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Lude

Ghost town · Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota

Williams quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1918, 1:62,500)
Williams quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1918, 1:62,500) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Lude is a ghost town in Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota, recorded as human settlement in Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota, United States of America. It is one of 2 former communities in Lake of the Woods County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 21st among the 45 Minnesota counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Lude as a historical populated place: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 48.9522° N, 94.9319° W.

Key facts

Elevation1,072 ft
Nearest living townRoosevelt, MN
Distance to it12.6 miles
Coordinates48.95220, -94.93190

Open the location on a map

Then and now

Drag the slider: the old USGS map on the left, the same ground from the air today on the right. Both cover the same 1.9-mile square centred on the recorded location.

Lude today, aerial view
Williams quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1918, 1:62,500)

Left: Williams quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1918, 1:62,500), U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection. Right: The same ground today: NAIP aerial imagery, USDA Farm Service Agency, National Agriculture Imagery Program (via USGS). Both public domain.

What's there now

Lude is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Roosevelt, MN (population 179), about 12.6 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 1,072 feet above sea level. The aerial view above shows what covers the ground today. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Lude?

Lude is in Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota, at 48.9522, -94.9319.

How many ghost towns are in Lake of the Woods County?

Lake of the Woods County, Minnesota has 2 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-06.