Although Baldwin partially incorporated to avoid a partial annexation by Princeton, the township had been discussing incorporation for over twenty years primarily as a means to qualify for additional state and federal funding.

Sherburne County is included in the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area.

It was named Sherburne, to recognize Moses Sherburne (1808-1868), a prominent area attorney, associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Minnesota Territory (1853-1857), who retired to the county and spent his final year of life there (in Orono).

The area now delineated by Big Lake Township was first settled in 1848; the small village was named Humboldt.

The Rum River flows southeast through the county's upper east portion.

The Elk River rises in nearby Benton County, and flows south-southeast through the western and southern part of Sherburne County, discharging into the Mississippi at Elk River.

The Saint Francis River also rises in Benton and flows southward through the central part of Sherburne County, discharging into the Elk just north of Big Lake.

The terrain of Sherburne County consists of low rolling hills, partially wooded, heavily sprinkled with lakes, ponds and depressions.

[6] The soil of Sherburne County contains considerable sand and gravel due to glacial activity in past epochs, and thus is less suitable for agriculture than much of Minnesota.

[8] The county's highest point lies 3 miles (4.8 km) east-southeast of Saint Cloud, at 1,110 ft (340 m) ASL.