The Willard Munger Bicycle / Snowmobile Trail also passes through Rutledge.

Long before it ever became an incorporated village, a group of Indigenous Americans lived along the banks of the Kettle River from where the community is today to a point about five miles downstream.

Military Road, between St. Paul, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin passed through that area in the 1860s.

A bridge was constructed across the Kettle River at what was called the Rock Dam.

On the south side of the river, a station was built, at which stagecoaches stopped to change horses and allow passengers to get out and stretch their legs and have a lunch.

A depot was built about two and one half miles upstream from the Rock Dam, named Kettle River Station.

On February 14, 1893, an election was held at the school house to decide whether the settlement should be incorporated as a village.

About 15.3% of families and 19.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 37.5% of those under the age of eighteen and none of those 65 or over.

History Section from a Bicentennial (1976) Article by Todd Liljedahl Used with Permission