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All the United States Minnesota Brainerd Old Crow Wing
AO Edited

Old Crow Wing

This once prosperous community was home to European settlers and the Ojibwe.

Brainerd, Minnesota

Added By
Rebecca Froehlich
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Old Crow Wing   RFrolicArts / Atlas Obscura User
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About

At Crow Wing State Park, visitors can enjoy hiking, snowshoeing, and skiing on the peaceful forested trails at the confluence of the Crow Wing River and Mississippi River. This intersection once provided more than natural beauty, the region was once home to French and Ojibwe residents who constructed a thriving trading town in 1823. 

At its peak, the town contained around 700 residents, half of whom were Ojibwe and half of whom were European settlers.

In 1867, ten Ojibwe chiefs met with President Andrew Johnson, a meeting that resulted in a treaty that forced all Ojibwe residents to relocate to the White Earth Indian Reservation. The remaining residents left for the city of Brainerd, ten miles away, where jobs with the Northern Pacific Railroad were available. 

Now, Old Crow Wing is a ghost town overlooking the confluence of the rivers. The last remaining building is the former residence of Clement Beaulieu, a successful Métis fur trader. This is now the oldest standing building in Minnesota outside of the Metro area. 

Visitors to Old Crow Wing can travel a reconstructed boardwalk and stand in the eerie former locations of buildings, with placards drawn from firsthand sources to describe what occurred in each location of the former town. 

Related Tags

Ghost Towns Native Americans History & Culture

Know Before You Go

State Park pass required. Find the small Chapel of St. Francis Xavier nearby. 

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RFrolicArts

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March 10, 2021

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Sources
  • http://heidivanheel.com/2015/03/12/the-ghost-town-of-old-crow-wing/
  • https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/state_parks/virtual_tour/crow_wing/dialup.html
Old Crow Wing
3124 State Park Rd
Brainerd, Minnesota, 56401
United States
46.272776, -94.333758
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Photo of Minnesota

Minnesota

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Places 184
Stories 25

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Explore the Destination Guide

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Minnesota

United States

Places 184
Stories 25

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