Warroad, Minnesota

Warroad is a city in Roseau County, Minnesota, United States, at the southwest corner of Lake of the Woods. The population was 1,781 at the 2010 census.

Minnesota State Highways 11 and 313 are two of the main arterial routes in the community.

History
The name Warroad seems to come from the practice of Indian tribes using the location, which is now the town, as a route to war upon each other. In the 20th century, the town had a strong commercial fishing industry, which gradually turned to sport fishing and tourism. For many years, commercial boats provided regular service to the islands and to Kenora, Ontario at the north end of Lake of the Woods. One of these ships was the Bert Steele. Several flying services carried sport fishermen and tourists to lodges and fishing camps in Lake of the Woods until economics and increasing regulations drove them out of business. Warroad is known for the great fishing on Lake of the Woods.

Warroad is also noted for its strong hockey tradition which has produced NHL and Olympic players. It is known as "Hockey Town USA" because of the that feat along with a storied high school program which has earned four men's state championship titles ('94, '96, '03, '05) and two women's ('10, '11) in the past 20 years. Another important piece of Warroad hockey history is the Warroad Lakers amateur team that existed from 1957 to 1997.

Father Aulneau
Warroad is the site of St. Mary's Church, also called the Father Aulneau Memorial Church, which commemorates a French Catholic priest who accompanied French explorers and soldiers in their search for the Northwest Passage and was killed along with several other people, presumably by Native Americans. The Aulneau Peninsula in Lake of the Woods is named after Father Aulneau.

Popular culture
In the television show The West Wing, character Donna Moss claims to be from Warroad in the episode Dead Irish Writers. In the episode, she becomes classified as a non US citizen when the Canadian border is moved south such that Warroad is in Canada

Photos of Warroad: http://www.lakesnwoods.com/WarroadGallery.htm