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Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota

38 topographic sheets cover 16 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
Lake of the Woods County within Minnesota

What the record shows

  • 115 topographic sheet readings cover the county's settlements.
  • 3 properties here are on the National Register of Historic Places: 1 building, 1 district and 1 site.
  • 1 of the 3 listings was added during the 1970s.
  • The Geographic Names Information System records 16 populated places in this county; 16 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
Canadian National Railways Depotbuilding200505000809
Norris Campdistrict199494001080
Northwest Pointsite197373000982

Wildfire, 1992 to 2020

550 fires

Every wildfire the federal occurrence database records inside this county: 550 of them, burning about 7,252 acres. 6 started naturally and 218 were recorded as arson. Each settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it.

Reported cause Fires
Arson/incendiarism218
Debris and open burning200
Missing data/not specified/undetermined38
Equipment and vehicle use30
Railroad operations and maintenance21
Recreation and ceremony17
Smoking8
Power generation/transmission/distribution7
Natural6
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Other causes2

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

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
17 March 2000Arson/incendiarism1,160 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
28 April 2007Arson/incendiarism631 acresMinnesota Department of Natural ResourcesTHE PITT FIRE
6 April 2012Arson/incendiarism490 acresMinnesota Department of Natural ResourcesGOOD FRIDAY 72 FIRE
16 May 2012Arson/incendiarism385 acresMinnesota Department of Natural ResourcesHOLY CARP
19 April 2000Arson/incendiarism350 acresMinnesota Department of Natural ResourcesGRACETON BOG 2
23 April 1998Arson/incendiarism275 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
19 April 2008Arson/incendiarism243 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
13 May 2007Arson/incendiarism181 acresMinnesota Department of Natural ResourcesCORRECTION CORNER FIRE

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

Storms, 1961 to 2025

60 of 220 shown

The NOAA Storm Events Database holds 220 reports for this county, causing no deaths, 1 injury and about $1,248,200 in recorded property damage. Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.

Kind of event Reports
Hail112
Thunderstorm Wind75
Tornado17
Flash Flood11
Funnel Cloud4
Flood1

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
September 1961Tornado (F1)not stated1 hurt, $25,000no account filed
July 2013Thunderstorm WindClementson$500,000A microburst damage area was produced across the northeast quarter of section 30 in Rapid River Township. The downburst initiated across the southwest corner of a farmstead and projected to the east and northeast across the farmyard. A steel pole shed was torn open and demolished with debris impacted and denting several steel grain bins along the east end of the yard. Several pine trees and two power poles in the yard were snapped by the wind. Peak winds were estimated at 95 to 105 mph.
July 2001Flash FloodGraceton$150,000County road 66 was washed out.
July 2001Tornado (F0)Graceton$100,000A brief touchdown was reported.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindBaudette$100,000Trees were blown down and a roof was torn off a mobile home.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindCarp$100,000Several roofs were heavily damaged and trees were blown down.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindLude$50,000At the Long Point Resort, trees fell on cabins, homes, boats, and powerlines.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindPitt$50,000Signs were blown down and pieces of a roof torn off.
June 1963Tornado (F2)not stated$25,000no account filed
July 2008Thunderstorm Wind(Bde)Baudette Intl A$20,000The wind gust was measured by the Baudette Airport ASOS.
August 1998HailBaudette$20,000Vehicles and awnings at the Sportsman Lodge were damaged by the large hail.
June 2020Tornado (EF1)Faunce$10,000This tornado tracked for about 1.2 miles, uprooting trees along the Faunce-Butterfield Road, roughly four miles west-southwest of the Norris Camp DNR station. Peak winds were estimated at 107 mph.
July 2008Thunderstorm WindBaudette Afs$10,000A large diameter pine tree was snapped off near the ground.
July 2001Flash FloodBaudette$10,000Many basements and roads were flooded.
July 2001Flash FloodBaudette$10,000Streets and basements were flooded. Some streets had 12 to 16 inches of water on them.
July 2001Flash FloodWilliams$10,000Basement flooding was reported along with water pooling in yards.
May 1996Flash FloodBaudette$10,000no account filed
May 2005Tornado (F0)Baudette$5,000A tin roof was blown off a carport on the eastern side of Baudette. Minor shingle and tree damage also occurred along a two block path. Wind speeds were estimated to be around 60 mph.
September 2002Thunderstorm WindWilliams$5,000Many large trees were snapped off or uprooted near Norris Camp.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindLude$5,000Trees and powerlines were blown down.
July 2001Flash FloodLude$5,000Basements were flooded as 4 1/2 inches of rain fell over a short period of time.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindWilliams$5,000Trees were blown down, some falling on cars and power lines.
March 2009FloodWilliams$5,000no account filed
July 2001Thunderstorm WindCarp$4,000A 10 to 12 foot wide path of downed trees was reported.
June 1999Thunderstorm WindPitt$3,000Many trees were blown down, one falling on a storage shed.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindBaudette$2,000Trees were blown down.
July 2001Flash FloodBaudette$2,000Streets were flooded in Baudette.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindAngle Inlet$2,000Trees were downed along county road 49.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindLude$1,000Two large trees were blown down.
August 2001Thunderstorm WindBaudette$1,000A large tree was blown down.
April 2002Thunderstorm WindBaudette$500Tree limbs were blown down.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindBaudette$500Branches were blown down.
August 2001Thunderstorm WindCarp$500Branches were blown down.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindAngle Inlet$500Several trees were downed.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindBaudette$500Large trees were blown down.
July 1997Thunderstorm WindBaudette$500Strong winds blew a tree over.
July 2002Thunderstorm WindBaudette$200Trees were blown down.
July 2025Thunderstorm Wind(Bde)Baudette Intl A-Measured wind gust at KBDE ASOS associated with morning thunderstorm.
July 2025HailCarp-Report of baseball size hail relayed through social media.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindCarp-Trees and a power line down.
July 2025Tornado (EF0)Carp-Sentinel-2 satellite imagery reveals high probability of tornado damage at this location within southeastern portions of Minnesota's Beltrami Island State Forest. Damage occurred in very rural and undeveloped area, with no reports of any damage to structures received. Damage indicators unknown at this time despite obvious damage to trees via satellite imagery. Time estimated via KMVX radar. EM confirmed road was blocked by tree damage.
June 2024Thunderstorm WindFaunce-At least 4 trees down along the Butterfield Road from Faunce to Norris Camp. Time estimated.
June 2023HailClementson-Public reports quarter sized hail 9 miles east southeast of Baudette.
May 2023Thunderstorm WindWilliams-Delayed report. Several trees with 6 to 8-inch diameter branches down and small piles of hail were still present in the morning after. Time estimated off radar.
August 2023Hail(Bde)Baudette Intl A-Delayed Report. City office in Baudette reports ping-pong ball-sized hail. Time estimated from radar.
August 2023Hail(Bde)Baudette Intl A-Delayed Report. Workers at Baudette airport report quarter-sized hail. Time estimated from radar.
July 2023HailBaudette Afs-Half dollar sized hail reported by the public 5 SW Baudette.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindLude-Several large 3 to 6 inch tree branches broken, along with several power outages in the area.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindHackett-Strong winds and the associated wave action tumbled docks at Morris Point.
July 2022Thunderstorm WindWilliams-Peak wind was measured by an NDAWN station at the 10 meter height.
July 2021HailLude-Hail fell across the Northwest Angle of Minnesota to Oak Island from 1130 AM CDT to 1150 AM CDT. Most hail ranged from pea to dime sized, with a few quarter sized pieces mixed in near the Fort Saint Charles Historic Site on Magnusons Island.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindClementson-Large branches were blown down.
August 2020HailLude-A few dime to quarter sized hail fell.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindLude-Heavy rain and strong winds were observed at Oak Island Resort.
June 2020HailFaunce-The hail fell at the Norris Camp DNR station.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindFaunce-Several poplar trees were snapped, obstructing the Faunce Butterfield road.
July 2019Tornado (EF1)Faunce-The tornado snapped multiple poplar, spruce, and tamarac trees, leaving a 50 yard wide gouge in the forest and across Faunce road south. The tornado tracked intermittently for roughly 15 miles to the east-northeast. This area is deep in the Beltrami Island State Forest, which is largely inaccessible. However, similar tree snap areas were noted across Pilot Glade road, about 10 miles south of Pitt and across county road 1 about 5 miles north of Carp. Peak winds were estimated at 105 mph.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindCarp-Many large branches were blown down along the Rainy River.
July 2019Thunderstorm WindFaunce-Six trees were blown down along the Roosevelt-Norris Camp road.
July 2019Funnel CloudLude-A brief funnel was reported.

Mines and quarries

4 recorded

The Survey's mineral resources record lists 4 workings inside this county. 2 still produce and 2 are closed or unrecorded. Each settlement page carries the workings within five miles of it.

Commodity Workings
Sand and Gravel, Construction2
Peat1
Feldspar1

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

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Lake of the Woods County Peat BogsPeatOccurrence
Nw Angle Feldspar MineFeldsparPast Producer
Terhark Pit and MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Zipple Bay Pit and MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every populated place in the county

16

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.

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.