'' is a closet drama written in 1816–1817 by Lord Byron. It contains supernatural elements, in keeping with the popularity of the ghost story in England at the time. It is a typical example of Gothic fiction. Byr ...

* Wellsburg

Townships

* Berlin * Bilodeau * Bremen * Bull Moose * Cathay * Chaseley * Crystal Lake * Delger * Fairville * Forward * Fram * Germantown * Haaland * Hamburg * Hawksnest * Heimdal * Hillsdale * Johnson * Lynn * Manfred * Norway Lake * Oshkosh * Pony Gulch * Progress * Rusland * Saint Anna * Silver Lake * South Cottonwood * Speedwell * Sykeston * Valhalla * Wells * West Norway * West Ontario * Western * Woodward

Politics

Wells County voters have been Republican-leaning for several decades. In no national election since 1964 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate.

References

External links

Wells County official website

Northern portion of Wells County
North Dakota DOT
Southern portion of Wells County
North Dakota DOT {{authority control 1884 establishments in Dakota Territory Populated places established in 1884