McKenzie County, North Dakota: History
The Dakota Territory legislature created the county on March 9, 1883, with areas partitioned from Howard County (now extinct). The county was named for Alexander McKenzie, a territorial political figure who was later disgraced for corruption. The county was not organized at that time, and was not attached to another county for administrative or judicial purposes. The county's boundary was altered in 1885, and on March 2, 1891, the state legislature authorized the dissolution of the county, assigning its territories to Billings and Stark counties. However, this directive was not implemented, and McKenzie continued as a defined county until November 3, 1896, when another act was passed to dissolve the county and assign its territories to Billings County. This act was challenged in the courts, and on May 24, 1901, the state Supreme Court held that the county was to continue in existence.
On March 10, 1903, the county was attached to Stark County for administrative purposes. On March 16, 1905, McKenzie gained the territories of Allred and Wallace counties as those counties were administratively dissolved. On April 20, 1905, the McKenzie County government was organized, and its previous attachment to Stark was terminated.
The first county seat was Alexander. In 1907 the seat was moved to Schafer, and in 1941 it was moved to the present location, Watford City.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, McKenzie County was the fastest growing county in the United States, growing by 131.2% from 6,360 to 14,704 inhabitants, largely due to the Bakken Formation oil boom.