PLYMOUTH
COMMUNITY GUIDE | 2025
Take a peek at Plymouth’ s past
Presving Plymouth’ s rich and lengthy past is the key focus of the Plymouth History Center, located inside of Plymouth’ s Old Town Hall, at 3605 Fernbrook Lane.
This building reopened to the public last August following an unfortunate flood.
Built in 1885 as the town’ s municipal building, the refreshed Old Town Hall now showcases new exhibits; a research room to browse old newspapers, yearbooks and documents; audio recording space for oral history projects; photos; historical models; a timeline of the city’ s history and more.
For information on Plymouth history or to learn about volunteer opportunities, visit history. plymouthmn. gov.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF PLYMOUTH
Plymouth’ s history can be traced back to the pre-Colombian period, 1400-1500 AD. The area’ s original inhabitants were the Dakota. Their encampment was at the north side of Medicine Lake. A French guide and explorer, Antoine LeCounte, was the first white settler in the area. He arrived in 1848 but did not settle until 1853.
Plymouth can trace its birth as a town to 1856, on what is now Parkers Lake. A gristmill and other structures were built in the area. In the spring of 1857, when Parkers Lake flooded, the mill was taken down.
As new settlers arrived in the area, they decided to organize. The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners named the new settlement Plymouth. On May 11, 1858, a group of townspeople met at the home of Francis Day to open elections for town offices.
In the 1860s and 1870s, Plymouth began to look like a town. Schools and churches were built and a post office was located in Plymouth. By 1863, hotels were being built.
By the 1880s, roads were being built across the community and Medicine Lake was becoming a major tourist attraction. Medicine Inn opened around that time and operated until the 1960s as a resort, store, blacksmith shop, jail, Legion Club and the Flying Tiger Bar.
By 1880, Plymouth’ s population was 1,074. Today, there are more than 80,000 residents.
COMMUNITY GUIDE | 2025 | PLYMOUTH | 13