Manomin County was a county in Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

 that existed separately for about one year from 1857 to 1858. The land shifted hands among three other counties for the next decade. When it was formed, it was the smallest county in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 at roughly 18 square miles (47 km²). This land area currently makes up the unusual southward extension of Anoka County

Anoka County, Minnesota

Anoka County is the fourth-most populous county in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The county is bordered by the counties of Isanti on the north, Chisago and Washington on the east, Hennepin and Ramsey on the south, Sherburne on the west, and the Mississippi River on the southwest.As of 2010, Anoka...

 between Hennepin

Hennepin County, Minnesota

Hennepin County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota, named in honor of the 17th-century explorer Father Louis Hennepin. As of 2010 the population was 1,152,425. Its county seat is Minneapolis. It is by far the most populous county in Minnesota; more than one in five Minnesotans live...

 and Ramsey

Ramsey County, Minnesota

Ramsey County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota, founded in 1849. As of 2010, the population was 508,640. Its county seat is St. Paul, which is also Minnesota's state capital. The county is named for Alexander Ramsey , the first governor of the Minnesota Territory...

 counties.

Manomin is a variant spelling of manoomin, the Ojibwe

Ojibwe language

Ojibwe , also called Anishinaabemowin, is an indigenous language of the Algonquian language family. Ojibwe is characterized by a series of dialects that have local names and frequently local writing systems...

 word for wild rice

Wild rice

Wild rice is four species of grasses forming the genus Zizania, and the grain which can be harvested from them. The grain was historically gathered and eaten in both North America and China...

, a staple of their diet. A current Minnesota county, Mahnomen

Mahnomen County, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 5,190 people, 1,969 households, and 1,366 families residing in the county. The population density was 9 people per square mile . There were 2,700 housing units at an average density of 5 per square mile...

, carries on the name.

The old county was created when it was split from Ramsey County, on May 23, 1857. The county seat

County seat

A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

 was Manomin (present-day Fridley

Fridley, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 27,449 people, 11,328 households, and 7,317 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,701.3 people per square mile . There were 11,504 housing units at an average density of 1,132.1 per square mile...

). It was deorganized in 1858 and administratively attached to St. Louis County, Minnesota

St. Louis County, Minnesota

St. Louis County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 200,226. Its county seat is Duluth. It is the largest county by total area in Minnesota, and the second largest in the United States east of the Mississippi River; in land area alone, after Aroostook...

. Two years later in 1860 it was attached to Anoka County. At the time, the area's population was 136. In 1863, it was attached to Hennepin County, but it was finally merged into Anoka County and eliminated in 1869–1870.