About Us
Welcome to the official site of Walsh County, North Dakota. We hope you will find the information available here useful as a resident, business person or visitor to our community.
Walsh County is located in the Northeast portion of North Dakota and was created in 1881 from the northern parts of Grand Forks County and the southern parts of Pembina County. It is named in honor of George H. Walsh who was a newspaperman and politician in Grand Forks. Grafton became the county seat in 1881.
The population of Walsh County is approximately 10,563. The county has a total area of 1,294 square miles.
Walsh County is a land of prairies, cropland, river valleys, and rolling hills. The county is on the eastern side of the continental divide and drains through the Forest and park Rivers. The Red River forms the eastern boundary of Walsh County.
Agriculture is the main economic enterprise in the county. The primary source of income comes from small grain, cash crops, forage crops, beef, dairy cattle and swine. Other sectors of the economy are comprised mostly of agriculturally related industries. Supporting industries include Marvin Windows, Polar Communications, the Williston Basin Interstate Pipeline, and the BNSF railroad system.
The county’s geographic location results in a sub-humid continental climate characterized principally by marked fluctuations in daily and seasonal maximum and minimum temperatures, and light to moderate precipitation.