PLYMOUTH24
COMMUNITY GUIDE | 2024 24
Medicine Lake : ‘ Where water meets the sky ’
At 936 acres , Medicine Lake is home to about 380 residents and is located on a large peninsula on one of the largest lakes in the Twin Cities with which it shares its name . The five-member city council includes a mayor and four atlarge city council members .
To view a current list of Medicine Lake City Council members , visit the city website , cityofmedicinelake . com / city-council . The council meetings are open to the public and are scheduled for 6 p . m . the first Monday of each month at the Medicine Lake City Hall , 10609 South Shore Drive .
As of 2024 , the city of Medicine Lake was part way through a major capital project for a city of its size , implementing $ 9 million of work to reconstruct roads , add city water and hydrants , reline sewers and install a new sewer lift station .
The city operates its own fire department and planning commission . While Medicine Lake is now connected to surrounding cities , including Plymouth , it was somewhat isolated in its early days . The main road leading to the peninsula was wooded on both sides and flooded in the spring . Central Avenue , now called Peninsula Road , ran down the middle of the peninsula and was rutted and muddy . Farmers who lived near the lake were responsible for road repairs .
In 1855 , the U . S . government surveyed the peninsula that is now home to Medicine Lake , and in 1858 , it was purchased from the government by Mr . Weyandt . The peninsula changed hands again in 1887 after the land was bought by Jacob Barge , who plotted it into lots and opened it to the public that July .
Though most residents of the peninsula only lived there during the summer , the area continued to develop . Some residents purchased telephones around 1910 and electricity became available to the town in 1926 .
The town began to change in earnest in the spring of 1944 when peninsula residents ’ desire for a self-governing village structure came to a head . Charles Brudigan , Ernest Ertl and Les Johantgen were among the people who headed the effort to separate from Plymouth Township .
The first referendum on the separation was recorded on April 24 , 1944 , and the city of Medicine Lake became independent .
Medicine Lake City Hall 10609 South Shore Drive 763-542-9701 cityofmedicinelake . com
Community Guide 2024 | PLYMOUTH | 11