Results Realty, Inc. Kris Carlson, Broker

Sargent County, ND

Sargent County is a beauty county located in the southeastern part of North Dakota and is 864 square miles with a total of 547, 200 acres. The division of these acres goes as such: 523,815 acres of farm land , (which includes 2108 acres of Game and Fish land) 10, 485 acres are owned by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the balance is in lakes, roads, town sites, airports, etc. There are 271 miles of county roads, 835.75 miles of township roads and 97 miles of state highways.  To learn more about Sargent County, please visit them on the web at: https://mylocalgov.com/SargentCountyND/index.asp.

Sargent County History

In the spring of 1879 a government survey party led by E. H. Antwerp came into the county at a point, which is now called the Sisseton Hills. At that time there were no white settlers, by the next year some white people, mostly Norwegians and Germans had come into the area and staked claims. From 1880 to 1890 most of the pioneers moved into the county following the building of the Soo, Great Northern and Northern Pacific railroads.

Sargent County was created from the southern half of Ransom County, and named in honor of H. E. Sargent, who was an official of the Northern Pacific Railroad. The railroad built its line into Milnor in 1883, across the county and into Oakes by 1900. On July 16, 1883 Territorial Governor Ordway appointed the first commissioners and designated Milnor as the county seat. The following year the first county election was held and Forman was chosen as the county seat. In 1920 the counties population peaked at 9655.
At the turn of the century there were 18 towns in the county. Now there are seven cities:
Cayuga, Cogswell, Forman, Gwinner, Havana, Milnor, and Rutland. There are six unincorporated villages: Brampton, Crete, Delamere, Geneseo, Stirum and Straubville.
There are 24 townships. The average farm size has grown from 300 acres in the early 1900’s to 1025 acres in 1995. The first farmer was John Longie of Tewaukon and the first community was Hamlin in northern Herman Township.

Artifacts have been found dating hundreds of years before the white man came to the area. The Mandan, Hidatsa, Blackfoot, Cree and Chippewa were gone before the settlers arrived. The Sioux were the only tribe left in the area. The writing rock known as the Alter Stone, arrow points, spear points, pottery, hammers and tethering stones have been found in all parts of the county. The Alter Stone was purchased by a man from Britton, SD and moved to that city. Windy Mound, the highest point in the Sisseton Hills, overlooks the county and on a clear day most of the county can be seen. It was there that the Indians held services for dead members of the tribes.

The main industry is IR Bobcat in Gwinner, home of the Melroe Bobcat skid steer loader.

There are three school districts, Sargent Central in Forman, North Sargent in Gwinner and Milnor.

There are five county commissioners, elected at large, from two commissioner districts.

911 became a reality on May 31, 1994 and one of the first calls was featured on the national TV show “Rescue 911” in October of 1994.

Sargent County, ND Parks & Recreation

Forman Golf Course
http://www.golfable.com/golfcourses/courses/Forman_ND_Forman_Golf_Course
This course was built on predominantly flat terrain, but there is some mounding which might cause an uneven lie. There are water hazards that come into play on two holes. The small greens are slightly sloped and generally fast. The signature hole is #3, a 154-yard, par 3, which is where the tournament tie breakers and hole-in-one contests are held.

Silver Lake Park
Silver Lake is a public park owned by Sargent County. They offer 32  RV/Tent campsites with electric hookups on 100 acres with bathroom/showers. Picnic tables and fire rings are available. Rates are $10 per night for tents and $15 per night for RV's.  A weekly rate of $75 for RV's and $50 for tents is also available.  The primitive area rates are $10 per night for RV's and $5 per night for tents.  RV/trailer portable disposal service is available.  No reservations accepted.  Leisure activities include: Beach, swimming, boating, boat ramp, waterskiing, horseshoes, volleyball, fishing pier, and picnicking.  This facility officially opens yearly from May 1st - October 1st.

Tewaukon National Wildlife Refuge in Sargent County, ND
Tewaukon National Wildlife Refuge is located 5 miles south of Cayuga, North Dakota on Sargent County road #12. The refuge is on the edge of the Central Flyway and a total of 243 species of birds have been seen on the refuge.Sprague Lake is part of the refuge and is located about 1 mile east of Silver Lake. Both offer fishing (walleye, northern pike, perch, bullhead, and carp), summer or winter.

Buffalo Lake, Sargent County, ND
Buffalo Lake is one of Southeast North Dakota's premiere ice fishing and spearing lakes. Northern pike and perch can be caught year around. The boat ramp is on the west side of the lake.

Sargent County, ND Events and Attractions
(The following attractions have been sourced directly from their individual websites.  To learn more about them, please click on the link located below their names.  To see a complete list of events, please click on the bottom link.)

Sargent County Museum
https://www.ndtourism.com/whatdo/attractions/attraction-details.asp?AID=664&backTo=yes
Museum contains early 1900s cars, original Bobcat loaders, 1900s steel gas tractors, microfilm of Sargent County newspapers.

Sargent County Courthouse Dome
https://mylocalgov.com/SargentCountyND/WebSubsection.asp?key=58  
In 1997, Sargent County commissioned renowned artist Del Iron Cloud to recreate the murals on the ceiling of the dome in the courthouse. These paintings are visual reminders of the history of the county.

To find a complete list of Sargent County events, please click on the following link: https://mylocalgov.com/SargentCountyND/WebEvents.asp