History

Local Lore: Lake City City Hall

Jul 15, 2026

The story of City Hall begins the same way that the story of the Lake City Fire Hall does. To recap, a history of the fire department put together by Mrs. Alice Lamb in 1940 states the present site of our City Hall was purchased for $450 (roughly $13,624 today) for an engine hall. The City...

Local Lore: Lake City’s Fire Chiefs

Jul 8, 2026

It became clear when I began researching the Lake City Fire Department that no single source had an accurate list of all of Lake City’s fire chiefs. On top of that, all the sources I’ve found attempting to do so conflict on the names and years of those chiefs prior to 1952. I have thus made it my...

Lake City in 1776

Jul 1, 2026

Celebrating July 4th this year comes with the special fact that this is our nation’s 250th birthday. When the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776, however, the concept of our hometown wouldn’t be thought of for almost another century. So, what was “Lake City” like 250 years ago?...

A bomber crashes on Lake Pepin

May 20, 2026

In honor of Memorial Day, this local lore topic will be deviating from Lake City businesses and instead focus on an incident that occurred here Dec. 15, 1944. Longtime Graphic photographer Bob Parrott referred to this date as “The Day World War II Came to Lake Pepin,” in an article he wrote in Big...

New book tells the story of Frontenac State Park and its people

May 6, 2026

Lorry Wendland had written and published four books about Frontenac, Minn., when she realized that her histories were incomplete without another major story — that of Frontenac State Park. Thus, her fifth book — “The History of Frontenac State Park: The Land Before and After,” to be released in...

Celebration for city’s first All-State athlete is Friday

Apr 22, 2026

On Friday, April 24 Howard Juliot, the first All-State athlete from Lincoln High School will return to Lake City to celebrate his 99th birthday. The Graphic has arranged to interview the former Tiger football player and accompany him on a tour of the high school in the morning. At 1 p.m., the...

Local Lore: For its time, the Hotel Lyon was ‘first class’

Apr 15, 2026

Considered another of Lake City’s lost resources, the historic Hotel Lyon can trace its foundations back to one of the very first hotels constructed here. Initially known as the American House, this small hotel was built sometime between 1854 and 1856 before being acquired later by one of Lake...

Orphanage museum manager to present at library on April 16

Apr 8, 2026

The Lake City Public Library invites the public to a presentation on the Minnesota State School Orphanage Museum on Thursday, April 16, at 6:30 p.m. “Join Anne Peterson, Orphanage Museum Manager, and learn about the more than 10,000 ‘state schoolers,’ kids orphaned, abandoned, or abused who were...

‘Murder & Mayhem’ author to speak at library

Apr 1, 2026

The Lake City Public Library invites the public to a book talk with Minnesota author Ron de Beaulieu on Thursday, April 9, at 6:30 p.m. Ron de Beaulieu has lived in Minnesota for nearly two decades. She went to Macalester College in St. Paul and the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities for a...

Rest Island Silver Fox Farms

Feb 25, 2026

If I’ve learned anything in writing this local lore column over the last several weeks, it’s that history isn’t always as clear as one might like it to be. This is especially true for the story of Hok-Si-La, as the park’s land has been used for multiple enterprises since the mid to late 1800s and...