| County: | Golden Valley County |
| State: | North Dakota |
| Founded: | 1912 |
| Seat Wl: | Beach |
| Largest City: | Beach |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 1002 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 1001 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 1.6 |
| Area Percentage: | 0.2 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 1736 |
| Pop Est As Of: | 2022 |
| Population Est: | 1744 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | auto |
| Time Zone: | Mountain |
| Web: | http://www.goldenvalleycounty.org/ |
| Ex Image: | Golden Valley County Courthouse.jpg |
| Ex Image Cap: | Golden Valley County Courthouse in Beach |
| District: | At-large |
Golden Valley County is a county in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,736,[1] making it the fourth-least populous county in North Dakota. The county seat is Beach.[2]
The county should not be confused with the city of Golden Valley, which is located in Mercer County.
In the general election held November 8, 1910, the voters of Billings County chose to separate the western portion of Billings and form a new county. This result was immediately challenged in court; on September 19, 1912, the ND Supreme Court upheld the election result; therefore the legislature completed the county's organization on November 13, 1912.[3]
Golden Valley was called 'Rattlesnake Flats' by early settlers, due to the large number of the snakes found in the area. The region was dubbed Golden Valley in 1902 after a group of land surveyors noticed that the sunlight gave the surrounding grasses a distinct golden color.[4]
The vote in 1910 to create Golden Valley County was 837 for and 756 against. Shortly after the vote was certified, suit was filed against the Billings County Commission to overturn the result. The plaintiffs alleged that the certification of election was improper, and that certain pre-marked "unofficial" ballots printed by supporters of the new county were cast in place of official ballots, and should be voided. The trial court originally ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. The county appealed to the North Dakota Supreme Court, which upheld the county's certification of the election. The court also ruled the pre-marked ballots were invalid, but that the number of invalid votes was not sufficient to overturn the election results.[5] The court's decision upholding the new county was made on September 19, 1912, and Golden Valley was formally organized on November 13, 1912.
Golden Valley County lies on the west line of North Dakota. Its west boundary line abuts the east boundary line of the state of Montana. Beaver Creek flows east-northeastward through the upper portion of the county, and Little Missouri River flows northeastward through the southeastern corner of the county, with gullies flowing southeastward draining the lower county into the Little Mo River. The county terrain consists of semi-arid hills, dedicated to agriculture in the level areas.[6] The terrain slopes to the east and north, with its highest point on hills at the southwestern corner at 3251feet ASL.[7] The county has a total area of, of which is land and (0.2%) is water.[8]
Source:[6]
As of the census of 2020, there were 1,736 people.
As of the census of 2010, there were 1,680 people, 774 households, and 429 families in the county. The population density was . There were 967 housing units at an average density of 1adj=preNaNadj=pre. The racial makeup of the county was 97.4% white, 0.6% American Indian, 0.6% black or African American, 0.1% Pacific islander, 0.1% Asian, 0.5% from other races, and 0.8% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 2.1% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 69.0% were German, 14.7% were Norwegian, 10.7% were Polish, 7.9% were Irish, 7.5% were English, and 2.5% were American.
Of the 774 households, 22.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.4% were married couples living together, 4.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 44.6% were non-families, and 39.4% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.10 and the average family size was 2.85. The median age was 45.9 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $33,333 and the median income for a family was $47,500. Males had a median income of $32,875 versus $26,750 for females. The per capita income for the county was $21,899. About 8.9% of families and 13.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.7% of those under age 18 and 11.4% of those age 65 or over.
ImageSize = width:550 height:300PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30DateFormat = x.yPeriod = from:0 till:4832TimeAxis = orientation:verticalAlignBars = lateScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:1208 start:0ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:604 start:0BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo
BarData= bar:1920 text:1920 bar:1930 text:1930 bar:1940 text:1940 bar:1950 text:1950 bar:1960 text:1960 bar:1970 text:1970 bar:1980 text:1980 bar:1990 text:1990 bar:2000 text:2000 bar:2010 text:2010 bar:2020 text:2020 bar:2022 text:present
PlotData= color:barra width:25 align:left
bar:1920 from: 0 till:4832 bar:1930 from: 0 till:4122 bar:1940 from: 0 till:3498 bar:1950 from: 0 till:3499 bar:1960 from: 0 till:3100 bar:1970 from: 0 till:2611 bar:1980 from: 0 till:2391 bar:1990 from: 0 till:2108 bar:2000 from: 0 till:1924 bar:2010 from: 0 till:1680 bar:2020 from: 0 till:1736 bar:2022 from: 0 till:1744 color:darkblue
PlotData=
bar:1920 at:4832 fontsize:S text:4832 shift:(-14,5) bar:1930 at:4122 fontsize:S text:4122 shift:(-14,5) bar:1940 at:3498 fontsize:S text:3498 shift:(-14,5) bar:1950 at:3499 fontsize:S text:3499 shift:(-14,5) bar:1960 at:3100 fontsize:S text:3100 shift:(-14,5) bar:1970 at:2611 fontsize:S text:2611 shift:(-14,5) bar:1980 at:2391 fontsize:S text:2391 shift:(-14,5) bar:1990 at:2108 fontsize:S text:2108 shift:(-14,5) bar:2000 at:1924 fontsize:S text:1924 shift:(-14,5) bar:2010 at:1680 fontsize:S text:1680 shift:(-14,5) bar:2020 at:1736 fontsize:S text:1736 shift:(-14,5) bar:2022 at:1744 fontsize:S text:1744 shift:(-14,5)
TextData= fontsize:S pos:(20,20) text:Data from U.S. Census Bureau
Source:[6]
Golden Valley County voters have been reliably Republican for decades. In no national election since 1936 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate (as of 2020).