Dear Diary,
We are fortunate to live so close to one of Minnesota's 10,000 lakes.
Although I think officially, the total number is well above 15,000.
Throughout my 35 trips around the sun, either a lake or the Mississippi River has been in close proximity. I grew up near the shores of Lake Michigan and spent summer vacations on Sand Lake in northern Wisconsin. I lived in a Mississippi river town during and post-college. Now, I'm grateful to be settled here.
(He was thrilled!)
Recently, while boating, we found an area stocked with fish. The kids would barely drop a line in the water before hooking one. I think they caught 42 fish in just over an hour!
Establishing a City
In 1853 Captain William B. Dodd designed and directed construction of a road that served as a practical route between the military forts in St. Paul and Faribault. Dodd was killed in The Great Sioux Uprising in 1862, and the road (still in existence to this day) was named for him.
Shortly after the road was built, J.J. Brackett, who transported mail, supplies and travelers along this route, chose Lakeville as an ideal spot for a town. Brackett platted 250 acres and named it "Lakeville" due to nearby Prairie Lake (now Lake Marion). Griffin Phelps, who worked for Brackett, is believed to be the town's first settler.
By 1858, at today's intersection of County Road 50 and Dodd Blvd., the tiny town of Lakeville contained a general store, two hotels, a boarding house, a saloon and a shoe shop.
(This is how we spent our July 4th ...)
(This is how my daughter poses with her catch, lol)
When you consider what the passage of time has done to the city, the one constant has been the landscape and the lake that supported its establishment.
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