Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Akeley, MN

Akeley is a city in Hubbard County in north-central Minnesota, with a population of 404 at the 2020 census, down from a lumber-boom peak of over 3,500.

Akeley was named for Healy C. Akeley, who formed the Red River Lumber Company in 1893 with lumber magnate T. B. Walker.

General settlement of Akeley began in 1895, and after a train depot was built in 1899 and Walker built a sawmill in 1902, the town boomed; the mill was once the largest in Minnesota.

Walker had intended to build his mill at what became Walker, Minnesota, but chose Akeley instead because his wife disapproved of the bars and brothels in the Walker area.

Akeley's population swelled from 2,000 to over 3,500 between 1907 and 1908 as lumberjacks came and went on every freight train, yet the city was not incorporated until December 30, 1916.

Akeley claims to be the birthplace of Paul Bunyan and celebrates Paul Bunyan Days, held since 1955, beside a 25-foot-tall statue of a kneeling Paul Bunyan next to a giant cradle.

The Akeley Paul Bunyan Historical Museum, opened in 1984, holds photographs and artifacts from the town's early lumber history.

The 49-mile Heartland State Trail runs through Akeley, connecting Park Rapids, Dorset, Nevis, Akeley, Walker and Cass Lake.

Just outside town, Eleventh Crow Wing Lake is an 800-acre spring-fed lake that forms the headwaters of the Crow Wing Chain of Lakes.

In 2010 Akeley was Hubbard County's second most populous community with 432 people and 242 housing units in its 1.50 square miles.