Dodge

Formed February 20, 1855 (22^nd county)

Dodge County (20,873), Mantorville (1,110), Kasson (6,862)

A tan brick Renaissance Revival courthouse was built in 1871 and remodeled in 1900.  A Justice Center was added in 1990 to the facility.  The structure is located on 6^th and Main streets.  Minnesota State Highway 57 is Main Street in the town.  E. Townsend Mix is the architect of the courthouse.  An Administration Center was built in 2016.  The county was organized on February 20, 1855 from parts of Rice County and Native American Territory as the 22^nd county.  The county is named for Wisconsin Governor Henry Dodge.  The county seat is named for settler C. Peter Mantor.  Mantorville has always been the county seat. 

Dodge 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-seven District Court Judges serve Dodge, Fillmore, Freeborn, Houston, Mower, Olmsted, Rice, Steele, Wabasha, Waseca, and Winona counties (judicial.) The county is in southeast Minnesota.  Minneapolis, Minnesota is northwest of the county.  The county center is 10.6 miles Southwest of Mantorville nearer Dodge Center.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Goodhue, Olmsted, Mower, Freeborn, Steele, and Rice counties. 

The area of the county is 439.5 square miles.  It is 74 out of 87 in the state.  It ranks 48 out of 87 in population in the state.  It has a density of 47.5 persons per square mile making it 28 out of 87 in the state.  Dodge County has 64.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 14 crosses the county east to west from Olmsted County to Steele County.  The county is a rectangle.  Mantorville is in the northeast quarter of the county.  Kasson is in the eastern third of the county.  Mantorville is the county seat and Kasson is the largest city.  Mantorville is 5.3% of the county population while Kasson is 32.9% of the county population.  The largest city is pronounced KAS-SON.  This county is in the Rochester Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Blooming Prairie