Mower County, Minnesota

Mower County (named for ) is a located in the  of. As of 2000, it was home 38,603 people, 23,314 of whom live in its of. is located in the southeast part of the county near. The entire county is served by  and all s in the county have 559 as the first three numbers.

Settlement and History

 * For more historical details, see the individual cities, towns and townships listed below.

In  and his family settled what was to become Mower County. By 1855 the area had enough people to merit official formation and on,    signed the act organizing. The was named in honor of, a member of the. (More history at .)

Geography
According to the, the county has a total area of 1,843 (712 ). 1,843 km² (712 sq mi) of it is land and 1 km² (0 sq mi) of it (0.03%) is water.

s
Although Mower County is one of only four, it does have four small s and s created by s. The (sometimes called the Red Cedar River) flows  into the county from its source in  and continues all the way through the county into. It flows through Mower County's four westernmost townships.
 * in the northeast quadrant of
 * Lake Louise: in near
 * Mill Pond: in downtown near the  plant
 * Ramsey Mill Pond: in Ramsey Golf Course, near the settlement of

Adjacent Counties

 * (north)
 * (northeast)
 * (east)
 * (southeast)
 * (south)
 * (southwest)
 * (west)

Demographics
As of the of 2000, there were 38,603 people, 15,582 households, and 10,315 families residing in the county. The was 21/km² (54/sq mi). There were 16,251 housing units at an average density of 9/km² (23/sq mi). The racial makeup of the county was 94.74%, 0.56% or , 0.17% , 1.47% , 0.02% , 2.18% from , and 0.87% from two or more races. 4.26% of the population were or  of any race. 35.9% were of, 24.4% and 7.0%  ancestry according to.

There were 15,582 households out of which 29.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.70% were 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.

In the county the population was spread out with 25.10% under the age of 18, 8.20% from 18 to 24, 25.70% from 25 to 44, 21.40% from 45 to 64, and 19.60% 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 for the county was $19,795. About 6.30% of families and 9.20% of the population were below the, including 11.30% of those under age 18 and 5.60% of those age 65 or over.

Cities and towns
, (the ),, , , , , , ,, , , ,

All of Mower County's land is divided into 20 townships that are 36 s (six s to  X six miles  to ) in. Mower County is five townships wide (a total of 30 miles west to east) and four townships from north to south (a total of 24 miles). The arrangement of the townships within the county is shown below ( is in the northwest corner and is in the southeast).

Administration
Mower County is divided into five districts for purposes of administration and each has one. All information is current as of,.
 * First District- Cities:, , and the 1st Ward, 1st Precinct of
 * Townships:, , ,
 * Commissioner-
 * Second District- Cities:, , , , , , ,
 * Townships:, , , , , , , , , , ,
 * Commissioner:
 * Third District- Cities:
 * Townships:
 * Commissioner
 * Fourth District- Cities:
 * Townships:
 * Commissioner
 * Fifth District- Cities:
 * Townships:
 * Commissioner