RICH IN HISTORY
MN AREA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
1851- Treaty of Traverse des Sioux between Dakota Bands and US Government transfers land to US Government
1853 – J. J. Brackett becomes first settler in Lakeville area.
1853 – Captain William B. Dodd directed construction of a road connecting military forts in Saint Paul to Saint Peter and Mankato.
1855 – 250 acres platted by Lakeville’ s early settler, Joseph J. Brackett, at the halfway point along the Dodd route. German immigrant John Weichselbaum, operated a successful summer resort with cottages and a dining hall on the South side of Prairie Lake( now Lake Marion).
1856 – First school building.
1858 – Lakeville Township was formed, encompassing the rural farms. Immigrants from Ireland, Scotland, England, and the Scandinavian countries settled. Growth included a general store, two hotels, a boarding house, a blacksmith shop, a saloon, and a shoemaker’ s shop.
1869 – Hastings and Dakota Railroad, unable to purchase land adjacent to the Village of Lakeville, bought 20 acres one-half mile east. Existing businesses abandoned the first town site( Lakeville) and moved to the City of Fairfield.( located in the area around 208th Street and Holyoke Avenue.
1878 – New Village was established( formerly Fairfield) and named Lakeville.
1889 – The Village Council appropriated $ 1,000 to start a creamery.
1890 – Creamery started by a group of farmers.
1891 – Wheat was the major crop produced by MN farmers, and the Village Council offered $ 1,500 for a mill.
1892 – The Claro Mill, located by the railroad tracks and 208th Street, was up and running. It operated until 1924.
1897 – Telephone lines constructed to serve Lakeville
1900 – The Village grew to a population of 373. Voters approved a $ 3,500 bond for a new engine house, lock up( jail), and Village Hall.
1901 – the Village and Fire Hall opened, complete with a bell tower to summon townspeople to fight fires.
1908 – Electric Investment Company, a subsidiary of Minneapolis, Rochester & Dubuque Traction Company- Dan Patch Line purchased land and platted 237 acres. Prairie Lake renamed Lake Marion after Marion Savage, President of MR & DCT.
1910 – Dan Patch Line completed. Additional 40 acres added to and continued development of Antlers Park, named after an angler’ s surprise hooking and pulling antlers from the lake.
1911 – Antlers Park Farm barn was converted into a dancing pavilion, with a confectionary and restaurant. A hotel was also added but later turned into a clubhouse and café.
1912 – 50 arc and 1,200 incandescent lights installed to illuminate Antlers Park, and the pavilion ceiling was painted by John L. Hall to resemble a“ fairyland.” A music platform was added with six mythological plaster statues eight feet high. A playground, baseball diamond, tennis courts, band concert promenade, water slide and diving platform were constructed.
1913 – An illuminated aerial swing with cigar-shaped airships was purchased from the closing of Wonderland Park and installed at Antlers Park.
1915 – $ 50,000 spent on park amusements, attractions, and buildings.
1924 – First water system approved by voters and built, funded by $ 22,000 in water bonds. Residents held a taste test to find the best place to place the first well.
1931 – All gambling devices, slot machines and punch boards were outlawed and removed from cafés and pool halls. No mirrors were allowed in pool halls and signs could not obstruct windows.
1933 – Lakeville Liquor was established, as both on and off municipal sales.
1934 – Work begins on first sewer system with a $ 34,000 grant from the National Industrial Recovery Act. It was completed in 1935 and cost the Village $ 10,000.
1936 – First airmail arrives. The plane lands in a field now known as Aronson Park.
1940 – Lakeville Township and Village holds the Lakeville Egg Festival.
4 | Lakeville Community Guide & Business Directory