Battle Lake is a city in Otter Tail County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 857 according to the 2020 census.
History
Battle Lake, Minnesota is named after the mesotrophic lake of which it borders. It was first referenced by early French cartographers as "Lac du Battaile" with the area being the site of numerous Native American conflicts or battles. It likely draws reference to the Ojibwe and Dakota people in 1795 during the Dakota-Ojibwe War. "Battle Lake" was first anglicized by Joseph Nicolas Nicollet when displayed on his hydrographic map of the Mississippi Valley in 1843. The town of Battle Lake was first platted on October 31st, 1881 by Torger and Bertha Olson when the Northern Pacific Railway was building a track and station through the couple's homesteaded land. The railway and station contributed to Battle Lake growing into a railway village or Railway town, though the train and station were later moved.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.