Parcel Chartplaces Open the free map

County · code 27119

Polk CountyMinnesota

Polk County is a county in Minnesota, on the border with North Dakota, founded in 1858, with its seat at Crookston.

  • Founded1858
  • County seatCrookston
  • Named forJames K. Polk
  • Land area1,971 sq mi + 27 sq mi water
  • Population31,192 2020 Census
  • Parcels mapped28,905 checked 15 October 2026
Open the free map Click any parcel in Polk County: acreage, parcel id, address and who publishes the map. No sign-in.

Updated

Red LakeNormanPenningtonMarshallMahnomenTraill, NDClearwaterGrand Forks, ND Crookston Census outline · seat marked

Where it is

Polk on the map of Minnesota

Minnesota has 87 counties and county equivalents, each with its own records office. Shapes with a page are links.

Aitkin CountyAnoka CountyBecker CountyBeltrami CountyBenton CountyBig Stone CountyBlue Earth CountyBrown CountyCarlton CountyCarver CountyCass CountyChippewa CountyChisago CountyClay CountyClearwater CountyCook CountyCottonwood CountyCrow Wing CountyDakota CountyDodge CountyDouglas CountyFaribault CountyFillmore CountyFreeborn CountyGoodhue CountyGrant CountyHennepin CountyHouston CountyHubbard CountyIsanti CountyItasca CountyJackson CountyKanabec CountyKandiyohi CountyKittson CountyKoochiching CountyLac qui Parle CountyLake CountyLake of the Woods CountyLe Sueur CountyLincoln CountyLyon CountyMcLeod CountyMahnomen CountyMarshall CountyMartin CountyMeeker CountyMille Lacs CountyMorrison CountyMower CountyMurray CountyNicollet CountyNobles CountyNorman CountyOlmsted CountyOtter Tail CountyPennington CountyPine CountyPipestone CountyPope CountyRamsey CountyRed Lake CountyRedwood CountyRenville CountyRice CountyRock CountyRoseau CountySt. Louis CountyScott CountySherburne CountySibley CountyStearns CountySteele CountyStevens CountySwift CountyTodd CountyTraverse CountyWabasha CountyWadena CountyWaseca CountyWashington CountyWatonwan CountyWilkin CountyWinona CountyWright CountyYellow Medicine CountyPolk County Polk
Counties of Minnesota · Polk highlighted

History

Formed in 1858 from Cass County, Pembina County and Kittson County

An old deed may name a county that no longer exists, or a boundary that has since moved.

Polk County was created in 1858 from Cass and Pembina counties. Early boundary changes involved the loss of territory to newly formed Becker and Breckenridge counties in 1860 and to Beltrami County in 1866. The county was organized for county government in 1873 and became fully organized in 1879 after a series of attachments to other counties for judicial purposes.

Boundary changes from the Newberry Library, Atlas of Historical County Boundaries; the 5 that matter most are shown first.

  1. 1858
    Polk County created Polk created from Cass and Pembina (now Kittson).
    from Cassfrom Pembinafrom Kittson
    · Minn. Laws 1857-1858, spec., ch. 67, secs. 1-2, 4/pp. 183-184
  2. 1860
    Lost territory Polk lost to Becker and Breckenridge (now Clay).
    to Beckerto Breckenridgeto Clay
    · Minn. Laws 1859-1860, spec., ch. 33, secs. 4-6/pp. 61-62
  3. 1866
    Lost territory Polk lost to the creation of Beltrami.
    to Beltrami
    · Minn. Laws 1866, gen., ch. 46, sec. 1/pp. 90-91
  4. 1866
    Gained territory Polk gained all of Non-County Area 10, which was eliminated; Polk attached to Crow Wing "for judicial purposes."
    from Crow Wing
    · Minn. Gen. Stat. 1866, ch. 8, title 1, secs. 1-74/pp. 96-112; ch. 64, title 4, sec. 33/p. 419
  5. 1903
    Eliminated Creation of Columbia (extinct) declared unconstitutional by state supreme court; Columbia eliminated and area reverted to Polk.
    into Columbia
    · Bingham and Holcombe, 125-129; Minn. Reports, 89:123-131
Show all 20 changes (15 more)
  1. 1858
    Polk County created Polk created from Cass and Pembina (now Kittson).
    from Cassfrom Pembinafrom Kittson
    · Minn. Laws 1857-1858, spec., ch. 67, secs. 1-2, 4/pp. 183-184
  2. 1860
    Lost territory Polk lost to Becker and Breckenridge (now Clay).
    to Beckerto Breckenridgeto Clay
    · Minn. Laws 1859-1860, spec., ch. 33, secs. 4-6/pp. 61-62
  3. 1866
    Lost territory Polk lost to the creation of Beltrami.
    to Beltrami
    · Minn. Laws 1866, gen., ch. 46, sec. 1/pp. 90-91
  4. 1866
    Gained territory Polk gained all of Non-County Area 10, which was eliminated; Polk attached to Crow Wing "for judicial purposes."
    from Crow Wing
    · Minn. Gen. Stat. 1866, ch. 8, title 1, secs. 1-74/pp. 96-112; ch. 64, title 4, sec. 33/p. 419
  5. 1867
    Changed Polk detached from Crow Wing, attached to Douglas "for judicial and record purposes."
    Crow WingDouglas
    · Minn. Laws 1867, gen., ch. 113, secs. 1-3/pp. 159-160
  6. 1871
    Changed Polk detached from Douglas, attached to Becker "for record and judicial purposes."
    DouglasBecker
    · Minn. Laws 1871, spec., ch. 75, secs. 1-3/p. 285
  7. 1873
    Changed Polk organized for county government. · Minn. Laws 1873, gen., ch. 98, sec. 1/p. 220; Minn. Laws 1879, gen., ch. 64, sec. 1/p. 67
  8. 1876
    Changed Polk detached from Becker, attached to Clay "for judicial purposes."
    BeckerClay
    · Minn. Laws 1876, gen., ch. 117, sec. 1/p 127
  9. 1879
    Changed Marshall attached to Polk "for judicial purposes." (Marshall indirectly attached to Clay, through Polk, until 27 February 1879).
    MarshallClay
    · Minn. Laws 1879, gen., ch. 10, secs. 1-4, 7/pp. 24-25
  10. 1879
    Changed Polk fully organized, detached from Clay; Kittson detached from Clay, attached to Polk "for judicial purposes."
    ClayKittson
    · Minn. Laws 1879, gen., ch. 64, sec. 1/p. 67
  11. 1881
    Changed Marshall authorized to gain Polk's share of Township 154, dependent upon local referendum; change not effected.
    Marshall
    · HRS Minn., Marshall, 7; Minn. Laws 1881, reg. sess., gen., ch. 112, secs. 1-3/pp. 141-143
  12. 1881
    Changed Marshall fully organized, detached from Polk.
    Marshall
    · Minn. Laws 1881, reg. sess., gen., ch. 82, sec. 1/p. 93
  13. 1881
    Changed Kittson fully organized, detached from Polk.
    Kittson
    · Minn. Laws 1881, reg. sess., gen., ch. 90, sec. 1/p. 100
  14. 1881
    Lost territory Polk lost to the creation of Norman.
    to Norman
    · Minn. Laws 1881, reg. sess., gen., ch. 92, secs., 1-3/pp. 104-107
  15. 1885
    Changed Marshall authorized to gain Polk's share of adjacent Township 154, dependent upon local referendum that failed (no change).
    Marshall
    · Minn. Gen. Stat. 1894, ch. 8, title 1, sec. 578/pp. 167-168; Minn. Laws 1885, gen., ch. 221, secs. 1-3/pp. 290-292
  16. 1894
    Changed Columbia (proposed), Nash (proposed), Nelson (proposed), and Red Lake (proposed) authorized to be created from Polk, dependent upon local referenda that failed; counties not created.
    ColumbiaNashNelsonRed Lake
    · Polk Co. Hist. Soc., corres., Dec. 1998; Red River Valley, 2:877
  17. 1896
    Lost territory Polk lost to the creation of Red Lake. At same election, creation of Columbia (second, proposed), Garfield (proposed), Hill (proposed, Mills (proposed), and Nelson (second, proposed) also authorized to be created from Polk, dependent upon local referenda, but none were successful; voters approved creation of Columbia and Mills (but state supreme court ruled referenda invalid), and creation of Garfield, Hill, and Nelson defeated in referenda. Garfield, Hill, Mills, and Nelson never created; Columbia created 4 November 1902.
    to Red Laketo Columbiato Garfieldto Hillto Millsto Nelson
    · Bingham and Holcombe, 129-130; Minn. Reports 89: 123-131; Polk Co. Hist. Soc., corres., Dec. 1998
  18. 1902
    Lost territory Polk lost to the creation of Columbia (extinct). At the same election, Nelson (proposed), Star (proposed), or Valley (proposed) authorized to be created from Polk, dependent upon local referenda, but none were successful; voters approved creation of Nelson and Star (but state supreme court ruled referenda invalid), and creation of Valley defeated in referendum.
    to Columbiato Nelsonto Starto Valley
    · Bingham and Holcombe, 125-129; Minn. Reports 89:123-131; Polk Co. Hist. Soc., corres., Dec. 1998
  19. 1903
    Eliminated Creation of Columbia (extinct) declared unconstitutional by state supreme court; Columbia eliminated and area reverted to Polk.
    into Columbia
    · Bingham and Holcombe, 125-129; Minn. Reports, 89:123-131
  20. 1908
    Changed Nelson (proposed) authorized to be created from Polk, dependent upon local referendum that failed; county never created.
    Nelson
    · Red River Valley, 2:878

Land and parcels

What the maps cover in Polk

Who publishes each layer, how good it is, and when we last checked.

Official
from the office that keeps the record
Good enough
a reliable statewide or national copy
Fallback
a guide only; check the official record
Missing
nothing public found yet

People and land

Polk by the Census

Population
31,192 2020 Census count
Housing units
14,623 2020 Census count
Land area
1,971 square miles
Water area
27 square miles
People per sq mi
16 population ÷ land area

Source: US Census Bureau, 2020 Census; US Census Bureau, 2020 Gazetteer Files. Not endorsed or certified by the Census Bureau.

Rules and offices

Who to ask before you build, dig or sell

Official county pages only. We link to them; we do not copy them, because they change.

Inside a city or town, permits usually come from that city rather than the county.

Permits

Zoning and code

County government

See your own lot on these maps

Open Polk County on Parcel Chart's free map and click your parcel. Save it with a free account; the full record of your place (site map, projects, documents) is Pro, in early access.

Open the free map no sign-in Pro early access

Questions

Common questions about Polk County

When was Polk County founded?
Polk County was founded in 1858, formed from Cass County, Pembina County and Kittson County, and named after James K. Polk.
What is the county seat of Polk County?
The county seat of Polk County is Crookston.
Is there an online parcel map for Polk County?
Yes. Polk County publishes a parcel map of 28,905 parcels, rated good enough here. You can click any parcel on it in Parcel Chart's free map, no sign-in needed.
Has Polk County's boundary or name changed?
Polk County was created in 1858 from Cass County, Pembina County and Kittson County. Since then the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries records 17 later changes, chiefly involving Clay County, Columbia County and Becker County.
Who issues building permits in Polk County?
The county's page on building permits: Permits. Inside a city or town, ask that city first.
Is my lot in a flood zone?
We do not have flood maps for Polk County yet. Look up the address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center, which shows the effective flood map for any lot.

Nearby

Counties next door