Marcell is an unincorporated community

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 in Marcell Township, Itasca County

Itasca County, Minnesota

Itasca County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is named after Lake Itasca, which is in turn a shortened version the Latin words veritas caput, meaning 'truth' and 'head', a reference to the source of the Mississippi River. As of 2010, the population was 45,058. Its county seat...

, Minnesota

Minnesota

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Despite its unincorporated status, it appears on most more detailed maps of Minnesota due to the presence of several locally important businesses and the lack of larger towns in the surrounding area.

Marcell is located within the Chippewa National Forest

Chippewa National Forest

Chippewa National Forest is a National Forest located in northcentral Minnesota, United States, in the counties of Itasca, Cass, and Beltrami. Forest headquarters are located in Cass Lake, Minnesota. There are local ranger district offices in Blackduck, Deer River, and Walker.-History and...

.

Minnesota State Highways 38

Minnesota State Highway 38

Minnesota State Highway 38 is a highway in north-central Minnesota, which runs from its intersection with U.S. Highway 2 in Grand Rapids and continues north to its northern terminus at its intersection with State Highway 1 in Effie....

 and 286

Minnesota State Highway 286

Minnesota State Highway 286 is a highway in north-central Minnesota, which runs from its intersection with State Highway 6 in Talmoon and continues east to its eastern terminus at its intersection with State Highway 38 in Marcell.The route is in length....

 are two of the main routes in the community.

Nearby places include Bigfork

Bigfork, Minnesota

Bigfork is a city in Itasca County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 446 at the 2010 census. Scenic State Park is nearby.Minnesota State Highway 38 serves as a main route in the community...

, Talmoon

Talmoon, Minnesota

Talmoon is an unincorporated community in Itasca County, Minnesota, United States.The community is located between Deer River and Big Falls at the junction of Minnesota Highway 6 and Minnesota Highway 286...

, Bowstring

Bowstring, Minnesota

Bowstring is an unincorporated community in the Bowstring Lake unorganized territory in Itasca County, Minnesota, United States. It is located about 10 miles north of Deer River on Minnesota State Highway 6....

, and Deer River

Deer River, Minnesota

As of the census of 2000, there were 903 people, 389 households, and 220 families residing in the city. The population density was 850.9 people per square mile . There were 415 housing units at an average density of 391.1 per square mile . The racial makeup of the city was 84.05% White, 12.07%...

.

History

Marcell was founded under the name Turtle Lake in 1905. The name was changed to Marcell the following year due to a name conflict with other communities named Turtle Lake. The name Marcell is in honor of Andy Marcell, a conductor on the Minneapolis and Rainy River Railroad, who was involved in a railway accident in the area.

The site of the town center was originally at a store operated by John Lundeen on Big Turtle Lake, but was in 1910 moved to its present location near the railway.

Further reading

• Newstrom, Curt. Memories of a Small Town--Marcell, Minnesota