Formed December 24, 1896 (82nd county)
Red Lake County (3,936), Red Lake Falls (1,348)
The pleasant red/brown brick Beaux Arts courthouse, built in 1910, is on a hill at Main Avenue and 1st Street. Main Avenue is Minnesota State Highway 32 in the town. Fremont D. Orff is the building designer. The clock tower was removed in 1940 significantly altering its looks. The county was established on December 24, 1896 from Polk County as the 82nd county with Red Lake Falls as the only county seat. The county is named for Red Lake River. The county seat is named for local falls on the river.
Red Lake County government consists of a sheriff, an administrator, an attorney, a treasurer, an auditor, an assessor and a clerk (executive). It has 5 Commissioners (legislative.) Twenty-two District Court Judges serve Red Lake, Aitkin, Beltrami, Cass, Clearwater, Crow Wing, Hubbard, Itasca, Kittson, Koochiching, Lake of the Woods, Mahnomen, Marshall, Norman, Pennington, Polk, and Roseau counties (judicial.) The county is in the northwest part of the state. Minneapolis, Minnesota is southeast and Grand Forks, North Dakota is west of the county. The county center is 7.3 miles East of Red Lake Falls nearer Plummer. The county is surrounded clockwise by Pennington and Polk counties.
The area of the county is 432.4 square miles. It is 78 out of 87 in the state. It ranks 85 out of 87 in population in the state. It has a density of 9.1 persons per square mile making it 75 out of 87 in the state. Red Lake County has 54.8% of its population in its incorporated areas. United States Highway 59 crosses north to south through the county from Pennington County to Polk County. The county looks like a fat capital letter T with the middle leg cut off. Red Lake Falls is in the western quarter of the county. Red Lake Falls is the county seat and the largest city. It is 34.3% of the county population.
Brooks
Oklee
Plummer
Red Lake Falls
