Deerwood, MN

Deerwood is a Crow Wing County city in the Cuyuna Range, among lakes and hardwood forests and within the Brainerd micropolitan area. The 2020 census counted 526 residents. Serpent Lake, the Cuyuna Mountain Bike Trail System, three city parks, and the Deerwood Auditorium shape the local recreation and civic map. City public works maintains roads, parks, and Scandia Cemetery, while nearby Crosby and Ironton fill in more shopping, dining, and regional services. Crosby-Ironton Public Schools serves the area.

Deerwood was platted in 1892 and incorporated in 1909 as the Cuyuna iron range developed around it. The 1935 Deerwood Auditorium was built with Works Progress Administration help and local labor; it now houses city council chambers, a gymnasium, and a storm shelter. That building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The present city still carries both sides of its setting: a practical municipal center with roads and public meetings, and a lakes-and-trails landscape tied to the mining country around the Cuyuna Range.