Ramsey County is a county in North Dakota, United States, on the shore of Devils Lake in the north-central part of the state. It had a population of 11,605 at the 2020 census and covers 1,301 square miles (3,370 km2) of which 1,185 square miles (3,070 km2) is land, centred near 48°16′N 98°44′W.
Devils Lake is the county seat, and its postal code is 58301. The county has 7 incorporated cities and towns plus more than a dozen unincorporated communities, organized into 34 civil townships. Ramsey County sits in the Central time zone.
Towns & Villages in Ramsey County
Ramsey County’s map holds one city, six incorporated towns, and about seventeen unincorporated communities. The table below marks City · seat for Devils Lake, Town for the other incorporated places, and Unincorp. for communities with no city government of their own. 2020 census counts are shown where the Census Bureau tabulated the place separately; other communities are too small to be tracked as their own census place.
| Place | Type | Township | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Devils Lake | City · seat | Creel | — | 58301 |
| Starkweather | Town | Stevens | — | 58377 |
| Edmore | Town | Sullivan | — | 58330 |
| Crary | Town | Fancher | — | 58327 |
| Lawton | Town | Lawton | — | 58345 |
| Brocket | Town | Freshwater | — | 58321 |
| Hampden | Town | Hope | — | 58338 |
| Churchs Ferry | Unincorp. | Chain Lakes | — | 58325 |
| Webster | Unincorp. | Webster | — | 58382 |
| Penn | Unincorp. | Newland | — | 58362 |
| Ramsey | Unincorp. | North Creel | — | — |
| Bartlett | Unincorp. | Bartlett | — | — |
| Grand Harbor | Unincorp. | Grand Harbor | — | — |
| Camp Grafton | Unincorp. | Creel | — | — |
| Doyon | Unincorp. | Odessa | — | — |
| Essex | Unincorp. | Overland | — | — |
| Garske | Unincorp. | Cato | — | — |
| Keith | Unincorp. | Klingstrup | — | — |
| Lakewood Park | Unincorp. | Creel | — | — |
| Rohrville | Unincorp. | Royal | — | — |
| Saint Joe | Unincorp. | Dry Lake | — | — |
| Southam | Unincorp. | Ontario | — | — |
| Sweetwater | Unincorp. | Triumph | — | — |
| Darby | Unincorp. | De Groat | — | — |
| Derrick | Unincorp. | Highland Center | — | — |
Camp Grafton is a North Dakota National Guard training site rather than a residential community; it is kept on the list because it appears on official county maps. Township assignments for the smallest unincorporated places are approximate, based on the nearest platted township centre.
Townships
Ramsey County is divided into 34 civil townships. The unorganized and lightly populated townships are not itemized individually below; the table lists the ones anchoring an incorporated place or a named community.
| Township | Pop. (2020) | Main settlements |
|---|---|---|
| Creel | — | Devils Lake, Camp Grafton, Lakewood Park |
| Stevens | — | Starkweather |
| Sullivan | — | Edmore |
| Fancher | — | Crary |
| Lawton | — | Lawton |
| Freshwater | — | Brocket |
| Hope | — | Hampden |
| Chain Lakes | — | Churchs Ferry |
| Webster | — | Webster |
| Newland | — | Penn |
2020 township-level population breakdowns are not published separately by the Census Bureau for Ramsey County’s townships, so those cells are left blank rather than estimated.
ZIP Codes
- 58301 — Devils Lake (also serves Camp Grafton and Lakewood Park)
- 58330 — Edmore
- 58327 — Crary
- 58377 — Starkweather
- 58321 — Brocket
- 58345 — Lawton
- 58382 — Webster
- 58338 — Hampden
- 58325 — Churchs Ferry
- 58362 — Penn
The remaining unincorporated places have no post office of their own and use the ZIP code of their nearest listed town.
Geography
Ramsey County occupies rolling prairie in the Devils Lake Basin, a closed drainage system with no natural outlet to the sea. Devils Lake, North Dakota’s largest natural lake, dominates the southern and eastern part of the county and has fluctuated dramatically in size over the past three decades, flooding farmland and forcing an emergency outlet channel. Sweetwater Lake and several smaller sloughs and coulees also drain toward the basin. The land is otherwise flat-to-gently-rolling glacial till plain used mainly for small-grain and canola farming.
Ramsey County borders Cavalier County to the north, Walsh County to the east, Nelson County to the southeast, Benson County to the southwest, and Towner County to the northwest.
Demographics
Ramsey County had 11,605 residents at the 2020 census, giving a density of roughly 9.8 people per square mile. Devils Lake is by far the largest community and home to most of the county’s population; Edmore is the next-largest incorporated town. Ramsey County includes part of the Spirit Lake Nation, whose tribal lands lie mostly in adjoining Benson and Eddy counties, and the county’s population includes a Native American community concentrated in and around Devils Lake. Median household income in the county trails the North Dakota median of $76,525, reflecting the area’s dependence on agriculture and a smaller local wage base than the state’s oil-patch counties.
Economy & Local Life
Agriculture anchors the county economy — wheat, canola, soybeans, and cattle on the higher ground, with the Devils Lake fishery supporting a substantial walleye and perch sport-fishing industry that draws anglers from across the upper Midwest. Devils Lake is home to Lake Region State College, a two-year public college, and to a Spirit Lake Casino & Resort operated by the Spirit Lake Nation just outside the city. Mercy Hospital in Devils Lake serves as the county’s main medical center. The North Dakota National Guard’s Camp Grafton Training Center, one of the state’s largest military training installations, sits along the lake’s south shore and is a significant local employer.
History
Ramsey County was created by the Dakota Territory legislature on January 4, 1873, and organized as a county government on January 25, 1883. It is named for Alexander Ramsey, a U.S. senator from Minnesota and that state’s first territorial governor. Devils Lake, the county seat, takes its English name from a mistranslation of the Dakota name for the lake, Mni Wakan, meaning “spirit water” or “sacred water.” Repeated rises in Devils Lake’s water level, most severely from the mid-1990s through the 2000s, submerged tens of thousands of acres of farmland and roads and prompted construction of a state-and-federal emergency outlet to the Sheyenne River.
Getting There
U.S. Routes 2 and 281 cross at Devils Lake, and North Dakota Highways 1, 17, 19, and 20 connect the county’s smaller towns to it.
- Grand Forks — 90 miles east
- Minot — 90 miles west
- Fargo — 150 miles southeast
- Rugby — 45 miles northwest
Devils Lake Regional Airport offers general aviation service; the nearest commercial airport is Grand Forks International Airport. Amtrak’s Empire Builder stops at the Devils Lake station daily in each direction.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Ramsey County, North Dakota?
It is in the north-central part of the state, centred on Devils Lake, about 90 miles west of Grand Forks.
What is the population of Ramsey County?
11,605 at the 2020 census.
How big is Ramsey County?
1,301 square miles (3,370 km2), of which 1,185 square miles is land.
What is the county seat of Ramsey County?
Devils Lake is the county seat.
How many towns are in Ramsey County?
Seven incorporated cities and towns — Devils Lake, Starkweather, Edmore, Crary, Lawton, Brocket, and Hampden — plus about seventeen unincorporated communities.
What ZIP codes are in Ramsey County?
Ten, led by 58301 (Devils Lake); see the ZIP Codes section above for the full list.
Why does Devils Lake keep flooding?
The lake sits in a closed basin with no natural outlet; heavy regional precipitation from the mid-1990s onward raised the water level more than 25 feet, submerging farmland until an emergency outlet channel was built to relieve it.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in North Dakota.