Organized: August 30, 1881

County Seat: Grafton

Named For: George H. Walsh (1845-1913) Grand Forks newspaperman and politician.

Area size: 1,287 square miles.

Peak Population: 20,747 reached in 1940 (with a decline to 15,381 in 1980)

Walsh County was created by the 1881 territorial legislature and organized on August 30, 1881 from the northern parts of Grand Forks County and southern parts of Pembina County. It is named in honor of George H. Walsh (1845–1913), a newspaperman and politician in Grand Forks. Grafton became the county seat in 1881.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000,there were residing in the county.

• 12,389 people
• 5,029 households
•  3,319 families

The population density was 10 people per square mile (4/km²).

There were 5,757 housing units at an average density of 4 per square mile (2/km²).

The racial makeup of the county was 94.86% White, 0.33% Black or African American, 1.02% Native American, 0.19% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 2.51% from other races, and 1.07% from two or more races. 5.65% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 39.7% were of Norwegian, 14.6% German, 8.7% Polish and 8.0% Czech ancestry according to Census 2000.

There were 5,029 households out of which 30.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.10% were married couples living together, 7.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.00% were non-families. 31.30% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.20% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.00.In the county the population was spread out with

• 24.90% under the age of 18
• 6.50% from 18 to 24
• 25.00% from 25 to 44
• 24.20% from 45 to 64
• and 19.30% who were 65 years of age or older