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History · Otter Tail
Otter Tail’s history is mostly unwritten
The public archives hold just one old photo of Otter Tail. The rest are in attics, shoeboxes and the historical society. Help start the collection.
1 old photo or paper
1 historic places
1 need a date
From Otter Tail’s archive · credits on each photo What stands out about Otter Tail’s past Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out Start Otter Tail’s collection The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Otter Tail’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos 00s 10s 20s 30s 40s 50s 60s 70s 80s 90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album. The story How Otter Tail came to be From Wikipedia’s history of Otter Tail.
Read it all → Ottertail was platted in 1903, and named for nearby Otter Tail Lake.
"Otter Tail" City appeared on the United States Census as early as 1860.
Text from Wikipedia , licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 .
At a glance
Half its homes built before 1983
Oldest landmark with a date Craigie Flour Mill Historical Marker, 1940
People in 2020 602 The houses today → By decade
Otter Tail, decade by decade Then & now Stand where they stood No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.
Retake this view Soo Line Railroad Station Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Otter Tail’s page.
Retake this view · +15 On the National Register 1 historic place in Otter Tail The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
0
each building in a district counts
first listed
2003
Craigie Flour Mill Historical Marker
in Minnesota
#237
by listings
Architectural styles listings NPS Rustic 1
National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.
Stories next door
History across the town line Memory lane What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Town Square →
Weigh in
Has Otter Tail changed for the better?
Yes I miss the old days
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Start a conversation
What used to stand where something else is now in Otter Tail? → Who remembers Otter Tail in the 1950s? → A family story from old Otter Tail → Does anyone have photos of Otter Tail from the 1990s? →
From Wikimedia Commons (4), the National Register of Historic Places (1) and Wikipedia. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
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Date?
2017
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2005