Editing Lac qui Parle County, Minnesota (section)

==History==
{{see also|Lac qui Parle County seat controversy}}
The name of the county is a [[French language|French]] translation of the [[Dakota language|Dakota]] name, "Mde Lyedan," meaning "lake that speaks."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lac qui Parle Mission {{!}} Minnesota Historical Society |url=https://www.mnhs.org/lacquiparle |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=www.mnhs.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>Burnquist, Joseph A. A. (1924). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=68cVF0SXd4sC&dq=%22mde+lyedan%22&pg=PA472 Minnesota and Its People]''. Chicago: [[S. J. Clarke Publishing Company|The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company]]. pp. 471–472.</ref>

In 1862 the Minnesota legislature authorized creation of a county to be called Lac qui Parle on an area north of the Minnesota River. However, that initiative was not approved by the local voters affected, so the proposed county did not come into existence. Nine years later (March 6, 1871) the legislature authorized creation of the present Lac qui Parle County, south of the Minnesota River, and it was approved by local voters. The county seat was established at [[Lac qui Parle, Minnesota|Lac qui Parle village]].

In 1884 a settlement was platted at the railway stop in Madison Township (named for [[Madison, Wisconsin]]). The settlement, also named Madison, was incorporated in 1885, and in 1889 the county government was moved from Lac qui Parle village to this new town, which incorporated as a city in 1902.<ref>{{cite book|author=Warren Upham|title=Minnesota Geographic Names: Their Origin and Historic Significance|url=https://archive.org/details/minnesotageogra00uphagoog|year=1920|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society|pages=[https://archive.org/details/minnesotageogra00uphagoog/page/n307 288]–290}}</ref>

In 1886, a county-wide election chose Madison as the county seat. 150 men and 40 teams of horses rode to Lac qui Parle village, where the town hall was at the time, and dragged the building to Madison.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Lac Qui Parle County Courthouse - Minnesota Valley History Learning Center|url=https://sites.google.com/site/mnvhlc/home/lac-qui-parle-county/lac-qui-parle-county-courthouse|access-date=May 3, 2021|website=sites.google.com}}</ref>

A new county courthouse was built in Madison in 1899, and in 1903 the Madison City Hall was completed. A total of four fires swept the city's main area during the early years of the twentieth century, resulting in most wood structures in the area being replaced with brick buildings.<ref name="Mad" />

A March 2011 study by the [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]] and the [[Robert Wood Johnson Foundation]] ranked this as Minnesota's healthiest county.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/health/118884114.html|title=How healthy are Minnesotans? It varies, report says|last=Wobbema|first=Taryn|date=March 29, 2011|work=Star Tribune|access-date=September 19, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.countyhealthrankings.org/minnesota|title=Rankings|work=County Health Rankings & Roadmaps|access-date=September 19, 2018}}</ref>

The county reached its peak population of 15,554 in 1920. However, the county seat continued its population growth until 1960, when 2,380 residents were counted.<ref name=Mad>[https://www.ci.madison.mn.us/about/history-2/ Madison (city) website (accessed March 18, 2019)]</ref>