{"id":5070,"date":"2023-07-03T15:35:08","date_gmt":"2023-07-03T15:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/?p=5070"},"modified":"2026-08-22T12:02:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T12:02:19","slug":"red-lake-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/red-lake-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Red Lake County, Minnesota"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Red Lake County is a county in Minnesota, United States, drained by the Red Lake River in the northwest part of the state. It had a population of 3,935 at the 2020 census and covers 432 square miles (1,120 km2) of land, centred near 47&deg;53&prime;N 96&deg;06&prime;W.<\/p>\n<p>Red Lake Falls is the county seat, and its postal code is 56750. The county has four incorporated cities, six unincorporated communities and 13 civil townships. Red Lake County observes Central time and is unusual among U.S. counties for bordering only two other counties &mdash; Pennington to the north and Polk to the south.<\/p>\n<h2>Towns &amp; Villages in Red Lake County<\/h2>\n<p>Red Lake County has four incorporated cities &mdash; one of them, Red Lake Falls, the county seat &mdash; and a scatter of unincorporated communities and rural townsites along the Red Lake and Clearwater rivers. CDP = census-designated place; Unincorp. = unincorporated community with no formal municipal government.<\/p>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Place<\/th>\n<th>Type<\/th>\n<th>Township<\/th>\n<th>Pop.<\/th>\n<th>ZIP<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Red Lake Falls<\/td>\n<td>City &middot; seat<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>1,339<\/td>\n<td>56750<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Oklee<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>413<\/td>\n<td>56742<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Plummer<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Brooks<\/td>\n<td>City<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Huot<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Terrebonne<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>Terrebonne Twp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Garnes<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>Garnes Twp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Wylie<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>Wylie Twp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Dorothy<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Perault<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Delorme<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Roland<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Oaks MH Park<\/td>\n<td>Unincorp.<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Several of the smaller sites &mdash; Dorothy, Perault, Delorme, Roland and the Oaks MH Park mobile-home community &mdash; are rural crossroads or clusters with no independent municipal boundary; their township of location could not be verified for this update, so the Township column is left blank rather than guessed.<\/p>\n<h2>Townships<\/h2>\n<div class=\"tv-table-scroll\">\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>Township<\/th>\n<th>Pop. (2020)<\/th>\n<th>Main settlements<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>Red Lake Falls<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Louisville<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Equality<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lambert<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>River<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Terrebonne<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>Terrebonne<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Garnes<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>Garnes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Wylie<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>Wylie<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Browns Creek<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Emardville<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Gervais<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Lake Pleasant<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Poplar River<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<td>&mdash;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<h2>ZIP Codes<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>56750 &mdash; Red Lake Falls (also serves Huot, Terrebonne and the surrounding townships)<\/li>\n<li>56742 &mdash; Oklee (also serves Garnes and Wylie)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Brooks and Plummer carry their own post offices, but a verified ZIP could not be confirmed for this update; the smaller unincorporated sites use the ZIP of their nearest post town rather than a code of their own.<\/p>\n<h2>Geography<\/h2>\n<p>Red Lake County sits on the flat glacial-lake plain of northwestern Minnesota, drained west to east and then north by the Red Lake River, which flows through Red Lake Falls before continuing on to the Red River of the North. The county is almost entirely dry land: of its 432 square miles, only about 0.09 square miles is water, a legacy of the drained prairie-pothole terrain rather than any large lake or river system. Red Lake County borders exactly two other counties, an unusual distinction for a landlocked U.S. county: Pennington County lies to the north (<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/pennington-county\/\">Pennington County<\/a>), and Polk County lies to the south (<a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/polk-county-minnesota\/\">Polk County<\/a>).<\/p>\n<h2>Demographics<\/h2>\n<p>Red Lake County had 3,935 residents at the 2020 census, making it the third-least populous county in Minnesota. Red Lake Falls (1,339) and Oklee (413) are its two largest communities, together holding roughly 45 percent of the county&#8217;s population. The county&#8217;s median household income runs below the Minnesota median of $85,086, consistent with its small-town, farm-dependent economic base. Population density is about nine people per square mile, among the lowest in the state.<\/p>\n<h2>Economy &amp; Local Life<\/h2>\n<p>Grain farming &mdash; wheat, soybeans, sugar beets and sunflowers on the flat glacial plain &mdash; anchors the county&#8217;s economy, alongside county government, the Red Lake Falls hospital and clinic, and the local school district. Red Lake Falls&#8217; downtown milling and grain-elevator trade dates back to the 1870s and 1880s, when railroads first reached the county, and elevators and co-op grain facilities remain a visible part of the local economy in Oklee, Plummer and Brooks as well.<\/p>\n<h2>History<\/h2>\n<p>Red Lake County was organized on December 24, 1896, carved from the northern part of Polk County, and takes its name from the Red Lake River, which itself is named for Red Lake to the east. Red Lake Falls, platted as a village in 1881 around a North West Company fur-trading post first established in 1796&ndash;97, was chosen as the county seat. The county courthouse, built in 1910, and the Clearwater Evangelical Lutheran Church are both listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1927, aviator Charles Lindbergh and his wife landed near Red Lake Falls during a barnstorming tour of the Upper Midwest.<\/p>\n<h2>Getting There<\/h2>\n<p>Minnesota State Highways 32 and 92 cross the county, linking its cities to U.S. Highway 2 just to the north.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Thief River Falls &mdash; 20 miles north<\/li>\n<li>Crookston &mdash; 25 miles southwest<\/li>\n<li>Bemidji &mdash; 60 miles east<\/li>\n<li>Grand Forks, N.D. &mdash; 55 miles west<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The nearest commercial airport is Thief River Falls Regional Airport, with a larger regional airport at Grand Forks International.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequently Asked Questions<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Where is Red Lake County, Minnesota?<\/strong><br \/>\nIt is in the northwest part of Minnesota, along the Red Lake River between Pennington and Polk counties.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the population of Red Lake County?<\/strong><br \/>\n3,935 people at the 2020 census, making it one of Minnesota&#8217;s least populous counties.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How big is Red Lake County?<\/strong><br \/>\n432 square miles (1,120 km2), almost entirely land.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What is the county seat of Red Lake County?<\/strong><br \/>\nRed Lake Falls is the county seat.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many towns are in Red Lake County?<\/strong><br \/>\nFour incorporated cities &mdash; Red Lake Falls, Oklee, Plummer and Brooks &mdash; plus several unincorporated communities.<\/p>\n<p><strong>What ZIP codes are in Red Lake County?<\/strong><br \/>\n56750 (Red Lake Falls) and 56742 (Oklee) are the confirmed ZIP codes; Brooks and Plummer have their own post offices.<\/p>\n<p><strong>How many other counties does Red Lake County border?<\/strong><br \/>\nJust two &mdash; Pennington to the north and Polk to the south, an unusual distinction among landlocked U.S. counties.<\/p>\n<p>More counties in this state: <a href=\"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/category\/minnesota\/\">Towns and villages in Minnesota<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Red Lake County is a county in Minnesota, United States, drained by the Red Lake River in the northwest part of the state. It had a population of 3,935 at the 2020 census and covers 432 square miles (1,120 km2) of land, centred near 47&deg;53&prime;N 96&deg;06&prime;W. Red Lake Falls is the county seat, and its [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"Towns & Villages in Red Lake County, Minnesota","_seopress_titles_desc":"Red Lake Falls, Oklee, Plummer, Brooks and Red Lake County's townships, ZIP codes, population and history in northwest Minnesota.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[6],"class_list":["post-5070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-minnesota","tag-towns-and-cities","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5070"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5070\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11636,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5070\/revisions\/11636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/townsvillages.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}