Red Willow County, Nebraska

Red Willow County, Nebraska
Red Willow County Courthouse in McCook
Location in the U.S. state of Nebraska
Nebraska's location in the U.S.
Founded	1873
Named for	Red Willow Creek
Seat	McCook
Largest city	McCook
Area
• Total	718 sq mi (1,860 km2)
• Land	717 sq mi (1,857 km2)
• Water	1.0 sq mi (3 km2), 0.1%
Population
• (2010)	11,055
• Density	15/sq mi (6/km²)
Congressional district	3rd
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.co.red-willow.ne.us

Red Willow County is a county located in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2010 census, the population was 11,055. Its county seat is McCook.

In the Nebraska license plate system, Red Willow County is represented by the prefix 48 (it had the forty-eighth-largest number of vehicles registered in the county when the license plate system was established in 1922).

Red Willow County was formed in 1873. It was named after the Red Willow Creek. The name is reported to be a mistranslation of the Dakota Indian name Chanshasha Wakpala, which literally means Red Dogwood Creek. The Dakota referred to the creek as such because of an abundance of the red dogwood shrub that grew along the creek banks. Its stem and branches are deep red in color, and it is favored in basket making.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 718 square miles (1,860 km²), of which 717 square miles (1,860 km²) is land and 1.0 square mile (2.6 km²) (0.1%) is water.

As of the census of 2000, there were 11,448 people, 4,710 households, and 3,188 families residing in the county. The population density was 16 people per square mile (6/km²). There were 5,278 housing units at an average density of 7 per square mile (3/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.55% White, 0.16% Black or African American, 0.38% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.93% from other races, and 0.80% from two or more races. 2.45% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.