A Brief History of Pelican Rapids

Brief History of Pelican Rapids

The first settlers arrived in the Pelican Rapids area in 1868 while scouting locations for fur trading posts for the British Northwest Company, which traded with the Chippewa (Ojibwe) people. News of the area’s natural beauty and waterpower spread quickly, and homesteaders soon followed.

Pelican Rapids is located in northwest Otter Tail County along an early trail connecting the Minneapolis–St. Paul area to Fargo–Moorhead. The railroad reached the city in 1882 as a branch line from Fergus Falls, though it never extended further north and was eventually removed nearly 100 years later. The city was officially incorporated in 1883.

Early growth was rooted in agriculture, with small farms throughout the region. Over time, the economy expanded to include agricultural processing—most notably turkey production—along with tourism, manufacturing, electronics, wood products, and precision machining.

Tourism grew further with the opening of Maplewood State Park six miles east of town. Pelican Rapids is also home to the iconic “World’s Largest Pelican,” a pedestrian suspension bridge, and connected city parks including E.L. Peterson Memorial Park and Sherin Memorial Park. By 1990, the city’s population reached 1,886.

Historical Markers

Pelican Rapids gained national attention with the 1931 discovery of a more than 10,000-year-old human skeleton, known as the “Minnesota Woman,” one of the oldest found in North America. Other notable markers include early fur traders arriving by dog team, evidence of historic storefronts beneath Main Street, and the construction of the World’s Largest Pelican in 1957 for the city’s Jubilee Celebration.

One infamous figure in local history is Lord Gordon Gordon—an English butler turned con man—whose fraud in 1871 nearly ruined the young settlement.

- Marguerite Andrews, March 5, 1997 (Simplified) 

For additional information on Pelican Rapids, and Otter Tail County, please follow the links below.