Sargent County, North Dakota: History
The Dakota Territory created the county on April 9, 1883, with areas partitioned from Ransom County, from previously unorganized areas and from non-county areas in the Wahpeton and Sisseton Indian Reserve. It was named for H. E. Sargent, a railroad executive. Its governing structure was not completed at that time, so it was attached to Richland for judicial purposes and to Ransom for administrative purposes. This arrangement only lasted until October 8, when the county government was effected, with Milnor as the county seat. However, in 1884, in the county's first election, Forman was chosen as the county seat.
The Northern Pacific Railway laid a line into the county in 1883, reaching Milnor. By 1900 it had been extended across the county. The county's population rapidly increased, reaching a peak in the 1920 United States census (9,655).
In 1997 the Brampton Lutheran Church (originally built in 1908) was moved to Sletta on the island of Radøy in Alver Municipality, Norway and it was reconstructed there. It is now called the Emigrant Church (Norwegian: Emigrantkirka).
The Sargent County Courthouse, a Beaux Arts-style building built in 1910, is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.