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Mahnomen County, Minnesota

16 topographic sheets cover 7 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
Mahnomen County within Minnesota

What the record shows

  • 64 topographic sheet readings cover the county's settlements.
  • 3 properties here are on the National Register of Historic Places: 2 buildings and 1 district.
  • The Geographic Names Information System records 7 populated places in this county; 7 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
Mahnomen City Hallbuilding198888003011
Mahnomen County Courthousebuilding198484001488
Mahnomen County Fairgrounds Historic Districtdistrict198989000077

Wildfire, 1992 to 2020

1,553 fires

Every wildfire the federal occurrence database records inside this county: 1,553 of them, burning about 24,995 acres. 5 started naturally and 916 were recorded as arson. Each settlement page carries the fires within five miles of it.

Reported cause Fires
Arson/incendiarism916
Debris and open burning369
Misuse of fire by a minor125
Missing data/not specified/undetermined79
Recreation and ceremony18
Equipment and vehicle use17
Fireworks15
Natural5
Smoking3
Other causes2
Power generation/transmission/distribution2
Firearms and explosives use1
Railroad operations and maintenance1

The five largest, by the area the report gives. Three of them were set deliberately.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
6 May 2005Debris and open burning1,800 acresDetroit Lakes Wetland Management DistrictWAUMBACH
13 April 2003Arson/incendiarism1,400 acresMinnesota AgencyGREERLAKE0
26 April 2011Arson/incendiarism1,000 acresDetroit Lakes Wetland Management DistrictWAUBUN WMA
17 November 2006Missing data/not specified/undetermined950 acresDetroit Lakes Wetland Management DistrictDOWNING
28 November 2011Debris and open burning900 acresMinnesota Department of Natural ResourcesCHURCH LAKE
31 March 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined800 acresDetroit Lakes Wetland Management DistrictBEJOU WMA
27 April 2010Missing data/not specified/undetermined800 acresDetroit Lakes Wetland Management DistrictWAUMBACH WMA
20 May 2010Arson/incendiarism704 acresMinnesota Department of Natural Resourcesnot named

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

Storms, 1958 to 2025

60 of 217 shown

The NOAA Storm Events Database holds 217 reports for this county, causing no deaths, no injuries and about $2,389,730 in recorded property damage. Each settlement page carries the reports that name it.

Kind of event Reports
Hail102
Thunderstorm Wind71
Tornado24
Flash Flood10
Flood6
Funnel Cloud3
Lightning1

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
July 2013Tornado (EF2)Mahnomen$1,000,000This tornado continued into Clearwater County, where it lifted at about 0130 am CST, west-northwest of Zerkel. The tornado damaged structures at three locations along the route with long tracks of tree and crop damage evident. Peak winds were estimated at 115 mph.
July 2008Tornado (EF2)Beaulieu$500,000This tornado tracked to the north-northeast for about 16 miles and lifted about 3 miles south-southwest of Lengby, or near Sugar Bowl Lake. Numerous trees and power poles were snapped along the path. Farm sheds were blown down and hay wagons flipped. The damage path was around 250 yards wide where it crossed county road 122 about 2 miles east of Beaulieu. Peak winds were estimated at 115 mph.
August 2007LightningBejou$500,000Lightning struck the bell tower of a church in Bejou, igniting a fire in the tower. The fire spread throughout the building, causing a total loss. The building had been recently renovated.
May 1996Thunderstorm WindMahnomen$100,000no account filed
June 2023Tornado (EF2)Waubun$56,000This tornado touched down south of Mahnomen at 4:15 PM. The highest damage it caused was rated as an EF-2. Among the damage it caused as it continued across its 6 mile path was trees snapped and uprooted (both hard and soft wood), metal garage slid off its foundation and collapsed, crop damage, Quonset caved in on one side, roofing blown off homes, broken power line poles, and lifting fuel tankers full of 250 gallons of fuel and throwing them at a barn. Damage dollar amounts are estimated.
June 2002Thunderstorm WindMahnomen$50,000One airplane hanger was destroyed as well as the airplane inside. Another hanger was severely damaged.
July 1998Tornado (F0)Mahnomen$30,000A retired farmer was looking out his back door and saw a swirling cloud come down. He headed for the basement and was not hurt. His home lost power and his house and outbuildings were damaged. Witnesses said the tornado was a high-based rope tornado.
May 1996Thunderstorm WindFosston$25,000no account filed
June 1975Tornado (F0)not stated$25,000no account filed
July 1972Tornado (F0)not stated$25,000no account filed
June 1966Tornado (F1)not stated$25,000no account filed
June 2002Thunderstorm WindMahnomen$10,000Windows were broken and a shed door was torn off.
August 2020FloodBejou$5,000Runoff from heavy rain entered a home.
May 2010Flash FloodWaubun$5,000Several sections of township roads were washed out due to heavy rains and rapid runoff along the Mahnomen and Becker county line.
July 2008Tornado (EF0)Waubun$5,000This tornado was observed moving across highway 59 and lifting about 4 miles north-northeast of Waubun. The tornado appeared to pass just south of the Mahnomen County airport.
August 2002Tornado (F0)Bejou$5,000A brief touchdown pulled up tin on a barn roof.
April 2013FloodBejou$5,000no account filed
March 2009FloodBejou$5,000no account filed
April 2009FloodBejou$5,000no account filed
August 2001Thunderstorm WindMahnomen$2,000Large trees were blown down.
May 1998Thunderstorm WindMahnomen$2,000A machine shed was blown down in the wind.
June 2002Thunderstorm WindBejou$1,000Trees were blown down.
August 2001Thunderstorm WindWaubun$1,000Trees were blown down.
August 2001Thunderstorm WindMahnomen$1,000Trees and powerlines were blown down.
August 2016HailWaubun$500Large hail and very strong winds caused considerable crop damage across western Popple Grove Township.
July 2001Thunderstorm WindMahnomen$500Tree branches were blown down.
July 1999Thunderstorm WindMahnomen$500Large tree limbs were blown down.
August 2002Thunderstorm WindBejou$200Branches were blown down.
July 1981Tornado (F0)not stated$30no account filed
August 2025HailNaytahwaush-Quarter size hail reported. Report relayed on social media.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindMahnomen-Wind gust measured by MN dot station MN044.
August 2025Thunderstorm WindWaubun-Report of numerous trees branches down.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindMahkonce-Estimated 70 mph winds by trained storm spotter 5 S Lengby, small tree branches down.
June 2025Thunderstorm WindMahkonce-Estimated 70 mph winds by trained storm spotter 5 S Lengby, small tree branches down.
June 2023HailMahnomen-Valley News Broadcaster reports quarter-sized hail in Mahnomen.
June 2023Tornado (EFU)Waubun-Brief spin up was reported in an open field which mitigated any damage. Therefore, the rating of EF-U has been assigned with estimated path width and length.
June 2023Tornado (EFU)Waubun-Spotter called with reports of a tornado with intermittent touchdown near Waubun, MN. It occurred in open fields, which mitigated any damage. Therefore, the rating of EF-U has been assigned with an estimated path width and length.
September 2023HailNaytahwaush-Quarter-sized hail at the intersection of Highway 35 and 113 14 miles NE of White Earth.
June 2022Thunderstorm WindMahnomen-Peak wind was measured at the Minnesota DOT RWIS on Hwy 59.
June 2022Tornado (EF1)Naytahwaush-This tornado was likely wrapped in downburst winds and heavy rain as is tracked east northeastward across North Twin Lake and the community of Naytahwaush, ending around 1 ene of town by 923 pm CDT. The tornado snapped or uprooted numerous pine, poplar, and oak trees. It tore roughly 40 percent of the roof decking off of one house and shingles and roofing materials off of other buildings along its path. Peak winds were estimated to 105 mph, with a maximum width of 400 yards.
August 2022HailWaubun-Brief quarter-sized hail, with strong winds.
August 2022Thunderstorm WindBeaulieu-A number of 4 to 6-inch branches broken down. The wind gusted for about 5 minutes.
May 2022HailMahnomen-Received a report of dime to nickel sized hail.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindBejou-A few trees were snapped in a shelterbelt.
July 2020Thunderstorm WindMahkonce-Several large tree branches were blown down around Island Lake.
October 2020Thunderstorm WindMahnomen-Mahnomen Airport (K3N8) AWOS reported 51 knot or 58.7 mph wind gust.
October 2020Thunderstorm WindBeaulieu-Several large 4 to 6 inch diameter tree branches were broken down as a thunderstorm squall moved through town.
June 2020Thunderstorm WindMahkonce-A few large tree branches were blown down near the Island Lake boat dock.
May 2019Tornado (EF0)Waubun-This tornado began in Norman County at 1822 CST. This was the first of twin tornadoes which were viewed and photographed from residents near Flom and Waubun. This tornado only tracked for a short distance in Norman County, before it continued into Mahnomen County. The tornado broke large tree branches in several shelterbelts along its path and appears to have caused a peak wind of 73 mph at both the Mahnomen airport and nearby MNDOT RWIS mesonet sensors as it dissipated. Peak winds were estimated at 80 mph.
May 2019Tornado (EF1)Waubun-This was the second of twin tornadoes in southwest Mahnomen County. This tornado touched down after the first one and tracked nearly due east. The tornado snapped a large spruce tree and several poplar trees at one farmstead. Peak winds were estimated at 95 mph.
May 2019Thunderstorm WindMahnomen-The Mahnomen AWOS reported the wind gust, associated with a passing thunderstorm. A nearby MNDOT RWIS mesonet sensor also registered a peak wind of 73 mph.
June 2019Thunderstorm WindMahnomen-A gustnado developed on two convergent thunderstorm outflow boundaries and slowly moved across a field. A persistent rotating dust plume was evident.
May 2019Thunderstorm WindWaubun-Several large tree branches were blown down, partially blocking highway 59. Steel signs were also blown over. Peak winds were estimated at 90 mph.
August 2019HailBeaulieu-Most of the hail was quarter size.
August 2018HailNaytahwaush-The hail fell at the Tulaby Lake boat ramp.
August 2018Thunderstorm WindBejou-Many 6 to 8 inch diameter tree branches were blown down.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindNaytahwaush-Numerous large tree branches were blown down along county road 4 near South Twin Lake.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindMahnomen-A couple of trees were split and broken down across power lines, resulting in local power outages.
June 2017HailNaytahwaush-The hail fell at the Elk Horn Resort on South Twin Lake.
June 2017HailMahkonce-Dime to quarter sized hail fell along with very heavy rain.

Mines and quarries

2 recorded

The Survey's mineral resources record lists 2 workings inside this county. 1 still produces and 1 is closed or unrecorded. Each settlement page carries the workings within five miles of it.

Commodity Workings
Sand and Gravel, Construction2

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

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Mahnomen PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionUnknown
Snider Lake Pit and MillSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every populated place in the county

7

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.