Kettle Falls Historic District
The Kettle Falls Historic District encompasses a remote pocket of early-20th-century industrial and commercial activity deep in the Boundary Waters, in what is now Voyageurs National Park in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Kettle Falls is the outlet from Namakan Lake into Rainy Lake on the Canada–United States border. The portage between the two lakes served as a key gathering point from the time of the voyageurs to the miners, commercial fishermen, and lumbermen at the turn of the 20th century, and tourists beginning in the 1930s. The Kettle Falls Dam was built at the site between 1910 and 1914, and two log buildings associated with its construction remain standing. The fourth contributing property to the historic district is the Kettle Falls Hotel, built in 1913. In 1978 the Kettle Falls Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its local significance in the themes of commerce, engineering, industry, and transportation. It was nominated for its history as an isolated nexus of industry and tourism in the Boundary Waters wilderness. History The portage, initially known as the portage de Chaudière or the portage neuf, was frequented by the fur trading voyageurs, following an established trail that