{"id":7,"date":"2007-11-15T17:39:21","date_gmt":"2007-11-15T22:39:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/howderfamily.com\/blog\/?p=7"},"modified":"2026-04-10T10:20:58","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T15:20:58","slug":"fewest-county-borders-red-lake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.howderfamily.com\/blog\/fewest-county-borders-red-lake\/","title":{"rendered":"Fewest County Borders \u2013 Part III: Red Lake Co., MN"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We’ve established that a county in the United States can have zero borders<\/a> if it is an island and one border<\/a> if it is a peninsula. However, there are no fully landlocked counties with just a single border. But what about landlocked counties that have two borders? Surprisingly there seems to be only one lone example, Red Lake County, Minnesota. To the best that I can tell, every other landlocked county has three or more neighbors. If I am mistaken, please somebody let me know, because I’ve looked hard and I can only find this one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Red<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pennington County forms Red Lake County’s northern border. Polk County cradles Red Lake on the remaining three sides. Red Lake formed from Polk in 1896 after a series of backroom deals, shady elections, and wily maneuvering as described in the Red Lake County History<\/a>. It’s a quite fascinating story. To briefly summarize, many residents felt that their representatives in Polk County were quite willing to accept their taxes but provided few services in return. As a result they formed a new county.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today nearly 4,300 residents call Red Lake County home, with 1,600 of them in Red Lake Falls, the county seat. I was once within a few miles of this special location when I explored Lake Itasca, the source of the Mississippi River<\/a>. However I failed to recognize the significance of this spot at the time and I’ve been kicking myself ever since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Articles in the Fewest County Borders Series<\/h2>\n\n\n\n