Divide County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,195. Its county seat is Crosby.

History

During the election on November 8, 1910, the voters of Williams County determined that the county should be divided into a northern and a southern county. The vote was affirmative; the southern portion retained the Williams name; the newly created county was named "Divide", with Crosby as the seat. The county government was effected on December 9 of that year, and the county's boundaries have remained unchanged since that time. Most histories attribute the county name to its "division" from Williams County, though the county's location on the Laurentian Divide, separating runoff waters between Hudson Bay and Gulf of Mexico, may have been involved. In 1911, Divide County was the site of one of the deadliest tornadoes in North Dakota's recorded history, causing four known deaths.

Geography

Divide County lies at the northwest corner of North Dakota. Its northern boundary line abuts the south boundary line of Canada, opposite Saskatchewan, and its west boundary line abuts the east boundary line of the state of Montana. The terrain of Divide County consists of semi-arid rolling hills, dotted with lakes and ponds, partially devoted to agriculture. The terrain generally slopes to the east; the northern part also slopes to the north while the southern part slopes to the south. The county has a total area of 1294 sqmi, of which 1261 sqmi is land and 33 sqmi (2.6%) is water. Divide County is one of several western North Dakota counties with significant exposure to the Bakken Formation in the Williston Basin.

Major highways

Adjacent counties and rural municipalities

Lakes

Demographics

2020 census

As of the census of 2020, there were 2,195 people.

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 2,071 people, 977 households, and 584 families in the county. The population density was 1.6 PD/sqmi. There were 1,324 housing units at an average density of 1.1 /mi2. The racial makeup of the county was 98.0% white, 0.5% American Indian, 0.3% Asian, 0.2% black or African American, 0.0% from other races, and 0.8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 1.4% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 57.7% were Norwegian, 30.3% were German, 8.5% were Irish, 5.2% were Swedish, and 2.9% were American. Of the 977 households, 19.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.2% were married couples living together, 4.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 40.2% were non-families, and 36.6% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.05 and the average family size was 2.66. The median age was 51.4 years. The median income for a household in the county was $48,152 and the median income for a family was $65,000. Males had a median income of $42,341 versus $27,596 for females. The per capita income for the county was $28,462. About 9.4% of families and 14.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 40.7% of those under age 18 and 5.7% of those age 65 or over. Among the population claiming adherence to a particular religious organization, 80.6% claimed adherence to the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) in 2010. This rate is the highest such rate for the ELCA among all counties in the United States.

Population by decade

Places of interest

Two petroglyphs are displayed at Writing Rock State Historical Site in Writing Rock Township.

Communities

Cities

Unincorporated communities

Townships

Politics

Divide County, though formerly a swing county, now leans heavily Republican. It has selected the Republican party candidate in every presidential election since 2000.