Underwood, MN

Underwood is an Otter Tail County city between Fergus Falls and Battle Lake on Minnesota 210. Homesteaders settled the wooded area in 1869, and the railroad arrived in 1881. The town first carried the names Southvick and Turtle Lake before residents secured the name Underwood for Adoniram Judson Underwood, a Fergus Falls editor, legislator, and Civil War veteran. The 2020 census counted 356 residents. The railroad's arrival turned a scattered settlement into a town, and the highway now connects it to the county's larger service centers.

Underwood still organizes much of its routine around the school and the city office. Underwood Public School District 550 operates a single-campus school serving local primary and secondary students, and the campus has been part of the town's regional story for generations. City government handles utilities, ordinances, and local administration, while the surrounding roads lead to Fergus Falls, Battle Lake, and the lake country beyond. Local harvest events and the town's railroad history keep the agricultural past in view, yet the present is shaped by school schedules, highway trips, and the municipal services that hold a small Otter Tail community together.