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City of Lakeland |
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Washington County Minnesota |
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A Scenic St Croix River Valley Community |
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Area History Minnesota territory was the land of the Dakota Indians (Sioux) centuries ago. As settlers moved west, the Ojibwa (Chippewa) were pushed into the area. After years of warfare, Washington County became the land of the Chippewa's. The first white explorer in the area was Sier duLuth in the summer of 1680. Treaties in 1837 opened the land for permanent white settlement. The area's vast timber reserves attracted an abundance of settlers. The first white settlers of Afton were French families from the Red River of the North. They settled at the mouth of boles Creek about 1837. Lemuel Boles made a claim in 1843 and built the first flour mill that was operated by waterpower. German's migrated to Afton during the 1860's and 1870's, and in the late 70's and 80's Swedes arrived. In the summer of 1840, fur traders Peter Bouchea and Louis Massey paddled their canoes into the mouth of the willow river, which is the name they gave too the area around the river. Peter Bouchea reported killing 130 deer, 16 Elk, and 3 Bears, all in one autumn, the town site of Willow River. In 1848, Joel Foster changed the name to Buena Vista, meaning "beautiful view." In 1852, the first mayor A. D. Gray decided to call the town Hudson, because it resembled the Hudson River Valley in New York. As early as 1840, a small settlement of halfbreeds had gathered at the point where the site of the village of Lakeland is located. Jacob Fisher came to town about 1848, and aside from the cabins of the halfbreeds, built the firs frame house built in the town. The first Baptist church was organized in 1858. Their house of worship was built in 1868, completed and dedicated in the spring of 1869. The house was built in octagon shape, with a radius of nineteen (19) feet, fronted with a vestibule and steeple sixty-four feet high. This building currently is the Lakeland City Hall, which was remodeled to be utilized as a two room school house after the school fire in the late 1940's. The building was later remodeled and an addition completed on the west side in 1986. By 1872 there were 17 sawmills operating along the St. Croix River. One of these was in Stillwater. Stillwater is know as the birthplace of Minnesota . The Minnesota Territorial Convention was convened in Stillwater in the summer of 1848. The following year Minnesota became a territory and in 1858 became a state. Stillwater was the first official town site in the state and the first county seat.
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