List of North Dakota county name etymologies

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This is a list of North Dakota county name etymologies. North Dakota counties are most often named for Dakota territorial legislators, executives of the Northern Pacific Railroad and early settlers.

Adams County: Adams is named for John Quincy Adams, a railroad agent who was instrumental in having the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway be built through North Dakota.
Barnes County: Barnes is named for Dakota Territory judge Alanson H. Barnes.
Benson County: Benson is named for Dakota territorial legislator Bertil W. Benson.
Billings County: Billings is named for Frederick H. Billings, who was president of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
Bottineau County: Bottineau is named for frontiersman Pierre Bottineau.
Bowman County: Bowman is named for Dakota territorial legislator Edward M. Bowman.
Burke County: Burke is named for governor John Burke.
Burleigh County: Burleigh is named for Walter A. Burleigh, territorial delegate to the 39th and 40th U.S. Congresses.
Cass County: Cass is named for George Washington Cass, who was the president of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
Cavalier County: Cavalier is named for Charles Cavalier of Pembina, one of the area's earliest European-American settlers.
Dickey County: Dickey is named for Dakota territorial legislator George H. Dickey.
Divide County: Divide is named because it was created upon by division of Williams County.
Dunn County: Dunn is named for John P. Dunn, an early civic leader of Bismarck, North Dakota.
Eddy County: Eddy is named for Ezra B. Eddy, a Fargo, North Dakota banker.
Emmons County: Emmons is named for James Emmons, an early entrepreneur and businessman Bismarck, North Dakota.
Foster County: Foster is named for either James S. Foster or George I. Foster, brothers who were both prominent in territorial affairs.
Golden Valley County: Golden Valley was named for either promotional reasons or for the Golden Valley Land and Cattle Company.
Grand Forks County: Grand Forks is named for Grand Forks, North Dakota, which in turn was named for its location at the intersection of the Red Lake River and the Red River of the North.
Grant County: Grant was named for U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant.
Griggs County: Griggs is named for Alexander Griggs, a steamboat captain and founder of Grand Forks, North Dakota.
Hettinger County: Hettinger is named for Mathias K. Hettinger, the father-in-law of Erastus A. Williams, Speaker of the House during that session
Kidder County: Kidder is named for Jefferson Parrish Kidder, territorial delegate to the 44th Congress and 45th Congresses.
La Moure County: La Moure is named for Dakota territorial legislator and North Dakota state legislator Judson LaMoure.
Logan County: Logan is named for Illinois U.S. Senator John A. Logan.
McHenry County: McHenry is named for early settler James McHenry.
McIntosh County: McIntosh is named for Edward H. McIntosh, a member of the "Territorial Council."
McKenzie County: McKenzie is named for North Dakota political leader Alexander McKenzie.
McLean County: McLean is named for John A. McLean, first mayor of Bismarck, North Dakota.
Mercer County: Mercer is named for William Henry Harrison Mercer, an early settler.
Morton County: Morton is named for Governor of Indiana Oliver Hazard Perry Throck Morton.
Mountrail County: Mountrail is named for Joseph Mountraille, a "Metis voyageur of some prominence."
Nelson County: Nelson is named for Dakota territorial legislator Nelson E. Nelson.
Oliver County: Oliver is named for Dakota territorial legislator Harry S. Oliver.
Pembina County: Pembina is possibly named for the high-bush cranberries which grew wild in the area. Pembina may be from a Ojibwa phrase, anepeminan sipi, referring to the berries, as they grew in abundance around the Redberry River; it may also be from an Ojibwa word meaning meeting place. The name originally applied to the old Pembina Territory.
Pierce County: Pierce is named for Gilbert Ashville Pierce, a Governor of Dakota Territory and later a U.S. Senator from North Dakota.
Ramsey County: Ramsey is named for Minnesota U.S. Senator Alexander Ramsey.
Ransom County: Ransom is named for locally situated Fort Ransom.
Renville County: Renville's name is of uncertain origin; but may be in honor of Joseph Renville.
Richland County: Richland is named for early settler Morgan T. Rich.
Rolette County: Rolette is named for local political leader Joseph Rolette, Jr.
Sargent County: Sargent is named for Homer E. Sargent, a general manager of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
Sheridan County: Sheridan is named after American Civil War officer Philip Henry Sheridan.
Sioux County: Sioux is named for the Native American Sioux people.
Slope County: Slope is named after the Missouri Slope, a region of western N.D. west of the Missouri River.
Stark County: Stark is named after George Stark, a vice president of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
Steele County: Steele is named for Edward H. Steele, secretary-treasurer of the Red River Land Company.
Stutsman County: Stutsman is named for Dakota Territory power broker Enos Stutsman.
Towner County: Towner is named for Dakota territorial legislator Oscar M. Towner.
Traill County: Traill is named after early settler Walter John Strickland Traill.
Walsh County: Walsh is named after early settler George H. Walsh.
Ward County: Ward is named for Dakota territorial legislator Mark Ward.
Wells County: Wells is named for Dakota territorial legislator Edward Payson Wells.
Williams County: Williams is named for Dakota territorial legislator Erastus Appelman Williams.

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[ND Cos. Histories]

List of North Dakota county name etymologies

Source

See also