Beltrami

Formed February 28, 1866 (69^th county)

Beltrami County (46,230), Bemidji (15,424)                

The tan brick and red stone Beaux Arts facility was built in 1903.  The building was enlarged in 1973 and an Administration Center was built in 2005.  A Justice Center was added in 2007.  The architect is Kinney-Detweiler.  The courthouse features a dome with Lady Justice sitting on top.  The county was organized on February 28, 1866 from parts of Itasca, Kittson, and Polk counties and Native American Territory as the 69^th county.  The building sits on Beltrami Avenue, 6^th Street, Minnesota Avenue, and 7^th Street.  Minnesota State Highway 197 goes one block east of the site.  The county is named for explorer, Giacomo Costantino Beltrami.  The county seat is Native American for “lake with crossing water.”  Bemidji has always been the county seat. 

Beltrami County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, an attorney, a treasurer, an auditor, an assessor and a clerk (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Twenty-two District Court Judges serve Beltrami, Aitkin, Cass, Clearwater, Crow Wing, Hubbard, Itasca, Kittson, Koochiching, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, Red Lake, and Roseau counties (judicial.) The county is situated in northeast Minnesota.  The county is in northwest Minnesota.  Grand Forks, North Dakota is west and Minneapolis, Minnesota is southeast of the county.  The county center is 47.3 miles North of Bemidji nearer Ponemah.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Lake of the Woods, Koochiching, Itasca, Cass, Hubbard, Clearwater, Pennington, Marshall, and Roseau counties. 

The area of the county is 2505.3 square miles.  It is 4 out of 87 in the state.  It ranks 21 out of 87 in population in the state.  It has a density of 18.5 persons per square mile making it 57 out of 87 in the state.  Beltrami County has 37.1% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 2 crosses the county east to west from Cass County to Clearwater County.  United States Highway 71 goes northeast to south from Itasca County to Hubbard County.  The county looks like the number 7 with a top hat on the northwest.  Bemidji is located near the southern border of the county.  Bemidji is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 33.4% of the county population.  The county is pronounced BEL-TRAM-EE.  The county seat is pronounced BE-MID-GEE.  This county is in the Bemidji Micropolitan Statistical Area.