1853 – Captain William B . Dodd directed construction of a road connecting the 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 Prairie Lake ( now Lake Marion ).

1856 – First school building .

1892 – The Claro Mill , located by the railroad tracks and 208th Street , was up and running .

1900 – The village grew to a population of 373 . Voters approved a $ 3,500 bond for a new engine house , lock up , and Village Hall .

1901 – the Village and Fire Hall opened , complete with a bell tower to summon townspeople to fight fires .

1967 – Lakeville Township and Lakeville Village merged to form the City of Lakeville . Festival called Panorama of Progress began .

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 , bought 20 acres one-half mile east . Existing businesses abandoned the first town site and moved to Fairfield .

1878 – New site named Lakeville .

1890 – Creamery started by a group of farmers .

1891 – Wheat was the major crop produced by Minnesota farmers , and the Village Council offered $ 1,500 for a mill .

LAKEVILLE HISTORICAL SOCIETY ( 952 ) 985-4680 • www . mnlahs . org • lahs1995 @ gmail . com

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 added with 6 mythological plaster statues 8 feet high . A playground , baseball diamond , tennis courts , band concert promenade , water slide and diving platform added .

1913 – An illuminated aerial swing with cigar-shaped airships was purchased from the closing of Wonderland Park and installed at Antlers Park .

Lakeville has continued to grow into a dynamic suburban community where residents and businesses work together , just as their pioneer ancestors did . Today , Dodd Boulevard still bisects the City , and Lake Marion ( formerly Prairie Lake ) is still a valued recreational and environmental feature .

Striving to preserve its small town heritage , the original village and fire hall with its bell tower still stands in downtown Lakeville today . The original bell now hangs at the Fire Department located on Holyoke Avenue .

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