Each community in the Brainerd Lakes Area is rich in history. The origins of each town has roots in various industries, but the reason they settled in this area can all be traced to the same thing: the water!

Crow Wing County and the city of Brainerd
Long the home of native Chippewa tribes, white men first saw this area on Christmas Day 1805 when Lt. Zebulon Montgomery Pike camped here for one day. Allan and William Morrison founded the first white settlement at Crow Wing Village eight miles south of modern Brainerd, and a robust fur trade between whites and Native Americans. Soon the added security of Fort Ripley brought many more people into the area. By 1848 the fur trade was slackening, and logging quickly became the area's primary industry. When Northern Pacific Railroad built a bridge over the Mississippi at Brainerd, the village of Crow wing was abandoned and the city of Brainerd began to thrive.

Cuyuna Iron Range
The Cuyuna Range encompasses the cities of Crosby, Deerwood and Ironton. Originally a sleepy rural area, the Range saw explosive growth when iron ore was discovered at the turn of the last century. As the ore was mined from the earth the Range was flooded with miners and their families, and by the time the iron supply had been harvested the Range cities had been firmly established.

The influence of the mining can been seen everywhere in the Range cities--from the beauty of the clear, deep mine pit lakes that provide the area's most fascinating scuba diving, to the celebration of heritage that is displayed in the area's many antique shops and historical landmarks.

To find out more history on a specific Brainerd Lakes Area neighborhood, visit the individual city pages.

For more History information please click on the Brainerd Lakes Chamber, click on the community you are searching history on and then click the History link: www.explorebrainerdlakes.com