Cottonwood Minnesota Map

About Cottonwood, Minnesota

Cottonwood is a locality in Lyon County, Minnesota, United States. It has a population of approximately 1,149. The population density is 445.4 people per km². Cottonwood is located at 44.6088°N, 95.6742°W. It observes the Central Time (America/Chicago) timezone. Cottonwood is an incorporated locality. ZIP code: 56229.

Cottonwood emerges from the vast, flat expanse of the Minnesota prairie where the horizon line remains unbroken by anything save for the distant, singular silhouette of Middag Knutea. It lies 12.5 miles north-northeast of Marshall, MN (from Marshall, MN: bearing 27°T), and is situated 15.3 miles south-southwest of Granite Falls. The landscape around Cottonwood is defined by the heavy, dark soil of the plains, a terrain etched by the slow, quiet movement of the Yellow Medicine River just four miles to the north. At the edge of the residential grid, the waters of Cottonwood Lake hold the pale, diffused light of the afternoon sun, reflecting a sky that seems to possess more depth here than anywhere else. To the east, the low, sunken depression of the Lady Shoe Lake Bed marks the earth, while the nearby Sham Lake State Wildlife Management Area offers a sanctuary of tall grasses and native brush where the wind carries the dry, rhythmic rustle of the changing seasons.

Agriculture remains the pulse of Cottonwood, with the seasonal cycle of planting and harvest dictating the quiet, deliberate pace of daily life. The history of the area is anchored in the sturdy, pragmatic spirit of early settlers who broke the sod to cultivate this stubborn, fertile ground, leaving behind a legacy of resilience that persists in the modest architecture and the steady hum of local commerce. Winter brings a profound, crystalline stillness, turning the fields into a monochromatic expanse of white that highlights the stark, geometric lines of grain elevators rising against the gray sky. Residents move through these months with a practiced patience, finding a peculiar beauty in the way the frost clings to the fence lines and the profound silence that descends when the temperature drops, grounding the identity of Cottonwood in the enduring strength of the land itself.

About This Cottonwood Map Page

This page provides an embedded street and satellite map of Cottonwood, Minnesota. Coordinates: 44.608846, -95.674187. Live weather conditions are sourced directly from the National Weather Service. Real-time local and world news feeds keep the page current.

Detailed location data for Cottonwood includes the ZIP code (56229), telephone area code (320), county seat of Lyon County (Marshall), and school district assignment (Lakeview School District).

Location data is drawn from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) and cross-verified against 2020 US Census records by coordinate proximity. Population figures are sourced from the 2020 US Census.