Dorothy

Overview

A station on the Winnipeg line

Dorothy was a railroad town. In 1916 and 1917 the Northern Pacific pushed a line from Tilden Junction toward Winnipeg, with a spur through Red Lake Falls, and set up a station here in Louisville Township, about 12 miles from Red Lake Falls by today's roads. The new stop pulled people away from Huot, the older river-crossing town to the southeast. A post office named Dorothy had opened in 1898, years before the railroad; our sources don't explain the gap.

At its height Dorothy had a grain elevator, a Catholic church, a school and several houses, though Wikipedia says it only sputtered toward prosperity. The WPA's state guide of 1938 counted 25 people and praised a beautiful church with stained-glass windows. The post office closed in 1945.

The end came in 1973, when the railroad was abandoned and the elevator closed. By 2007 the church was empty as a church and seemed to be lived in. On October 24, 2014, embers from a leaf fire nearby set it alight, and it burned to the ground. Today's state highway map of Louisville Township still prints Dorothy, Dorothy Road and St. Dorothy's Cemetery.

Timeline

Station, elevator and church

1. Feb 11, 1898A post office named Dorothy opens, with Joseph H. Mathews as postmaster.
2. 1916–1917The Northern Pacific Railway builds a spur through Red Lake Falls toward Winnipeg and sets up Dorothy as a station. The new town draws people from Huot, the old river-crossing town nearby.
3. 1918The Red Lake Falls topographic sheet shows Dorothy on the Northern Pacific line in Section 5.
4. 1938The WPA's Minnesota guide counts 25 people and "a beautiful church with stained-glass windows."
5. 1945The post office closes.
6. 1973The railroad is abandoned and the grain elevator closes.
7. May 2007Photos show the white frame church, by then apparently used as a house, the Dorothy road sign and an elevator behind it.
8. Oct 24, 2014The old church burns to the ground, probably from embers of a nearby leaf fire.

What's left

A crossroads on the prairie

Little is on record. The aerial view below shows a few farmsteads and tree rows at the corner where County Highway 3 bends and 185th Avenue Southwest runs north. The Minnesota Department of Transportation's 2024 map of Louisville Township marks St. Dorothy's Cemetery nearby, with the Cyr and Huot cemeteries elsewhere in the township.

The 2007 photos are the newest pictures we found: the white frame church with a cross on its tower, cars parked outside, and the green Dorothy sign on the curve with a grain elevator on the horizon. The church burned in 2014. We found no newer report on the elevator. The homes here are private; look from the county roads.

The old maps make the town plain. The 1918 Red Lake Falls sheet below prints Dorothy beside the Northern Pacific with a station in Section 5. By 1952 a second rail line crosses at the town, and buildings cluster at the junction. On the 1966 Grand Forks sheet a line northeast of town is marked dismantled.

• Farmsteads at the crossroads (private)
• St. Dorothy's Cemetery (on the 2024 MnDOT map)

Historic maps

Dorothy on USGS maps, 1918–1966

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

19181:62,50019521:62,50019661:250,000

Map & directions

Getting there

Red Lake Falls, the county seat, is the nearest town with services, about 12 miles east by road. From Grand Forks, cross into Minnesota and follow US 2 east and US 75 north before turning onto the county roads.

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

Photos

Dorothy in photos

The Dorothy sign and an elevator on the horizon, May 2007St. Dorothy's Church, May 2007

Visitor reports

Been to Dorothy?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

Thanks. Your report reached us, and we'll read it before it goes on the page.

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Nearby

Other sites near Dorothy

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Minnesota index.

• Terrebonne15.9 mi SE · Red Lake
• Betcher37.6 mi S · Norman
• Pitt95.7 mi NE · Lake of the Woods
• Fairland111.9 mi E · Koochiching
• Topelius114.0 mi SE · Otter Tail
• Leaf River118.3 mi SE · Wadena
• Old Wadena Historic District128.8 mi SE · Wadena
• Manganese149.8 mi SE · Crow Wing

Sources

Sources and credits

1. Wikipedia, "Dorothy, Minnesota", retrieved October 2026: Section 5 of Louisville Township, the Northern Pacific station of 1916–17 and Huot, the elevator, church, school and houses, the post office of 1898 to 1945 (citing Patera and Gallagher's Post Offices of Minnesota), the 1938 population of 25 and the church (citing the WPA's Minnesota: A State Guide), the 1973 abandonment, the church in 2007, and the fire of October 24, 2014 (citing the Erskine Echo, October 30, 2014).
2. Minnesota Department of Transportation, Township of Louisville, Red Lake County, 2024 map: Dorothy, Dorothy Road SW, St. Dorothy's, Cyr and Huot cemeteries.
3. Samm Adams, "6 Mysterious Ghost Towns in Minnesota You May Have Forgotten," KROC News, updated July 13, 2024: Dorothy among Minnesota's ghost towns.
4. Elcajonfarms, Wikimedia Commons, photos of May 7, 2007: the church and the road sign with the elevator.
5. Historic maps: USGS Red Lake Falls sheets of 1918 and 1952, Grand Forks 1966. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026.

Photo and map credits

• The Dorothy sign and an elevator on the horizon, May 2007: Elcajonfarms at en.wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
• St. Dorothy's Church, May 2007: Elcajonfarms, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
• Topo map, area base map and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
• Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Red Lake Falls 1918, 1:62,500; Red Lake Falls 1952, 1:62,500; Grand Forks 1966, 1:250,000.