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History · Baudette

Baudette’s post office opened in 1901, and 12% of its homes were built before 1940

Its Register listing is the Canadian National Railways Depot. Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1921 on, and the census since 1910.

1901first post office
1on the National Register
12%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
3famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Baudette’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Baudette began, and where its name came from

When was Baudette founded?

1901

The Baudette post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name. Two smaller post offices, Port Hyland (1900) and Spooner (1907), opened inside today’s city and later closed.

First census: 897 in 19102020 census: 966125 years

How did Baudette get its name?

Baudette was named for Joseph Beaudette, a trapper of French-Canadian descent who had been in the area since the early 1880s.

Founding year: the first Baudette post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Name: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.The full story ↓

What stands out about Baudette’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.Boom and bustPeaked at 1,597 in 1960; 966 people lived here in 2020.Lost villages2 post offices opened and closed inside today’s Baudette, and 1 old place names are still on the map.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Baudette’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Baudette’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old view1940 Census Enumeration District Descri…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
People over time

Baudette, census by census

02004006008001,0001,2001,4001,600192019401960198020002020Peak: 1,597

Peaked at 1,597 in 1960; 966 people lived here in 2020.

12 censuses, 1910–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Baudette’s Wikipedia page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and places now gone

Baudette’s post office has been open since 1901. Two other post offices opened and closed inside today’s town.

Port Hyland
1900–1901
Baudette
1901–today
Spooner
1907–1954
19001960today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Judy's East Side Trailer Park
Gone or out of use
Spooner Post Officepost office

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

The story

How Baudette came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Baudette.

Read it all →

Baudette was incorporated in 1907. It was started by European Americans as a steamboat landing and lumber town with a sawmill, after the railroad was constructed through the area in 1901. It was named for Joseph Beaudette, a trapper of French-Canadian descent who had been in the area since the early 1880s. The post office at Baudette began in 1900, first called "Port Hyland", after postmaster Daniel Hyland. The name was changed to "Baudette" in 1901. Baudette had a station of the Minnesota and Manitoba Railroad, now absorbed by the Canadian National Railway.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Baudette, 1850 to 1992

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1850In the archive1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Minnesota - Lake of the Woods County - ED…
  3. 20th century
  4. 1900Post officeThe Port Hyland post office opens
  5. 1901Post officeThe Port Hyland post office closes
  6. 1901Post officeThe Baudette post office opens
  7. 1907Post officeThe Spooner post office opens
  8. 1921On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  9. 1923BuiltCanadian National Railways Depot is built
  10. 1943Born hereBev Scalze is born here
  11. 1954Post officeThe Spooner post office closes
  12. 1960CensusPopulation peaks at 1,597
  13. 1982Born hereKeith Ballard is born here
  14. 1992Born hereAlex Lyon is born here
By decade

Baudette, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1850s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1850s1 item
1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Minnesota - Lake of the Woods County - ED 39-1, ED 39-2, ED 39-3, ED 39…18501940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Minne…
Today7 recent
BaudetteMN 20182018BaudetteMN 2018Original ticket counter - historic Baudette train depot2012Original ticket counter - historic Baudette train dep…Front of Canadian National Railways Depot in 20122012Front of Canadian National Railways Depot in 2012Baudette-Rainy River Bridge2012Baudette-Rainy River BridgeBaudette-Rainy River Bridge (cropped)2012Baudette-Rainy River Bridge (cropped)Baudette MN2012Baudette MNNORTHWEST Angle2009NORTHWEST Angle
On the map

Baudette on the map, 1921 to 1968

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Baudette. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Baudette on the 1921 USGS mapBaudette on the 1968 USGS map1921Baudette sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Baudette.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Minnesota - Lake of the Woods County - ED 39-1, ED 39-2, ED 39-3, ED 39…
Retake this view1940 Census Enumeration District Descriptions - Minnesota - Lake of the Woods County - ED 39-1, ED 39-2, ED 39-3, ED 39…, 1850

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Baudette’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 historic place in Baudette

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
1
each building in a district counts
first listed
2005
Canadian National Railways Depot
Canadian National Railways Depot, built 1923
Buildings

Architectural styles listings

Bungalow/Craftsman1
Canadian National Railways DepotBungalow/Craftsman · Built 1923

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Famous people

3 famous people were born in Baudette

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
Keith BallardAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1982
Alex LyonAmerican ice hockey player · b. 1992
Bev ScalzeAmerican politician · b. 1943

Questions about Baudette’s history

What year was Baudette founded?

The Baudette post office opened in 1901, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Baudette?

One place: the Canadian National Railways Depot (listed 2005).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (8), Wikidata (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.