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Grant County, Minnesota

46 topographic sheets cover 10 settlements here, and 3 properties are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Research this county

From the record

3 National Register listings published here.

Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service

Minnesota within the United States
Grant County within Minnesota

What the record shows

  • 102 topographic sheet readings cover the county's settlements.
  • 3 properties here are on the National Register of Historic Places: 3 buildings.
  • The Geographic Names Information System records 10 populated places in this county; 10 are covered by at least one topographic sheet.

Places on the National Register

3

Every property in this county listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with the year it was listed and the federal nomination document.

Photograph PropertyType ListedReference
Grant County Courthousebuilding198585001945
Roosevelt Hallbuilding198585001819
Scofield, Anna J. Memorial Auditorium and Harold E. Thorson Memorial Librarybuilding201515000212

Wildfire, 1993 to 2017

27 fires

Every wildfire the federal occurrence database records inside this county: 27 of them, burning about 1,536 acres. None started naturally and 2 were recorded as arson. Each settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined11
Debris and open burning9
Equipment and vehicle use3
Arson/incendiarism2
Other causes1
Recreation and ceremony1

The five largest, by the area the report gives. One of them was set deliberately.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
1 April 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined292 acresFergus Falls Wetland Management DistrictSPINK WF
15 April 2009Debris and open burning288 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
26 April 2011Arson/incendiarism160 acresDetroit Lakes Wetland Management DistrictSHAY
6 May 2005Debris and open burning156 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
15 April 2009Missing data/not specified/undetermined130 acresFergus Falls Wetland Management DistrictHASEMAN WILDFIRE (110 FIRE)
17 March 1995Equipment and vehicle use109 acresFergus Falls Wetland Management DistrictPOMMEDETER
30 April 2003Debris and open burning102 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
21 October 2000Equipment and vehicle use72 acresFergus Falls Wetland Management DistrictNORDBY

Every settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it - see the settlement index below.

Storms, 1952 to 2025

60 of 309 shown

The NOAA Storm Events Database holds 309 reports for this county, causing no deaths, 1 injury and about $10,645,030 in recorded property damage. Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.

Kind of event Reports
Hail129
Thunderstorm Wind109
Tornado32
Funnel Cloud16
Flash Flood10
Flood8
Lightning4
Heavy Rain1

The most serious of them, by death, then injury, then recorded damage. The accounts are quoted exactly as the forecast office filed them.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
June 2003LightningBarrett1 hurt, $10,000A 7 year-old girl was injured after lightning struck her family's home. The lightning hit a television antenna, cracked the ceiling, and burned a wall behind the girl. The strike also started a fire in the dining room. The girl suffered minor burns on her back and right shoulder.
April 1984Tornado (F2)not stated$2,500,000no account filed
May 1982Tornado (F3)not stated$2,500,000no account filed
May 2022Tornado (EF2)Barrett$2,000,000This tornado was wrapped in damaging downburst winds and rain as it rapidly tracked northeast for roughly 6 miles to around 3 SE of Elbow Lake by 419 pm CDT. Numerous wooden single and double X-Braced power poles were snapped, including a nearly 2-mile stretch of double pole structures along 240th street, as a broader downburst wind pattern developed. Numerous trees of all kinds were snapped or uprooted. Several farm buildings and grain bins were destroyed. Max winds to 120 mph, Max width to 350 yards.
May 2022Tornado (EF2)Wendell$1,000,000This tornado was wrapped in damaging downburst winds and rain as it rapidly tracked to the northeast for about 11 miles, ending around 4.3 miles NNE of Elbow Lake by 424 pm CDT. Numerous ash, spruce, cottonwood, and willow trees were snapped or uprooted. Numerous wooden power poles were snapped Numerous farm outbuilding and steel grain bins were destroyed, with roofing and wall panels carried downwind for a mile or more. Max winds were 115 mph, with a max width to 400 yards.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindElbow Lake$500,000Numerous large ash and spruce trees snapped or uprooted around town. One of 4 large 100k bushel steel grain bins was blown down at the Elbow Lake cooperative grain elevator. Wind gusts likely ranged from 70 to 90 mph for several seconds. Time estimated based on radar. The Elbow Lake wind sensor went offline due to widespread power outages.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindElbow Lake$500,000Numerous large ash and spruce trees snapped or uprooted at the Tipsinah Mounds Campground. Damaging downburst winds impacted much of Erdahl Township with wind gusts from 70 to 90 mph. Two storage building were blown down near the Tipsinah Mounds Golf Course. Report augmented by NWS damage survey. Time estimated based on radar.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindAshby$250,000Several semi-trucks were blown off Interstate 94 near Ashby.
June 1979Tornado (F1)not stated$250,000no account filed
August 1968Tornado (F1)not stated$250,000no account filed
July 2008Thunderstorm WindHoffman$150,000Roofs were lifted and torn off, which resulted in walls collapsing on two large hog finishing barns in southeast Land Township. The 800 hogs were not injured.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindAshby$120,000A semi tractor-trailer combination traveling on westbound I-94 was blown over onto an SUV that had parked on the shoulder of the highway due to an approaching storm. Reports indicate that three individuals were transported to a local hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Time estimated based on radar.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindElbow Lake$100,000A few large branches were blown down in shelterbelts across northern Pomme de Terre Township.
July 2020Tornado (EF4)Ashby$100,000This tornado began in Grant County, but after about two miles, it crossed into Otter Tail County, where it ended about 5 miles east of Dalton. The total track through both counties was about 9 miles. Peak winds were estimated at 170 mph, based on available damage indicators. At least 10 farmsteads were impacted, with three homes, one pole shed, and one machine shed destroyed.
June 1998LightningAshby$75,000The upper level of a house was lost due to a lightning fire. The downstairs was damaged by water that was used to fight the fire. The family escaped unharmed.
October 1997Thunderstorm WindWendell$50,000Two metal grain bins were blown across Highway 55 and into a field. Three others were blown into a shelterbelt.
March 2019FloodWendell$50,000no account filed
July 1952Tornado (F1)not stated$25,000no account filed
July 2011Thunderstorm WindWendell$20,000A few large tree branches and tree limbs were broken down in farmsteads and shelterbelts across Lawrence and North Ottawa townships.
September 2007LightningBarrett$20,000Lightning struck an evergreen tree in Barrett, scattering pieces of the tree across several neighboring yards. As the tree fell, it broke multiple windows and damaged the concrete steps to a house. The strike also damaged the electrical systems in three nearby homes. One home lost a microwave, two televisions, and several other smaller appliances.
July 1999FloodHerman$20,0006 to 8 inches of rain fell across southern Grant county, with the town of Hoffman reporting 5 inches. Several roads were washed out and many others were blocked by high water.
May 1996Thunderstorm WindPelican Lake$20,000no account filed
June 1998Thunderstorm WindHoffman$15,000A cattle barn was damaged by the wind as well as trees and power lines.
July 1998Thunderstorm WindWendell$15,000A trailer home was flipped over in the strong wind at Lightning Lake.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindWendell$10,000Large tree limbs were blown down throughout the northwest portion of Grant County.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindAshby$10,000Several large tree limbs and tree tops were snapped off.
July 2004Thunderstorm WindElbow Lake$10,000A farm north of Elbow Lake was hit hard by the strong wind. An empty grain bin was pushed across a road and several others were damaged. A shed door was also pushed in by the wind.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindHerman$10,000Strong winds hit a farmstead just south of Herman. A man who was in the house at the time said his ears popped. Ten to twelve trees were destroyed and some shingles on the house were lifted. A trampoline in the yard was twisted and the garage door was buckled.
July 1998Thunderstorm WindAshby$10,000Trees were blown down and a roof was blown off.
June 1997Thunderstorm WindElbow Lake$10,000Strong wind blew several trees over and took the roof off a barn.
June 1999Thunderstorm WindBarrett$5,000Powerlines were blown down in the thunderstorm winds.
March 2009FloodWendell$5,000no account filed
April 2009FloodWendell$5,000no account filed
August 2008HailWendell$5,000no account filed
July 2008Thunderstorm WindElbow Lake$4,000Eight to ten inch diameter branches were blown down.
July 1998Thunderstorm WindElbow Lake$3,000Numerous trees around Elbow Lake were blown over in the strong wind.
August 1997Thunderstorm WindHoffman$3,000Wind blew down large trees and power poles in Hoffman and folded back the roof on a farm building.
May 1985Tornado (F0)not stated$2,500no account filed
September 1969Tornado (F1)not stated$2,500no account filed
August 2014Thunderstorm WindHerman$2,000Several ten to twenty foot tall pine trees were blown over during a protracted period of heavy rain and strong gusty winds.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindElbow Lake$2,000Power poles were downed.
July 1998Thunderstorm WindElbow Lake$2,000Large trees were blown down.
July 2011Thunderstorm WindWendell$1,000A power pole was broken down by falling tree limbs, which caused widespread power outages in northwest Lawrence township. Wind driven hail also produced areas of crop damage.
August 2002Thunderstorm WindAshby$1,000Trees were blown down.
August 1999LightningAshby$1,000Lightning hit a huge cottonwood tree near a lake home on Pelican Lake. A piece of the tree slammed into a door, shattering the glass.
July 1998Thunderstorm WindHoffman$1,000A windmill was blown over in the strong wind.
July 1981Tornado (F0)not stated$30no account filed
August 2025Tornado (EFU)Norcross-Relayed from emergency manager. Brief landspout type tornado northwest of Norcross. No damage reported.
August 2025Tornado (EFU)Norcross-Relayed from emergency manager. Brief landspout type tornado west of Norcross. No damage reported.
July 2025HailHerman-Trained spotter reported ping pong ball size hail.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindHerman Muni Arpt-NDAWN station near Herman measured gust at 10m.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindHerman-Measured gust at MN DOT mesonet station MN131 Herman, MN.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindHerman-Ndawn mesonet observation.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindHerman-Ndawn mesonet observation.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindBarrett-Wind gust estimated by trained spotter.
July 2024Thunderstorm WindHerman-Crop damage from hail and wind around Herman, including striping of corn. Time estimated.
July 2024HailHoffman-Public reports half dollar sized hail.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindHoffman-Pictures relayed of tree damage due to high winds.
May 2023HailWendell-Grant county FD reports quarter-size hail.
July 2023HailHoffman-Golf ball sized hail reported by a Grant county Deputy, relayed by dispatch.

Mines and quarries

1 recorded

The Survey's mineral resources record lists 1 working inside this county. It still produces. Each settlement page carries the workings within five miles of it.

Commodity Workings
Sand and Gravel, Construction1

The least common of them first, because a county's hundredth gravel pit says nothing its first ten did not.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Hanson PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every populated place in the county

10

Named settlements recorded in the Geographic Names Information System, each with the topographic sheets covering it. Villages, hamlets and abandoned places alike. Each is shown with the nearest named watercourse or landform and the survey quadrangle it falls on.

The vanished settlements of Grant County: the places named above that are no longer on the map.

Provenance

  • Topographic sheets. USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, county index, measured from the bulk metadata.
  • Fire insurance maps. Library of Congress Sanborn collection, faceted to this county.
  • Photographs. Each place queried individually against the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs search.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.