Le Sueur County, Minnesota

Le Sueur County
Le Sueur County
County
	Le Sueur County Courthouse and Jail
	Location within the U.S. state of Minnesota
	Minnesota's location within the U.S.
	Coordinates: 44°22′N 93°44′W / 44.37°N 93.73°W
Country	United States
State	Minnesota
Founded	March 5, 1853
Named for	Pierre-Charles Le Sueur
Seat	Le Center
Largest city	Le Sueur
Area
• Total	474 sq mi (1,230 km2)
• Land	449 sq mi (1,160 km2)
• Water	25 sq mi (60 km2) 5.3%
Population (2020)
• Total	28,674
• Estimate (2023)	29,255
• Density	63.9/sq mi (24.7/km2)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	1st
Website	www.co.le-sueur.mn.us

Le Sueur County (/ləsʊər/ lə-SOOR)^[2] is a county located in the south central portion of the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,674.^[3] Its county seat is Le Center.^[4]

Le Sueur County is part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area.

History

The Minnesota Territory legislature established several counties in 1853. This county was created on March 5 of that year. It was named for French explorer Pierre-Charles Le Sueur, who visited the area in 1700.^[5]

The settlement of Le Sueur (actually two competing settlements, Le Sueur and Le Sueur City) had sprung up on the east bank of the Minnesota River, both being platted in 1852. The legislature named the combined area as the first county seat. However, its remoteness from most of the county meant hardship for most of the area's residents since the county was covered with dense hardwood forest and existing roads were impassable when wet.

Several efforts were made to acquire a more central location. In the early 1870s, Cleveland (established in 1857, inland from the river in the SW part of the county) held a referendum to become the county seat. The referendum passed, but was challenged due to voting irregularities. In 1875 another referendum made Cleveland the county seat (1875-1876). In 1876, another referendum approved moving the seat to the newly created town of Le Sueur Center; the seat was promptly moved there.^[6] In the 1870s, businessmen from Waterville gained ownership of a quarter-section of land near the county's center, cleared the timber, and platted the city of Le Sueur Center (1876). The seat was moved there after a county referendum approved it. The county seat has remained in Le Sueur Center (renamed Le Center in 1930) since 1876.

The first railroad entered the county in 1867. This began the era of greater access and mobility. The first purpose-built courthouse in Le Sueur Center was constructed in 1896–7. It has been extensively remodeled and enlarged two times since.^[7]

Geography

The Minnesota River flows northeastward along the west border of Le Sueur County, on its way to discharge into the Mississippi. The terrain consists of low rolling hills, dotted with lakes and ponds. The soil is rich and black.^[7]^[9] The terrain slopes to the north and east, with its highest point near the midpoint of its east border, at 1,145 ft (349 m) ASL.^[10] The county has an area of 474 square miles (1,230 km²), of which 449 square miles (1,160 km²) is land and 25 square miles (65 km²) (5.3%) is water.^[11] Le Sueur is one of seven Minnesota savanna region counties where no forest soils exist and one of 17 counties where savanna soils dominate.

Lakes

The following lakes are partially or completely within Le Sueur County:^[9]

Borer Lake
Bossuot Lake
Clear Lake
Decker Lake
Diamond Lake
Dietz Lake
Dog Lake
Dora Lake
Eggert Lake
Ely Lake
Emily Lake
Fish Lake
German Lake
Goldsmith Lake
Goose Lake (Cordova Township)
Goose Lake (Waterville Township)
Gorman Lake
Greenleaf Lake
Harkridge Lake
Horseshoe Lake (part)
Huoy Lake
Lake Emily
Lake Frances
Lake Henry
Lake Jefferson
Lake Mabel
Lake Pepin
Lake Sanborn
Lake Tustin
Lake Volney
Lake Washington
Mareks Lake
Mary Lake
Mud Lake (Cordova Township)
Mud Lake (Lanesburgh Township)
Mud Lake (Lexington Township)
North Goldsmith Lake
Perch Lake
Rays Lake
Rice Lake
Roemhildts Lake
Round Lake
Sabre Lake
Sakatah Lake (part)
Sanborn Lake
Sasse Lake
Savidge Lake
School Lake
Scotch Lake
Shanghai Lake
Sheas Lake
Silver Lake (Cleveland Township)
Silver Lake (Elysian Township)
Sleepy Eye Lake
Steele Lake
Sunfish Lake
Tetonka Lake (headwaters of Cannon River)
Thomas Lake
Tyler Lake

Protected areas

The following protected areas are within Le Sueur County:^[9]

Bardel State Wildlife Management Area
Chadderdon State Wildlife Management Area
Chamberlain Woods Scientific and Natural Area
Diamond Lake State Wildlife Management Area
Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge (part)
Ottawa State Wildlife Management Area
Paddy Marsh State Wildlife Management Area
Saint Thomas State Wildlife Management Area
Sakatah Lake State Park (part)
Seven Mile Creek State Park (part)
Shanghai State Wildlife Area
Sheas Lake State Wildlife Area

Major highways

Adjacent counties

Scott County - north
Rice County - east
Waseca County - south
Blue Earth County - southwest
Nicollet County - west
Sibley County - northwest

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1860	5,318		—
1870	11,607		118.3%
1880	16,303		40.5%
1890	19,057		16.9%
1900	20,234		6.2%
1910	18,609		−8.0%
1920	17,870		−4.0%
1930	17,990		0.7%
1940	19,227		6.9%
1950	19,088		−0.7%
1960	19,906		4.3%
1970	21,331		7.2%
1980	23,434		9.9%
1990	23,929		2.1%
2000	25,426		6.3%
2010	27,703		9.0%
2020	28,674		3.5%
2023 (est.)	29,255	^[12]	2.0%
U.S. Decennial Census^[13] 1790-1960^[14] 1900-1990^[15] 1990-2000^[16] 2010-2020^[3]

2020 Census

Le Sueur County Racial Composition^[17]
Race	Num.	Perc.
White (NH)	25,463	88.8%
Black or African American (NH)	262	0.9%
Native American (NH)	67	0.2%
Asian (NH)	134	0.4%
Pacific Islander (NH)	20	0.06%
Other/Mixed (NH)	856	3%
Hispanic or Latino	1,872	6.5%

2000 census

2022 US Census population pyramid for Le Sueur County, from ACS 5-year estimates

As of the census of 2000, the county had 25,426 people, 9,630 households, and 6,923 families. The population density was 56.6 per square mile (21.9/km²). There were 10,858 housing units at an average density of 24.2 per square mile (9.3/km²). The county's racial makeup was 96.56% White, 0.15% Black or African American, 0.26% Native American, 0.30% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 2.02% from other races, and 0.67% from two or more races. 3.92% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 44.9% were of German, 9.0% Czech, 9.0% Norwegian and 8.2% Irish ancestry. 94.0% spoke English, 3.5% Spanish and 1.7% Czech as their first language.

There were 9,630 households, of which 34.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.40% were married couples living together, 6.80% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.10% were non-families. 23.70% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.10.

27.40% of the county's population was under age 18, 7.50% was from age 18 to 24, 27.80% was from age 25 to 44, 23.20% was from age 45 to 64, and 14.10% were age 65 or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 100.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 99.70 males.

The country's median household income was $45,933, and the median family income was $53,000. Males had a median income of $34,196 versus $24,214 for females. The county's per capita income was $20,151. About 4.80% of families and 6.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.50% of those under age 18 and 10.40% of those age 65 or over.

Communities

Cities

Cleveland
Elysian (partial)
Heidelberg
Kasota
Le Center (county seat)
Le Sueur (partial)
Kilkenny
Mankato (partial)
Montgomery
New Prague (partial)
Waterville

Unincorporated communities

Former communities

Okaman^[18]^[19]

Townships

Politics

Le Sueur County residents usually vote Republican. In 78% of national elections since 1980, the county selected the Republican Party candidate (as of 2020).

United States presidential election results for Le Sueur County, Minnesota^[20]
Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
Year	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	10,775	64.07%	5,672	33.73%	371	2.21%
2016	9,182	61.33%	4,623	30.88%	1,166	7.79%
2012	7,715	52.15%	6,753	45.64%	327	2.21%
2008	7,636	50.88%	6,994	46.60%	379	2.53%
2004	7,746	53.70%	6,466	44.83%	212	1.47%
2000	6,138	49.78%	5,361	43.48%	832	6.75%
1996	3,902	34.81%	5,457	48.68%	1,850	16.50%
1992	3,858	32.27%	4,662	39.00%	3,434	28.73%
1988	5,415	49.57%	5,410	49.52%	100	0.92%
1984	6,033	54.10%	5,070	45.47%	48	0.43%
1980	5,478	47.12%	5,161	44.40%	986	8.48%
1976	4,565	40.11%	6,556	57.60%	260	2.28%
1972	5,388	52.50%	4,725	46.04%	149	1.45%
1968	4,189	43.72%	5,094	53.17%	298	3.11%
1964	3,191	34.22%	6,117	65.60%	17	0.18%
1960	4,426	45.77%	5,234	54.13%	10	0.10%
1956	5,026	58.45%	3,556	41.35%	17	0.20%
1952	5,776	63.19%	3,348	36.63%	16	0.18%
1948	3,858	43.70%	4,890	55.39%	80	0.91%
1944	4,560	57.24%	3,358	42.15%	49	0.62%
1940	5,543	59.52%	3,750	40.27%	20	0.21%
1936	2,849	32.14%	5,077	57.27%	939	10.59%
1932	2,121	26.19%	5,878	72.57%	101	1.25%
1928	3,401	42.23%	4,615	57.30%	38	0.47%
1924	2,475	38.19%	1,199	18.50%	2,807	43.31%
1920	4,059	66.22%	1,853	30.23%	218	3.56%
1916	1,430	43.89%	1,723	52.89%	105	3.22%
1912	886	24.93%	1,488	41.87%	1,180	33.20%
1908	1,819	47.86%	1,699	44.70%	283	7.45%
1904	2,086	59.19%	1,251	35.50%	187	5.31%
1900	1,941	49.02%	1,858	46.92%	161	4.07%
1896	2,235	51.16%	2,003	45.85%	131	3.00%
1892	1,465	39.73%	1,821	49.39%	401	10.88%