Linton, ND Facts, Population, Income, Demographics, Economy

Population (male): 455

Median Age: 56.0 years

Median Rent: Median gross rent in 2019: $316.

Cost of Living: March 2019 cost of living index in Linton: 77.5 (low, U.S. average is 100)

Ancestries: Ancestries: German (66.7%), American (3.6%), German Russian (3.3%), Italian (1.8%), Scandinavian (1.8%), Dutch (1.3%).

Land Area: 0.74 square miles.

Median Incomes:
      Estimated median household income in 2019: $48,512 (it was $25,750 in 2000)
      Estimated per capita income in 2019: $31,731 (it was $14,661 in 2000)
      Estimated median house or condo value in 2019: $83,897 (it was $41,000 in 2000) Linton:$83,897ND:$205,400

Races:
      White alone - 892 - 91.2%
      Hispanic - 40 - 4.1%
      Asian alone - 35 - 3.6%
      Two or more races - 3 - 0.3%

The creation of Linton was the result of a political dispute between residents in the northern half of Emmons County and those in the southern half. In 1885, two years after the county was officially organized, the county seat was in the town of Williamsport, which was located in the northern half of the county on the east side of what is today 9th Ave. SE between 62nd St. SE and the vacated 63rd St. SE, two and a half miles northeast of Hazelton. The people in the southern half were upset because the county seat was so far away and most of the county leaders were from the north. Moreover, the northern part was more densely settled than the southern part, so this created problems when it came time to vote because the higher population numbers gave "Northerners" greater influence on issues. Eventually, it was decided to take a vote to see if residents favored dividing the county in two. If successful, the northern half would continue to be named Emmons—with Williamsport remaining the county seat—while the southern half would be named Winona with the town of Winona serving as the new county seat of government. When the votes were tallied, residents had decided against splitting the county. However this did not end the dispute, and the effort to move the seat of government from Williamsport to Winona continued. Three votes were taken during the 1880s and 1890s. The first two failed completely. The third resulted in a decision to move the county seat to the center of the county and create a new town, which eventually become the city of Linton. People in the North still wanted to keep the seat at Williamsport, however, so they preferred charges claiming that the election was "fraudulent and illegal", and obtained a court injunction to prevent the move. Southerners became so incensed by this action that they went to Williamsport in January 1899 to take possession of the county records and transfer them to the new county seat. The men were armed, and they met no resistance and took the records, including, according to an account by then-constable John Bartu, a two-ton safe (this safe is now in the collection of the Emmons County Museum in Linton). No charges were brought against the men, although the Williamsport interests succeeded in having the records brought back to their city and causing another election to be ordered which would require the approval of a majority of two-thirds of the voters to have Linton retain its position as county seat (this election was never held). Although the records were brought back to Linton, the case dragged on in the courts for several months, during which time it was expected that it would end up in the state supreme court. The matter was finally settled when E.S. Allen, the attorney for the people of Williamsport, moved that the case be dismissed, whereby the city of Linton prevailed and the seat of Emmons County has remained there ever since. As a result of losing its position as the county seat, and because the Northern Pacific Railway preferred the Linton location when they built a branch to the area in about 1897, Williamsport ceased to exist as a community by the early years of the 20th century and the site today is occupied by farmland. The community's oldest newspaper, The Emmons County Record, began publication in 1884 in Williamsport but was relocated to Linton by Darwin R. Streeter, its founder, in 1899. Streeter continued as the newspaper's publisher until January 1914, at which time full control of it passed into the hands of his son Frank. The newspaper has been published continuously since the time of its founding.