Motley, MN

Motley occupies the northwest corner of Morrison County, with a small section reaching into Cass County near where the Long Prairie River meets the Crow Wing River. The Long Prairie runs toward the Crow Wing just southeast of town, and both waterways shaped the area’s early movement of timber and farm goods. Today the city’s roads, river corridors, and nearby fields still make it a recognizable transition point between central Minnesota’s farm country and the northern woods.

Motley was laid out in 1874, and its post office dates to 1873. A planing mill once stood along the Long Prairie River, part of the river-based industry that helped give the settlement a reason to grow. The city’s parks and recreation calendar carries that water-and-community connection forward, with the Motley Fairgrounds and June Fest providing a seasonal gathering point. Canoeists and anglers looking at the Long Prairie or Crow Wing see the same geography that helped put Motley on the map. The river junction is still the town’s clearest geographic signature.