Elbow Lake, MN (City)

Elbow Lake is the Grant County seat in west-central Minnesota, a city on U.S. 59 and Minnesota 79. The 2020 census counted 1,276 residents. The courthouse, city offices, library, and Grant County Historical Museum give it a countywide role, while West Central Area Schools serves the surrounding communities. Nearby Elbow Lake, whose bent-arm shape gave the city its name, sits just west of town and is part of the city's everyday geography. County offices keep Elbow Lake on the regional road map.

When Grant County organized in 1873, Elbow Lake was selected as the county seat even before it was incorporated. The city was platted in 1886, and an 1881 attempt to move the county seat to Herman ended with the courthouse records returned. The historical museum keeps an 1865 log cabin, a one-room school, county archives, and a Veterans Hall. Elbow Lake's present-day role is practical and countywide: courts, offices, schools, farm services, and the roads that bring rural residents into town.