Clearwater

Formed December 20, 1902 (83^rd county)

Clearwater County (8,521), Bagley (1,281)                

The tan brick and masonry Modern courthouse was built in 1938 on a hill at Main Avenue between 2^nd and 3^rd streets.  Main Street is Minnesota State Highway 92 in the town.  The courthouse was remodeled and enlarged in 1998.  Foss and Company is the building designer.  The county was established on December 20, 1902 from Beltrami County as the 83^rd county with Bagley as the only county seat.  The county is named for the river and lake.  The county seat’s namesake is lumberman, Sumner Bagley. 

Clearwater 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 Clearwater, Aitkin, Beltrami, Cass, 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 the northwest part of the state.  Grand Forks, North Dakota is west and Minneapolis, Minnesota is southeast of the county.  The county center is 18.6 miles North-Northeast of Bagley nearer Clearbrook.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Beltrami, Hubbard, Becker, Mahnomen, Polk, and Pennington counties. 

The area of the county is 994.7 square miles.  It is 21 out of 87 in the state.  It ranks 74 out of 87 in population in the state.  It has a density of 8.6 persons per square mile making it 79 out of 87 in the state.  Clearwater County has 25.7% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 2 crosses the county east to west from Beltrami County to Polk County.  The county is a tall rectangle with its northeast corner scooped away.  Bagley is slightly south of the center of the county.  Bagley is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 15.0% of the county population.