Tofte, Minnesota

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Tofte is an unincorporated community in Tofte Township, Cook County, Minnesota, on the North Shore of Lake Superior inside the Superior National Forest. It is about 27 miles southwest of Grand Marais and 56 miles northeast of Two Harbors. Nearby attractions include Temperance River State Park, the Gitchi-Gami State Trail, the Superior Hiking Trail, and Carlton Peak Lookout. Schroeder and Taconite Harbor are just southwest of Tofte. Minnesota Highway 61 and Cook County Road 2 (Sawbill Trail) are the main roads serving the area. A post office has operated in Tofte since 1897.

Tofte was founded in 1893 by Norwegian settlers Andrew and John Tofte, their sister Torget, and her husband Hans Engelsen. The town’s name comes from their Norwegian birthplace. They originally named it Carlton, but the name was already in use by another town in Minnesota.

Much of the town was destroyed by a forest fire in 1910, but it was rebuilt afterward. In 1996, the North Shore Commercial Fishing Museum opened in Tofte. It is Minnesota’s first museum dedicated to commercial fishing and tells the history of Scandinavian immigrants and the North Shore fishing industry from the 1880s to the 1940s.

Cook County is served by ISD 166 for public schools.