Dent is said to be named after Northwestern Dent Corn, a profusely flourishing grain raised by Indians of the area. The town was platted in 1903, and a year later its population had grown to 169 residents. Situated in the heart of the lakes region, it offered fishing recreation in summer and winter. Heavy timber covered much of the area, and the lumber industry provided income and employment through the cutting and sale of cordwood, railroad ties, stovewood, fenceposts, and building materials. Conifers were found primarily in the Perham, New York Mills, and Vergas areas in the northeastern part of the county, where the soil is light and sandy, while much of the county was forested with white, red, and black oak, elm, basswood, maple, and birch. Dent's first merchants bought white oak railroad ties for 25 cents each and paid $2.50 a cord for hardwood, mainly maple and ironwood, while one local woodcutter received 25 cents a cord for loading wood onto a sled or wagon, hauling it to Dent, and loading it onto a railway car. Much of this wood was used for building new railroad lines and replacing ties on existing lines. The Soo Line ran three trains each way daily except Sunday, and one freight train per day carried passenger cars at the rear. One early business on the south side of Dent was a barrel heading mill that paid $1.50 a day and ran two twelve-hour shifts making barrel heads from abundant local basswood. The barrels were used to transport grocery staples, dishes, clothing, and personal property. The mill burned down three times, was rebuilt twice, and was finally abandoned, forcing seventeen families to leave Dent for work elsewhere. In the 1920s, M.A. Gedney Co. established a pickle station near the railroad tracks with five wooden vats and space for supplies, sorting, dill pickle making, and a salt bin. Four to six women graded pickles on a moving belt, and three or four men unloaded them, hauled them to the vats, and made salt brine and dill pickles. Pay was 35 cents an hour for a ten-hour day, and on busy days as many as 30 barrels were rolled out. During the winter, pickles in salt brine were turned into sweet, mustard, and bread and butter pickles. In the late 1930s, workers resealing the wooden vats with paraffin accidentally started a fire that destroyed the entire plant. The Dent Creamery Company, founded on June 12, 1909, became a stabilizing force for the village economy and surrounding farmers. Its capital stock was $4,000 in 160 shares of $25 each, its boilers were fired with local poplar and basswood, and milk delivered to customers cost 10 cents a quart or three quarts for 25 cents. After the creamery building was destroyed by a grass fire in the early 1920s, a new creamery company was organized in 1925. The expanded operation included about 250 dairy farmers, three bulk trucks, three tank trucks, and three trailers, and could run 100,000 pounds during peak periods. For more than sixty years, the creamery was associated with busy activity, employment, and friendly exchange, until the Dent Co-op Creamery closed in 1972. Dent also had active local businesses, including the Park Hotel near the depot, owned and operated by John Krekelberg, which served train crews, transients, and regular boarders before it burned in 1917 and was never rebuilt.