Community Profile

The Territorial Legislature set the current Sherburne County boundaries on February 25, 1856. Sparsely populated in its early years, the county nearly tripled, from 723 to 2050 between 1860 and 1870. The County is named after Moses Sherburne, an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Minnesota Territory. The County seat was first located in Big Lake; it was moved to Elk River in 1865. The County has a total area of 451 square miles, of which 433 square miles is land and 18 square miles is water. It contains seven cities (Becker, Big Lake, Clear Lake, Elk River, Princeton (partly in Mille Lacs County), St. Cloud (partly in Stearns County) and Zimmerman) and 10 Townships (Baldwin, Becker, Big Lake, Blue Hill, Clear Lake, Haven, Livonia, Orrock, Palmer and Santiago).

2019 Population is 97,520.