Math on Info: Commercial Pages: West-Central Minnesota: Otter Tail County: Natural, Recreational, and Residential Resources of Western Minnesota's Most Picturesque Lake Region: An Overview

Otter Tail County: Natural, Recreational, and Residential Resources of Western Minnesota's Most Picturesque Lake Region: An Overview

Otter Tail County rests in western Minnesota and is on the western edge of both North America's lake district and the great expanse of the North American hardwood forest. To the west are the farmlands and grasslands of the Dakota prairie.
The county is rich in hills, ponds, lakes, forests, fields, pastures, and prairies. Its abundant wildlife includes deer, fox, rabbits, raccoons, and wild turkeys, as year-round residents, and eagles, pelicans, cranes, herons, Canada geese, and ducks of several varieties, seasonally. Deer roam the land quite freely and in the summer are often found within the city limits of Fergus Falls. Also in the summer mallard ducks are prolific and are commonly found in the back yards of Fergus Falls home owners. By the county's location and topography, its song birds range from forest and marsh dwellers to shrub and prairie nesters.
Because of its many picturesque farms, rolling hills, and prolific lakes, Otter Tail County has been a popular tourist destination since early twentieth century. By mid-twentieth century, lakeshore residential communities were well established. More recently, the quest for peace and proximity to nature has brought seasonal and year-round rural residences on small country estates.
The following maps provide a brief overview of the county. The first map is a road map of Otter Tail County that gives most of the "cities" and small towns lying within, or bordering on, the county.

Road Map of Otter Tail County, with Urban Areas and Some of the Major Lakes

Fergus Falls, with a population of about 14,000, is the county seat and the largest urban area of the county. From the map, it may be seen that most of the urban areas of Otter Tail County are very small towns. Note that the county takes its name from its largest lake, as do several of the county's townships.
The next map is a photo map giving the urban areas in, and immediately about, Otter Tail County, some of the major lakes, the township numbers and range values, and the approximate latitude and longitude coordinates of two corner points.

Photo Map of Otter Tail County
with Urban Areas, Some Major Lakes,
Township Numbers and Range Values,
and the Approximate Latitude and Longitude Coordinates
of Two Corner Points

Notes:

1. Names of urban areas are in yellow and names of the major lakes are in white. A white arrow from a lake name to the corresponding lake is used when such facilitates identification.
2. Each small square outlined in blue is a township. Township numbers are given on the right and range values are given on the bottom. With these, each township may be identified by a township number and a range value. For example, the township in the bottom right corner is Township 131 North, Range 36 West.
3. The approximate coordinates of the northeast and southwest corners of Otter Tail County are given above. The top right coordinate is read "46.72 degrees north latitude, 95.16 degrees west longitude," and the bottom left coordinate is read "46.11 degrees north latitude, 96.27 degrees west longitude." These coordinates were extrapolated from those provided in Minnesota Atlas and Gazetteer, second edition, 1994. (The link is to the third edition at Amazon.com.)

In the above map, only a few of the major lakes are identified. One tourist pamphlet for Otter Tail County states that this county has one-tenth of Minnesota's 10,000 lakes.
The next map gives the names of the townships. Each township is linked to a page offering interesting historical material on the township.

Photo Map of Otter Tail County
with Township Names and
Township Numbers and Range Values

Note that many of the townships bear the name of the town or largest lake, or both, within it.
To read about the lives, beliefs, customs, values, and organizational , educational, commercial, and industrial efforts of the pioneers and early residents of each of the townships, click the township square above to be taken to the applicable page of jsenterprises.com. These pages contain, among other things, the township accounts given in volume 1 of History of Otter Tail County, Minnesota: Its People, Industries and Institutions, John W. Mason (editor), 1916; however, the transcriptions appear not to have been proofread, as errors exist. (The text link is to Amazon.com, which may from time to time have Mason's two volumes available for purchase.)

Below are links to additional pages that are intended to show, in some small way, the diverse natural, recreational, and residential resources of this beautiful land. They include pages on (1) state and county parks, camps, and a 60-mile biking trail, (2) bed and breakfasts and resorts, and (3) golf courses, as well as some pages highlighting specific areas of the county and one page of charts summarizing real estate prices in the county. For the bed and breakfasts and gold courses in Otter Tail County, photographs and maps are often provided.

Other Otter Tail County Pages

State and County Parks and Bicycle Trail

Bed and Breakfasts and Resorts

Golf Courses

Fergus Falls

Battle Lake

Pelican Rapids

Vergas

Charts

Links to Amazon.com
Interesting Literature Pertaining to Otter Tail County
History of Otter Tail County, Minnesota: Its People, Industries and Institutions by John W. Mason (Editor)	Abandonings: Photographs of Otter Tail County, Minnesota (Hardcover) by Maxwell MacKenzie	History of the Ojibway People by William W. Warren	Minnesota Atlas and Gazetteer (Paperback) by Delorme (Editor)	Minnesota Atlas of Historical County Boundaries by Gordon Denboer (Compiler), John H. Long (Editor)