McIntosh County was established in 1884, with the county seat at Hoskins on the south shore of Lake Hoskins, about 3-1/2 miles west of present day Ashley. In 1888 when Ashley was established, Hoskins was abandoned, and Ashley became the county seat.
The first settlers in McIntosh County were primarily of Scotch and English descent, and had come from states to the east such as Ohio and Michigan. Later, the bulk of the immigrants were German people from the area of South Russia around Odessa. Most of the present population of the county is of German from Russia descent. These German people had immigrated from Germany to South Russia during the reign of Catherine the Great of Russia in the mid-eighteenth century, and they started coming to McIntosh County shortly after it was organized and this flow of Germans from Russia continued until the time of the First World War.
Today, McIntosh County is home to close to 3000 people, and although the majority of the population remains to be of German-Russian descent, it has also become home to many diverse ethnicities as well.
McIntosh County, includes 5 cities, Ashley, Venturia, Wishek, Zeeland and the south half of Lehr.
