Ward County /

Ward County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Dakota. As of the 2010 census, the population was 61,675. Its county seat is Minot. Ward County was created by the 1885 Dakota Territory legislature and named for Mark Ward, chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Counties during the session. The county government was first organized on November 23, 1885 with Burlington as the county seat. This was changed to Minot in 1888. Until 1910, Ward County included what is now Burke, Mountrail, and Renville counties; this landmass often being referred to as 'Imperial Ward' County. When Burke and Renville counties were partitioned out of Imperial Ward County, neither wanted to include Kenmare and risk that city becoming the county seat, so Kenmare was left in Ward County at the end of a narrow strip of land. Ward County is part of the Minot Micropolitan Statistical Area. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 2,056 square miles (5,326 km²), of which, 2,013 square miles (5,213 km²) of it is land and 43 square miles (112 km²) of it (2.11%) is water. Much of the county is flat to rolling plains. The southern reaches of the county are dotted