Cobden, Minnesota, was incorporated in 1905. The little railroad town included a bank, creamery, flour mill, hardware store, lumber yard, blacksmith shop, livery, two grain elevators, two grocery stores, and even a carriage shop. There were two churches, two schools, a fire hall, a town hall, and a one-room jail. Not bad for a town whose population peaked at 136 in the 1940s!
Today, the bank still stands, along with the one-room jail and the firehouse built around the turn of the twentieth century. There’s a pretty park in the middle of town with a large picnic shelter and plenty of room for little ones to play. In 2010, the population had dropped to an all-time low of 36.
