Leota Township, Minnesota
Encyclopedia
Leota Township is a township in Nobles County
Nobles County, Minnesota
Nobles County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 21,378. Its county seat is Worthington.-Geography:...

, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The population was 463 at the 2000 census. Within the township is the CDP
Census-designated place
A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...

 of Leota.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the township has a total area of 36.2 square miles (93.7 km²), all of it land. The main geographic feature in Leota Townships is the Champepadan Creek.

Main highways include:
  • Minnesota State Highway 91
    Minnesota State Highway 91
    Minnesota State Highway 91 is a highway in southwest Minnesota, which runs from Lyon County Road L14 at the Iowa state line near Ellsworth, and continues north to its northern terminus at its intersection with State Highway 23 at Russell, near the city of Marshall.Highway 91 is in length.-Route...

  • Nobles County Road 16
  • Nobles County Road 19
  • Nobles County Road 20

History

Leota Township was first settled by Dutch farmers who migrated northward from another Dutch Settlement in Orange City, Iowa
Orange City, Iowa
As of the census of 2000, there were 5,582 people, 1,719 households, and 1,285 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,808.5 people per square mile . There were 1,805 housing units at an average density of 584.8 per square mile...

. Organization of Leota Township was approved by the Nobles County Board on March 18, 1879. The first township meeting was held on April 5, 1879. The story has it that Leota was the name of a young Indian woman who figured in a romantic story familiar to W. G. Barnard, one of the township's first residents. However existence of such a story cannot be verified. If true, Leota Township (and the village of Leota) are the only place names in all of Nobles County that memorialize specific Native Americans.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 463 people, 191 households, and 147 families residing in the township. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 12.8 people per square mile (4.9/km²). There were 204 housing units at an average density of 5.6/sq mi (2.2/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 99.14% White, 0.43% Asian, and 0.43% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.43% of the population.

There were 191 households out of which 27.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 73.8% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 1.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.0% were non-families. 23.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 16.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.85.

In the township the population was spread out with 23.8% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 23.5% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 24.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 100.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.1 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $31,818, and the median income for a family was $37,500. Males had a median income of $26,417 versus $23,750 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the township was $14,948. About 11.8% of families and 12.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.2% of those under age 18 and 17.2% of those age 65 or over.

Politics

Leota Township is located in Minnesota's 1st congressional district
Minnesota's 1st congressional district
Minnesota's 1st congressional district extends across southern Minnesota from the border with South Dakota to the border with Wisconsin. The First District is primarily a rural district built on a strong history of agriculture, although this is changing rapidly due to strong population growth in...

, represented by Mankato
Mankato, Minnesota
Mankato is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The population was 39,309 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth largest city in Minnesota outside of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The county seat of Blue Earth County, it is located...

 educator Tim Walz
Tim Walz
Timothy James Walz is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 2007. He is a member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party .The district comprises the state's southern end, running along the entire border with Iowa...

, a Democrat
Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party
The Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party is a major political party in the state of Minnesota and the state affiliate of the Democratic Party. It was created on April 15, 1944, with the merger of the Minnesota Democratic Party and the Farmer–Labor Party...

. At the state level, Leota Township is located in Senate
Minnesota Senate
The Minnesota Senate is the upper house in the Minnesota Legislature. There are 67 members, half as many as are in the Minnesota House of Representatives. In terms of membership, it is the largest upper house of any state legislature. Each Senate district in the state includes an A and B House...

 District 22, represented by Republican
Republican Party of Minnesota
The Republican Party of Minnesota is the Minnesota branch of the United States Republican Party. Elected by the party’s state central committee in June 2009, its chairman is Tony Sutton, and its deputy-chairman is Michael Brodkorb.-Early history:...

 Doug Magnus
Doug Magnus
Douglas Rudy "Doug" Magnus is a Minnesota politician and a member of the Minnesota Senate, representing District 22, which includes all of Cottonwood, Jackson, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone and Rock counties in the southwestern part of the state...

, and in House
Minnesota House of Representatives
The Minnesota House of Representatives is the lower house in the Minnesota State Legislature. There are 134 members elected to two-year terms, twice the number of members in the Minnesota Senate. Each senate district is divided in half and given the suffix A or B...

 District 22A, represented by Republican Joe Schomacker
Joe Schomacker
Joseph "Joe" Roy Schomacker is a Minnesota politician and a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives who represents District 22A, which includes all or portions of Murray, Nobles, Pipestone and Rock counties in the southwestern part of the state...

.

Local Politics

Leota Township is represented by Nobles County Commissioner Diane Thier
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