1915 Map of Underwood

About this map

Underwood and the village of Maine anchor this early twentieth-century survey of Otter Tail County's glaciated landscape. The area is defined by an intricate network of waterways, dominated by the expansive Dead Lake in the northeast and the winding path of the Otter Tail River cutting through the central townships. The Northern Pacific (Fergus Falls Branch) railroad provides the primary industrial link, running through the southern section of the quadrangle. This era shows a high density of rural education, with dozens of numbered schoolhouses such as School No 207 and named institutions like the Edwards School and Elliott School serving the dispersed farming communities in Sverdrup, Friberg, and Maplewood townships. The map documents numerous smaller bodies of water like West Lost Lake, Pickerel Lake, and Heilberger Lake, illustrating the complex drainage patterns before modern landscape modifications.