Museum Exhibits

The Lake of the Woods County Museum connects visitors with the area’s colorful past from geology and natural history to early peoples, fur trade, settlement and the development of industries and communities.

Early commercial fishing, logging and subsistence farming are imparted through mural paintings, historic photographs and related artifacts.  In the adjacent Annex, early wagons, hay loaders, binders and tractors show the further development of the area’s agricultural history.

Displays also capture pivotal events that shaped the area, including the great forest fire of 1910, the judicial ditching spree, and the Federal Resettlement programs.

Representative homestead, general store, country school, newspaper office and blacksmith shop exhibits allow visitors to better know and understand the lives of those who preceded them.

Exhibits trace the development of the area’s pharmaceutical company whose initial product was derived from the liver of a waste fish and the addition of tourism to the local economy.

Though located in the youngest county in Minnesota, the history of Lake of the Woods and the surrounding area is extensive and ready to be discovered at the Lake of the Woods County Museum.

Historic Sites

• Canadian National Railway Depot, Baudette
  One of two Canadian National Railway depots remaining in the U.S., on the line from Winnipeg to Thunder Bay. Serviced the line from 1923 until service was discontinued in the 1980s.
• Fort St. Charles, Magnusons Island
  Site of outpost built and maintained by Pierre La Verendrye 1732 to mid-1750s as center for French exploration, trade, diplomacy and mission work. Reconstructed fort on site.
• Norris Camp, Norris Township
  Off Norris-Roosevelt Forest Road. CCC work camp built in 1935 to house workers for the Beltrami Island Resettlement Project.
• Northwest Point, Northwest Angle
  Isolated point of land determined to be the most northwest point of Lake of the Woods from which the U.S. Canadian boundary line was determined.

Research Facilities

Description of Holdings
The research library provides workspace for researchers and genealogists. Holdings available for public use include: obituary files, family story files, genealogy records, microfilm of local newspapers, personal property tax records, and local subject files.

Research Fees

• Admission to research library room is free.
• Research assistance by staff is $15.00 per hour.
• Requests for research are accepted via e-mail, letter or phone. Phone requests should be followed up with letter or e-mail with more specific details on what is requested.
• For obituary only requests there is a $2 fee per obituary mailed in leu of hourly research assistance fee.
• Copies are .50 per page.
• Personal computers are allowed in the research area.
• Personal scanners or photography of archives are NOT permitted.

Turn around time: Research is done as staff time is available.
Payment: The Museum accepts checks or money orders in payment of research.

Research Request Form

Click here for research request form.

Digital Imaging Fees

• Ink Jet Photo Copy- $1.00
• 5×7 Photo Paper Print- $5.00
• 8×10 Photo Paper Print- $7.00
• Minimum Digital Image- 72-150 dpi- $7.00
• Medium Digital Image- 300 dpi- $20.00
• Large Digital Image- 600 dpi- $30.00

For publications and commercial use please contact for prices.
Digital images from our collections will have LOWCHS copyright and permission labels.