Bowman

Formed March 8, 1883 (32^nd county)

Bowman County (2,997), Bowman (1,471)

The Modern red and brown brick 1974 courthouse is at the intersection of 1^st Street Northwest and 1^st Avenue Northwest.  United States Highway 85 is 1^st Avenue in the town.  Blake, Zieske and Associates were the architects.  Veteran memorials are on the grounds.  An earlier courthouse was built in 1908 in Bowman, the only county seat.  Bowman County was organized on March 8, 1883 as the 32^nd county.  The county and county seat are named for Territorial Legislator William Bowman. 

Bowman County government consists of a recorder, a sheriff, an attorney, and a treasurer (executive).  It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.)  Four District Court Judges serve Bowman, Adams, Billings, Dunn, Golden Valley, Hettinger, Slope, and Stark counties and a court clerk serves Bowman County (judicial.)  The county is in the southwest corner of North Dakota.  It borders both Montana and South Dakota.  Minot, North Dakota is northwest and Fargo, North Dakota is east of the county.  The county center is 13.7 miles Southwest of Bowman.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Slope and Adams counties and South Dakota and Montana. 

The area of the county is 1162 square miles.  It is 27 out of 53 in the state.  It ranks 35 out of 53 in population in the state.  It has a density of 2.70 persons per square mile making it 37 out of 53 in the state.  Bowman County has 63.9% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 12 travels northwest to southeast in the county from Slope County, north, to Adams County, east.  United States Highway 85 comes from Slope County and goes into South Dakota.  The county is a rectangle.  The City of Bowman is located in the northern third of the county.  Bowman is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 49.1% of the county population.  The county and county seat are pronounced BOE-MAN.

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