Ottertail, MN

Ottertail is an Otter Tail County city on the northeast side of Otter Tail Lake, where Minnesota Highways 78 and 108 meet. The 2020 census counted 629 residents. The city sits among a chain of lakes that includes Otter Tail, Portage, Donald, Long, Buchanan, and Pelican Bay, so boat landings, seasonal cabins, shops, a cafe, and lake-serving businesses shape the local economy. City hall, utilities, roads, and a bike and walking connection between the old and newer parts of town keep the daily map centered on the highway junction.

The earlier settlement was called Otter Tail City and served as the county seat until 1872. Its decline followed the decision to move the county seat to Fergus Falls and the failure of a railroad to locate its depot there. A new site was platted along the Soo Line route and became Ottertail. The Saint Paul House, once a hotel, is now preserved near old Ottertail on Highway 108. The name also reaches back to the lake's otter-tail-shaped sandbar, a local piece of geography that ties the city, county, lake, and river together.