Bonner County is a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

in the northern part of 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 sove ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 47,110. The

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

and largest city is Sandpoint. Partitioned from

Kootenai County Kootenai County ( ) is located in the U.S. state of Idaho. In 2020, the United States Census Bureau estimated the county's population at 171,362, making it the third-most populous county in Idaho and by far the largest in North Idaho, the coun ...

and established in 1907, it was named for Edwin L. Bonner, a ferry operator. Bonner County comprises the

Sandpoint, Idaho Sandpoint (Kutenai language: kamanqukuⱡ) is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Bonner County, Idaho. Its population was 8,639 at the 2020 census. Sandpoint's major economic contributors include forest products, light manufacturing, ...

Micropolitan Statistical Area.

History

Bonner County was formed on February 21, 1907. It was named for travel entrepreneur Edwin L. Bonner, a ferry operator. In 1864, the Idaho Legislature created the counties of Lah-Toh and Kootenai. Kootenai County initially covered all of present-day Bonner and

Boundary Boundary or Boundaries may refer to: * Border, in political geography Entertainment * ''Boundaries'' (2016 film), a 2016 Canadian film * ''Boundaries'' (2018 film), a 2018 American-Canadian road trip film *Boundary (cricket), the edge of the pla ...

counties and a portion of present-day

. It also overlapped part of the existing boundary of Shoshone County. Sin-na-ac-qua-teen, a trading post in present-day Bonner County on the south shore of the Pend Oreille River near Laclede, was named county seat. The government of Kootenai failed to organize due to lack of settlement within the county boundary. In 1867, the legislature repealed the act that created the two counties and consolidated them into a county that retained the Kootenai name. Rathdrum became the county seat when Kootenai County organized in 1881. The tiny portion of Bonner County south of the 48th parallel and east of Shoshone County was not in any of Idaho's counties from 1863 to 1907, the longest time frame any non-county area existed in the State of Idaho. The Idaho panhandle north of the Clearwater River's basin was in Spokane County, Washington, prior to Idaho's creation as a territory in 1863. When Idaho defined its original counties by February, 1864, it attached the former Spokane County area to Nez Perce County for judicial purposes. Legislators creating Kootenai County in December 1864 lacked knowledge of the geography of the area and failed to fully include the non-county area within the county boundaries of Kootenai or Lah-Toh. The non-county area was fully included within Bonner County when it was formed in 1907. Boundary County was formed from Bonner County in 1915.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (9.6%) is water.

Adjacent counties

Pend Oreille County Pend Oreille County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington, along the Canada–United States border, Canada–US border. As of the 2020 United States census, 20 ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

– northwest * Boundary County – north * Lincoln County,

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columb ...

– east/Mountain Time Border * Sanders County,

– southeast/Mountain Time Border * Shoshone County – southeast *

– south *

Spokane County Spokane County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 539,339, making it the fourth-most populous county in Washington. The largest city and county seat is Spokane, the second largest cit ...

– southwest

National protected areas

* Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail (part) *

Coeur d'Alene National Forest The Coeur d'Alene is a U.S. National Forest located in the Idaho panhandle and is one of three forests that are aggregated into the Idaho Panhandle National Forests (the other two are the Kaniksu and St. Joe National Forests). Coeur d'Alene Natio ...

(part) *

Kaniksu National Forest The Kaniksu National Forest (pronounced "Kuh-NICK-su") is a U.S. National Forest located in northeastern Washington, the Idaho Panhandle, and northwestern Montana. It is one of three forests that are aggregated into the Idaho Panhandle National ...

(part) * Kootenai National Forest (part)

Major highways

US 2 U.S. Route 2 or U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) is an east–west U.S. Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected by various roadways in southern Canada. Unlike some routes, whi ...

* US 95 * SH-41 * SH-57 * SH-200

Rivers and lakes

* Albeni Falls Dam * Clark Fork River *Cocolalla *Kelso Lake *

Lake Pend Oreille Lake Pend Oreille ( ) in the northern Idaho Panhandle is the largest lake in the U.S. state of Idaho and the 38th-largest lake by area in the United States, with a surface area of . It is long, and deep in some regions, making it the fifth-deep ...

* Pack River *

Pend Oreille River The Pend Oreille River ( ) is a tributary of the Columbia River, approximately long, in northern Idaho and northeastern Washington in the United States, as well as southeastern British Columbia in Canada. In its passage through British Columbi ...

* Priest Lake

Demographics

2000 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...

of 2000, there were 36,835 people, 14,693 households, and 10,270 families living in the county. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 21 people per square mile (8/km²). There were 19,646 housing units at an average density of 11 per square mile (4/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.58%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

, 0.11%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.87% Native American, 0.27% Asian, 0.05%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 0.42% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 1.70% from two or more races. 1.64% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...

or Latino of any race. 20.9% were of German, 11.7%

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

, 11.7% American, 9.6%

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

and 5.3%

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

ancestry. There were 14,693 households, out of which 30.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.60% were married couples living together, 7.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 30.10% were non-families. 24.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.49 and the average family size was 2.94. In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.50% under the age of 18, 6.70% from 18 to 24, 25.40% from 25 to 44, 29.30% from 45 to 64, and 13.10% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 100.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.20 males. The median income for a household in the county was $32,803, and the median income for a family was $37,930. Males had a median income of $32,504 versus $21,086 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the county was $17,263. About 11.90% of families and 15.50% 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 t ...

, including 21.20% of those under age 18 and 10.20% of those age 65 or over.

2010 census

As of the

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...

, there were 40,877 people, 17,100 households, and 11,591 families living in the county. The population density was . There were 24,669 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 96.0% white, 0.8% American Indian, 0.5% Asian, 0.1% Pacific islander, 0.1% black or African American, 0.4% from other races, and 2.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.2% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 25.4% were German, 15.3% were

, 15.2% were

, 6.2% were

, and 5.0% were American. Of the 17,100 households, 27.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.3% were married couples living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 32.2% were non-families, and 26.0% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.82. The median age was 45.8 years. The median income for a household in the county was $41,943 and the median income for a family was $51,377. Males had a median income of $40,076 versus $30,829 for females. The per capita income for the county was $24,745. About 10.1% of families and 14.3% of the population were below the

, including 22.3% of those under age 18 and 6.7% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Like other counties in Idaho, Bonner County is strongly Republican-leaning. The last Democrat to win the county in a presidential election was Bill Clinton in 1992, and incumbent president George H.W. Bush fell to third place in the county, behind independent candidate Ross Perot. The tourism-oriented city of Sandpoint is more of a swing town and occasionally backs Democrats, but the rest of the county remains strongly Republican.

Communities

Cities

* Sandpoint * Clark Fork * Dover * East Hope * Hope *

Kootenai The Kutenai ( ), also known as the Ktunaxa ( ; ), Ksanka ( ), Kootenay (in Canada) and Kootenai (in the United States), are an indigenous people of Canada and the United States. Kutenai bands live in southeastern British Columbia, northern ...

* Oldtown * Ponderay * Priest River

Census-designated place

* Blanchard * Coolin * Laclede

Unincorporated communities

* Careywood * Cocolalla * Colburn * Lamb Creek *

Nordman Nordman is a Sweden, Swedish duo founded in 1993, that mixes folk music with rock and pop. This genre is called etnorock or folk rock in Swedish. The group consists of Håkan Hemlin, as singer and frontman, and Mats Wester, who plays the nyckelha ...

* Outlet Bay * Sagle * Vans Corner * Westmond

Ski area

* Schweitzer Mountain Resort

References

External links

Bonner County website

Bonner County Historical Society
{{coord, 48.29, -116.60, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-ID_source:UScensus1990 Idaho counties 1907 establishments in Idaho Populated places established in 1907