4 miles east of International Falls is Ranier. It was established in the early 1900s as a lakeside border town, shaped by commercial fishing, logging, tourism, and cross-border travel on Rainy Lake. During the Prohibition era (1920–1933), Ranier gained a colorful reputation as a rum-running route, with bootleggers navigating the lake’s islands and narrows to move liquor from Canada into the U.S.
