Mower County, Minnesota


Mower County is a county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 39,163, and was estimated to have a population of 40,062 as of 2019. The county seat is Austin.
Mower County comprises the Austin Micropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Rochester-Austin Combined Statistical Area.
Lake Louise State Park is in the southeastern Mower County, near Le Roy.

History

The Wisconsin Territory was established by the United States federal government effective July 3, 1836, and included what is now Minnesota, until its eastern portion was granted statehood in 1848.
Congress established the Minnesota Territory effective March 3, 1849. The newly organized territorial legislature created nine counties across the territory in October of that year. Two of the original counties, Dakota and Wabashaw, had portions reassigned on March 5, 1853, to create Rice County.
In 1852, Jacob McQuillin's family settled in southern Rice County, beginning a settlement movement that rapidly grew. On February 20, 1855, the territorial legislature created the present county from the southernmost part of Rice County. The new county was named for John Edward Mower, a member of the territorial legislature.
On March 1, 1856, Territorial Governor Willis A. Gorman signed the legislative act that organized the county. He appointed three commissioners, who first met in Frankford Township. In January 1857 those commissioners decided to designate the permanent seat in Austin Township. In July 1857 the location within Austin Township was further defined, within Austin village, which had been platted during the spring of 1856.

Geography

Mower County lies on Minnesota's border with Iowa. The Cedar River flows south through the western part of the county, into Mitchell County, Iowa. The Upper Iowa River rises in Mower County. Its branches, the Little Iowa and Upper Branch Upper Iowa, merge near Le Roy and flow east-southeast out of the county's southeast corner into Mitchell County, Iowa. Deer Creek drains the southeastern part of the county, flowing northeast into Fillmore County. Bear Creek drains the northern part of the county, flowing east into Fillmore County. Carey Creek drains the northeastern part of the county, flowing northeast into Olmsted County. The county terrain consists of low rolling hills, etched with drainages and gullies. The area is devoted to agriculture where possible. The terrain slopes to the east and south from an elevated center ridge running west–east, with its highest point 1.6 mile east of Elkton, at 1,440' ASL. The county has a total area of, of which is land and is water.

Lakes

One of only four counties in Minnesota without any natural lakes, Mower County does have four small ponds and lakes created by dams:
The Cedar River flows south into the county from its source in Dodge County and continues through the county into Mitchell County, Iowa. It flows through Mower County's four westernmost townships: Udolpho, Lansing, Austin, and Lyle.

Major highways

2000 census

The county population has declined since its peak in 1960, as younger people have moved to urban areas for economic opportunities.
As of the 2000 United States Census, there were 38,603 people, 15,582 households, and 10,315 families in the county. The population density was 54.3/sqmi. There were 16,251 housing units at an average density of 22.9/sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 94.7% White, 0.6% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American, 1.5% Asian, <0.1% Pacific Islander, 2.2% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. 4.3% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 35.9% identified as being of German, 24.4% as Norwegian and 7.0% as of Irish ancestry.
There were 15,582 households out of which 29.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.70% were married couples living together, 8.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.80% were non-families. 29.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.98.
The county population contained 25.1% under the age of 18, 8.2% from 18 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to 64, and 19.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 97.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.60 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $36,654, and the median income for a family was $45,154. Males had a median income of $31,743 versus $23,317 for females. The per capita income for the county was $19,795. About 6.3% of families and 9.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.3% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.

Government

The county has a county council style of government, made up of five county commissioners, each elected from a single-member district. They are elected to four-year terms, and elected on a staggered basis.
For nearly forty years, Mower County voters have tended to vote for Democrats in national Presidential elections. Since 1980 the county selected the Democratic Party candidate in 89% of national elections.
YearRepublicanDemocraticThird parties
201649.8% 8,82342.0% 7,4378.2% 1,455
201237.4% 6,93860.0% 11,1292.6% 472
200836.9% 7,07560.5% 11,6052.6% 507
200437.5% 7,59161.0% 12,3341.5% 297
200037.2% 6,87357.9% 10,6935.0% 914
199627.7% 4,99457.7% 10,41314.7% 2,656
199225.5% 5,14749.2% 9,93525.4% 5,128
198836.6% 6,96962.5% 11,8930.9% 163
198439.0% 8,05460.5% 12,4980.5% 95
198038.9% 7,90851.9% 10,5389.3% 1,879
197638.0% 8,16359.7% 12,8372.3% 487
197248.4% 9,92950.1% 10,2861.5% 315
196839.7% 7,73656.6% 11,0223.7% 728
196432.3% 6,51067.4% 13,5730.3% 57
196052.4% 11,04047.3% 9,9610.3% 67
195650.7% 9,57048.8% 9,2190.5% 101
195253.2% 9,86246.1% 8,5510.7% 138
194837.1% 5,67261.9% 9,4681.1% 161
194447.6% 6,58852.0% 7,1990.4% 48
194047.1% 7,16952.5% 7,9880.4% 60
193635.2% 4,74361.0% 8,2283.8% 516
193237.8% 4,00560.6% 6,4211.6% 173
192863.1% 6,20936.5% 3,5870.5% 46
192455.7% 5,0616.2% 56438.1% 3,463
192082.1% 6,33913.7% 1,0614.2% 325
191659.4% 2,52037.1% 1,5723.5% 148
191231.6% 1,32129.4% 1,22839.0% 1,628
190863.5% 2,62929.1% 1,2067.4% 308
190477.5% 2,76915.5% 5527.1% 252
190070.8% 3,07624.9% 1,0814.4% 191
189668.8% 3,37928.7% 1,4072.5% 123
189256.4% 2,23433.1% 1,31010.6% 420

Communities

Cities

All of Mower County's land is divided into 20 townships that each contain 36 square miles. Mower County is five townships wide and four townships from north to south.