News Details (Posted: February 26, 2008):

The History of Prior Lake

Full Description:

The Village of Prior Lake was incorporated in May of 1891. In order for the town to incorporate, it needed to meet certain evaluation requirements. To meet these requirements, three farms, including the Lyons and Nauck (presently the Kop farm), were brought into the town boundaries. In 1894 the Grainwood House burned down, but was immediately rebuilt, bigger and better than the first one. In 1897, the Presbyterian Church was built at the present northwest corner of Highway 13 and Dakota Street. It was Prior Lake’s first church. Previously, church services were held in the homes of the people. The following year College Hill School was built to the east of the church, a red brick building housing grades 1-10. In that same year the state population count of Sioux was 920 with most of them concentrated in three places: Birch Coolie, Prairie Island and Prior Lake. It was also during this decade that baseball would become a favorite town sport and it would continue to be for the next century.

In 1900, the first telephone service came to Prior Lake. A single line connected Prior Lake with Jordan and another line with Grainwood. It was about this time also that the clientele of the Grainwood began to change. More patrons from the Minneapolis and St. Paul area began to arrive, as the Southerners gradually began to vacation farther north. More local people were employed and later they were welcomed at the dinners and other entertainment.

In February, 1908, the white framed Catholic Church, St. Michael the Archangel, in Spring Lake, was brought across the lake ice and placed in Prior Lake to become the town’s second church, St. Michael’s. A high school was included in College Hill School about 1915 but it did not stay in operation very long. The following year, 1916, saw Prior Lake’s first volunteer fire department organized. In 1917, electricity came to town.

In 1921, St. Michael’s burned down and was replaced by a brick building in time for Thanksgiving that same year. (This building was torn down in 1985). 1925 saw the establishment of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church (original building in the present Methodist Church). In 1926, Mr. Flint who published a newspaper, The Prior Lake News obtained some books and established Prior Lake’s first library in the newspaper office.

The 1920’s also saw Prior Lake’s first woman mayor, Cora McQuestion. Outside of occasional visits by Twin City gangsters and some bootlegging, the Roaring 20’s were relatively quiet for Prior Lake.

On April 8, 1930 fire destroyed the second Grainwood Hotel, with little salvage and a loss of about $10,000 dollars. The Prior Lake Volunteer Fire Department was able to save the cottages.

Before 1937, the people of Prior Lake obtained their water from wells on their property or from pumps strategically placed around the village. One such pump was on Fifth Street, another located along side the bank (Edina Realty Building) on Dakota Street and the other two were on Colorado and Pleasant Streets. On March 10, 1937, the Village Council, at a special session, decided to employ engineers for estimating the cost of a water works for the village. Cost of installation was estimated at $12,000 dollars. Watermains were to extend to Dakota Street north on Fifth Street to Minnesota Street, east on Minnesota to St. Paul Avenue to Twin City Road. The water tank was built a half block north of Main and Dakota, a pump house was built beneath it. From then on the Village Council met in the pump house since it was cheaper to heat than the Village Hall. (Payments for water works were completed in 1957.)

Earlier in the decade (1930’s) the children of Prior Lake went to high school in Farmington. They were boarded there each week. Later in the decade they were taken to Shakopee until Prior Lake built its own school nearly twenty years later. It was during this time also that a gradual movement of Sioux away from the area left only six families living here. It seems there was a considerable fluctuation at Prior Lake though, so eventually their holdings were increased to 252 acres held in trust by the early thirties was Jim Graham, whose Indian name was WA-SIN-TEDU-TA (Scarlet Canoe Steam), one of the last of the traditional Sioux who observed the old custom. His meager livelihood of hunting and trapping was augmented by selling toy bows and arrows, moccasins and bead work to the townspeople of Prior Lake. It was during this period also that two different segments of the community of Prior Lake emerged -- one was the summer cottage people around the lake, the other the permanent residents of the town.

In 1941, Westwood grade school was built in Prior Lake (School District #49). The brick building is the original part of the present City Hall. In 1951, the Prior Lake School (District #719) was built and opened in 1952 for grades 1-12 (present Junior High). Prior Lake’s library needs were met with the use of a bookmobile from the Dakota-Scott Library System in 1958. In 1959, St. Michael’s opened its grade school.

In 1963 Westwood Elementary was built, followed in 1966 by the Senior High School and later Five Hawks. Prior Lake’s library opened in December 1968 in the City Hall.

In summary, from 1870 to the 1920’s there was little growth in Prior Lake. It was primarily a farming community that attracted summer residents along its shores and at the Grainwood Hotel. The 1920’s to 1950’s saw Prior Lake as a typical small American town experiencing the major events surrounding two World Wars. From World War II to 1960 Prior Lake experienced moderate growth with the lake being a major recreational facility. From 1960 to the present, Prior Lake experienced great growth, becoming a suburban/bedroom community with the lake and Highway 13 development as the greatest catalyst for growth.