History

A look back at a popular look-out

Oct 7, 2020

Photos provided by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) show how little the Lake City concourse, now undergoing restoration work, has changed over the years. Constructed between 1938 and 1940 by the National Youth Administration and the Minnesota Highway Department, the concourse...

The other project on Lakeshore Drive

Sep 30, 2020

The Lake City concourse leading to Government Pier is closed while undergoing repairs. According to the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) project website, the project will restore the stone overlook and stone walls, repair flagstone paving, and interpretive elements. Another part of...

Museum collection includes military artifacts

Sep 16, 2020

Among the items displayed at the Wabasha County Historical Society, Reads Landing School Museum is a Soldier’s wheelchair in the military exhibit. Military uniforms, WW II ration stamps and a letter written by a WW I soldier are some of the artifacts on display in the military area. With COVID...

Quest to clear murder victim’s name to be broadcast Sept. 7

Sep 2, 2020

A community’s effort to set the story straight about one of its members killed by the Jesse James gang will be featured Monday, Sept. 7, at 10 p.m. on KSTP-TV, Channel 5. Lake City resident Wayne Quist said he spent hours with KSTP reporter Joe Mazan and a videographer at Millersburg Schoolhouse...

Historic ‘Zumbro Parkway Bridge’ gets a facelift

Aug 26, 2020

Restoration is complete on the County Road 68 bridge at Zumbro Falls. The bridge is a stone-faced, double-arch, multi-plate bridge built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1937.Designed for the WPA by J.M. Evans, who apparently was an engineer with the Wabasha County Highway Department...

UPDATED: Program will celebrate suffrage, aviation pioneers

Jul 29, 2020

The VFW Auxiliary is planning a special event to celebrate women’s suffrage and honor women pilots who aided the war effort at the Lake City Sportsman's Club on August 20 at 5:30 p.m. with a speaker at 6:30 p.m. The event is in conjunction with women’s suffrage and to honor Women’s Airforce...

Wabasha County museum announces limited opening

Jul 8, 2020

Wabasha County Historical Society (WCHS), Reads Landing School Museum has had a delayed opening related to COVIDing-19 restrictions. It is now open on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. by chance or by appointment. For an appointment, people can call 651-764-2396. Masks and social...

Descendents of Reads Landing founder visit school museum

Jun 24, 2020

Charles Read, 1820-1899 arrived in the area in 1847. In 1856, he founded Reads Landing which was incorporated in 1858. It was a booming town with fur traders, loggers and steamboats stopping. The town boasted of 27 hotels, 21 saloons, 15 mercantiles, several warehouses and one church. This is...

State marks 100th anniversary of mob lynchings in Duluth

Jun 17, 2020

On June 15, Gov. Tim Walz visited the memorial to Elias Clayton, Elmer Jackson and Isaac McGhie, three black circus workers lynched by a mob in Duluth on that day 100 years earlier. The men and three others, also black, had been arrested and accused of the rape of an 18-year-old woman (A doctor’s...

Historical society awards winners in ‘History Matters’ essay contest

Jun 3, 2020

Last Wednesday the Lake City Historical Society and high school officials presented $500 in cash prizes to the two winning Lincoln High School contestants in the first annual “Why History Matters Essay Contest.” Bruce Carlstrom made the announcement of the two winners on Lake Hits 95.9 radio...