Project Unincorporated MN
Laura Grisamore is a fiscal year 2023 & 2025 recipient of a Creative Individuals grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board. This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation.
Project Unincorporated MN continues with support from the Minnesota State Arts Board. Over the past year, I traveled through Grant, Wilkin, Otter Tail, Clay, Becker, Traverse, and Wadena counties, photographing 39 unincorporated towns across rural Minnesota.
This phase goes deeper—capturing not just landscapes and buildings, but the people who bring these towns to life and the stories they carry. Some places are nearly ghost towns; others are still very much lived in. Everyday life continues—fields are tended, businesses are run, history is preserved.
What’s shared below are a small selection of photographs and recordings from the people that live in these towns.
Thank you to the Minnesota State Arts Board for supporting this work, and to everyone who welcomed me and shared a piece of their town.
Check out the 2025 Town Galleries HERE
Project Unincorporated MN 2025: A New Chapter
Town Voices & People
Clay County
Downer, MN. I met Heather, while she was working at the Mainline Bar & Grill—once the Mainline Potato Company—where she shared stories about her family’s roots, the town’s history, and shared fond memories of visiting her grandmother there when she was young. Her great-aunt worked at the Mainline Potato Company as did many women from the area during the war years—and long after.
Averill, MN. Ruth was out getting her mail and she stopped to talk to me in the intense July heat! She shared stories about growing up in Averill. The next photo is her childhood home, that was once a bank that closed in the 1930’s during the depression. Ruth moved back after her parents passed away. To the right of the house stretching down the street a bit use to be a general store, gas station & lumber store—all torn down and it is now a lawn.
Rustad, MN. I met Mike and Sue, who were mowing their lawn when I struck up a conversation. Sue invited me in and showed me photos and letters tied to their beautiful historic home—originally the Rustad family house built in 1903.
Wilkin County
Brushvale, MN. Bob and Mary live in the church where Bob was baptized and active in the church until it closed. They bought and renovated it in the 1990s, and foundation and other remnants of the old town still rest quietly in their lawn all around them, including the mainstreet sidewalk, a few home foundations and the pipe left from the old gas station.
Carlisle, MN. Stewart Ollila stands before a massive Boxelder tree planted in the late 1870s and once named the state’s largest by the DNR. Behind him to the right, an empty lot marks where the town’s gas station once stood along County Road 88, a trace of commerce before Interstate 94 rerouted traffic.
Everdell, MN, Jeff stopped to chat with me on the gravel road. Behind him is the farm he grew up on, which he continues to farm along with one of his sons. The land behind and around him makes up almost the entire town of Everdell. We joked that this basically makes him the mayor of Everdell.
Otter Tail County
Basswood, MN. Meet Jessie a cattle farmer whose family moved there in 1984. While he was rolling down the gravel road in his tractor with hay for the cattle, he took time to share stories about growing up in Basswood and talked about farm and local life in Basswood with his kids.
I found the remains of the Dead Lake 240 School thanks to Jessie! The school is just a couple miles from Basswood right off the highway. I scribbled notes on my hand after chatting with Mike, his sister Caroline, and longtime local Pam — all of whom happened to drive by within 15 minutes of each other. Mike attended the school until it closed, likely in the late '60s or early '70s, and then finished in Basswood. Too cool.
Maine, MN. Mike in front of his house he grew up in and purchased it from his parents many years back after they retired and moved somewhere else to enjoy retirement in the Otter Tail area
Maine, MN. Kyle from Fergus Falls works on the roof of the old Maine General Store in Maine, Minnesota, a building that once housed an antique store. Efforts are underway to repair and preserve the structure. This is located directly across from Mike’s house.
Luce, MN. Brothers Donnie and Loren Greenwood showed me their old family home by the railroad tracks and shared stories of a once-thriving town. Most of Luce disappeared—and most residents moved away—when Highway 10 was built. Today, only this house and the old town hall remain from what used to be the main side of town.
When Luce, MN found me—LOL! Betty & August found out about my project and visited me in Park Rapids at the art gallery I am a part of. I spent a day with them this past September. More to come…
Oylen, MN. Glen Pederson stands in front of a barn on his family’s former mink farm. He grew up on this farm in Oylen and now lives in Nimrod.
Below is a photo of the old gas station and store he frequented as a child. The woman who ran the store would buy fish from him, and Glen would spend the money on treats—while she shared stories with him, sometimes even about Billy the Kid.
Listen to the audio below the photos to hear more of Glen’s memories.