Stevens County, Minnesota: History
The county was created by act of the Minnesota legislature on February 20, 1862. It was not organized at that time, and no county seat was named. The county was named for Isaac Stevens, who had led a railroad survey party across Minnesota in 1853 and was influential in bringing national attention to the Minnesota Territory. The territorial legislature had intended to thus honor Stevens in 1855 when another county was being created, but a clerical error caused that county to be named Stearns. The error was corrected by the 1862 act; by that time Stevens was a brigadier general for the Union Army in the American Civil War. Stevens was killed later that year. The county government was organized in 1872. Morris, which had been platted in 1869, was named the county seat.
The University of Minnesota Morris is in Morris. It was developed in the early 20th century from the Morris Industrial School for Indians, which opened in 1887 and was originally operated by the Roman Catholic Sisters of Mercy under contract to the federal government.
In 1975, a moderate earthquake occurred in the county.