Baudette

History

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. Baudette was largely destroyed in the Baudette Fire of 1910, but was quickly rebuilt. Many of its people were saved by a train with boxcars sent across the river from Rainy River, Ontario, which pulled survivors to safety on the other side.

Geography

The city is along the Rainy River at its confluence with the Baudette River. It lies across the river from Rainy River, Ontario, and southeast of Lake of the Woods. Baudette and Rainy River are connected by the Baudette–Rainy River International Bridge. Minnesota Highway 11, Minnesota Highway 72, and Minnesota Highway 172 are three of the community's main routes. Highway 11 leads northwest to Warroad at the southwest end of Lake of the Woods and east to International Falls, while Highway 72 leads south to Blackduck and Highway 172 leads north to Wheelers Point at the mouth of the Rainy River into Lake of the Woods. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , of which are land and are water.

Race & ethnicity