 
|  | | Traverse County Information Traverse County Extension Committee MembersDavid Naatz-Chairman,
Gerald Kaus-Vice Chair,
Gloria Tritz,
Collen Deal,
Peggy Duffield,
Chad Hasbargen,
Kevin Pederson,Traverse County BriefTraverse County is located in the west central part of the state on the South Dakota border. The county seat is Wheaton. It is the smallest county in Minnesota. The county's 1997 per capita income of $23,833 ranked tenth among Minnesota counties. The largest industries in the county in 1997 were farm, state and local government, and services. The fastest growing industry was finance, insurance, and real estate which increased by over 32% between 1996 and 1997. The county's unemployment rate was 4.1%.
PopulationThe 1998 population in Traverse County was 4,250 people with 1,753 households. This is a decrease from 1997 with 4,331 people and 1,774 households.Historical InformationTraverse County was named after Lake Traverse, which was so named because it lies at an angle to Big Stone Lake.
The County was established on February 20, 1862, and organized on March 8, 1881 at Browns Valley. The county has 15 townships. It has four incorporated cities: Wheaton, Browns Valley, Dumont and Tintah. Wheaton is the county seat and was platted September 1, 1884. Wheaton was incorporated as a city on May 24, 1887.
Geographical InformationTraverse County is in west central Minnesota. It has a land area of 363,520 acreas, or about 568 squaree miles.
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