The story
History
The legislature of the Dakota Territory designated Bowman (named for Edward M. Bowman, a member of the territorial House of Representatives during the 1883 session) as a separate county on March 8, 1883, although it was not organized at that time. In 1885, its boundaries were altered ceding territory to Billings and Villard Counties (Villard itself was eliminated in 1887). In 1891, and again in 1896, the South Dakota legislature eliminated the not-yet-organized Bowman County, due to scant settlement in the area, but these actions either were not put into effect (the 1891 vote) or were overturned in judicial appeal (the 1896 vote).
A decision by the North Dakota Supreme Court on May 24, 1901, resurrected Bowman County. The decision caused the county's area to slightly increase; its former boundary descriptions were replaced by descriptions based on the boundary lines of adjacent jurisdictions, which added a strip along its south border and another strip along its east border.
Since the scantily populated county was still unorganized, in March 1903 the legislature attached the area to Stark County for judicial purposes. This state of affairs continued until November 1904, when the legislature again dissolved the county and assigned its territory to Billings County. However, on June 10, 1907, ND Governor John Burke issued a proclamation which re-created Bowman County. This proclamation did not attach the area to any other area for judicial purposes. On July 5, 1907, the new county was organized and Bowman was confirmed to be the county seat.
The US Navy ship USS Bowman County (LST-391), a tank landing ship in World War II, was named for the county.
2024 estimate
As of the 2024 estimate, there were 2,886 people and 1,237 households residing in the county. There were 1,638 housing units at an average density of 1.41 per square mile (0.5/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 94.8% White (91.8% NH White), 0.6% African American, 2.9% Native American, 0.1% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, _% from some other races and 1.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 4.8% of the population.
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, there were 2,993 people, 1,294 households, and 835 families residing in the county. The population density was 2.6 inhabitants per square mile (1.0/km2). There were 1,633 housing units at an average density of 1.41 per square mile (0.5/km2).
Of the residents, 23.4% were under the age of 18 and 23.6% were 65 years of age or older; the median age was 43.8 years. For every 100 females there were 104.9 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 105.6 males.
The racial makeup of the county was 93.3% White, 0.0% Black or African American, 1.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% Asian, 1.3% from some other race, and 3.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 4.3% of the population.
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There were 1,294 households in the county, of which 26.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them and 19.7% had a female householder with no spouse or partner present. About 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 1,633 housing units, of which 20.8% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 76.4% were owner-occupied and 23.6% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.2% and the rental vacancy rate was 15.3%.
2010 census
As of the 2010 census, there were 3,151 people, 1,385 households, and 873 families residing in the county. The population density was 2.7 inhabitants per square mile (1.0/km2). There were 1,683 housing units at an average density of 1.45 per square mile (0.6/km2). The racial makeup of the county was 97.91% White, 0.10% African American, 0.57% Native American, 0.06% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 0.86% from some other races and 0.51% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 2.48% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 47.4% were German, 28.1% were Norwegian, 9.9% were Irish, 6.4% were Swedish, 6.4% were English, 5.4% were American, and 5.2% were Polish.
Of the 1,385 households, 25.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 54.9% were married couples living together, 4.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 37.0% were non-families, and 32.9% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.82. The median age was 46.9 years.
The median income for a household in the county was $48,063 and the median income for a family was $63,897. Males had a median income of $41,542 versus $27,269 for females. The per capita income for the county was $27,354. About 3.9% of families and 6.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.6% of those under age 18 and 14.8% of those age 65 or over.
From Wikipedia’s article on Bowman County, North Dakota, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5