Our History
Traverse County, with an area of 568 square miles, is located in the west central part of Minnesota on the North and South Dakota borders.
The State and County line runs through Lake Traverse and its outlet, the Bois de Sioux.
Traverse County takes its name from Lake Traverse, located just west of Wheaton, which has been the county seat since 1886.
Traverse County was organized in 1862 and in 1870 the Homestead Act opened the territory to European immigrants who successfully farmed Traverse County’s rich soil.
As a part of the continental divide, the stretch of land between the two lakes is of special interest. From it, waters flow northward through Lake Traverse, the Bois de Sioux, the Red River, Lake Winnipeg and the Nelson River to Hudson Bay; and southward through Big Stone Lake, the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers to the Gulf of Mexico.
Traverse County lies in the old bed of the glacial Lake Agassiz. The waters of this lake cut the channel which is now Browns Valley and found an outlet along the present course of the Minnesota River.