Formed November 13, 1912 (50th county)
Golden Valley County (1,730), Beach (978)
The brown brick courthouse was built in 1923. The courthouse is on a hill at 1st Avenue Southeast between 1st and 2nd streets Southeast. North Dakota State Highway 16 passes nine blocks north of the site. A. J. Weinberger is the Prairie building designer. The building was enlarged in 2013. Golden Valley County was formed on November 13, 1912 as the 50th county with Beach as the only county seat. The county is a descriptive name to attract settlers. The county seat is named for Calvary Captain William C. Beach.
Golden Valley County government consists of a recorder, a sheriff, an attorney, and a treasurer (executive). It has 3 Commissioners (legislative.) Four District Court Judges serve Golden Valley, Adams, Billings, Bowman, Dunn, Hettinger, Slope, and Stark counties and a court clerk serves Golden Valley County (judicial.) The county is on the western border of the state. Bismarck, North Dakota is east and Minot, North Dakota is northeast of the county. The county center is 9.1 miles East of Beach nearer Sentinel Butte. The county is surrounded clockwise by McKenzie, Billings, and Slope counties and Montana.
The area of the county is 1002 square miles. It is 38 out of 53 in the state. It ranks 50 out of 53 in population in the state. It has a density of 1.7 persons per square mile making it 49 out of 53 in the state. Golden Valley County has 64.9% of its population in its incorporated areas. Interstate Highway 94 travels through the county from east to west from Billings County to Montana. The county is a rectangle is an added leg on the southwest corner. Beach is located on the western border of the county. Beach is the county seat and the largest city. It is 56.5% of the county population.
Beach
Golva
Sentinel Butte
