Pipestone County, County seat in southwestern Minnesota, United States.
Pipestone County is an administrative division in southwestern Minnesota, bordering South Dakota to the west. The land is mostly flat to gently rolling farmland, dotted with small rural towns and open fields.
The county was created by the Minnesota territorial legislature in 1857 and formally organized in 1879. Long before that, the area was a gathering place for Native peoples who came to quarry the local red stone.
The county takes its name from the red stone that Native peoples have long cut from a nearby gorge to make ceremonial pipes. These pipes are considered sacred and are still used in religious rituals today.
The county is easy to reach by car and straightforward to get around, with a clear road network crossing the farmland. A visit works well in summer, when the fields are in full growth and the national monument near the town of Pipestone is open to visitors.
Pipestone County is one of only 4 counties in Minnesota with no natural lakes, which is rare in a state known for having thousands of them. This gives the landscape here a noticeably different look compared to most of the rest of the state.
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