This line started out as the Little Falls and Dakota Railroad Company in 1880. It was organized by local men and was capitalized by bonds issued by the counties along the line. Trackwork started in June of 1882 and was completed to Morris in October of that year; the first train operated along the line on November 1st. Ortonville is said to have been the objective, but the line never reached west of Morris.

Towns along the route:

• Little Falls
• Flensburg
• Swanville
• Burtrum
• Grey Eagle
• Ward Springs
• Spaulding
• Sauk Centre
• Westport
• Villard
• Glenwood
• Long Beach?
• Starbuck
• Cyrus
• Morris

The line was sold to the Northern Pacific in 1900; abandonments came in three stages, as seen in this rough timeline:

      Little Falls    Villard    Starbuck      Morris
=======================================================
1882        |---- Little Falls and Dakota -------|
1900        |---- Sold to Northern Pacific ------|
1972        |-abandoned--|
1981                     |-abandoned-|
1983                                 |-abandoned-|