History of Fish Hook Lake

The following “History of Fish Hook Lake”, Appendix 2 of the 1991 LAP report, was originally compiled and written by Carolyn Spangler.  It is also in the 2005 Lake Management Plan.

1871: A military road skirting the south side of Fish Hook Lake was used by the government for transporting soldiers and supplies from Leech Lake to the White Earth Reservation.

1881: Two years after the first settlers arrived, Frank D. Rice, owner of the town site named it Park Rapids. The park-like groves on the prairie and the rapids on the Fish Hook River (not dammed at that time) provided the impetus for the name.

1881: The Rice brothers built the first dam on Fish Hook River west of the footbridge. The dam powered their rolling stone and gristmill. The sawmill turned out rough lumber used for window, doorframes, floorboards, and roof boards. The dam broke in 1885 destroying the lumber mill.

1885: The dam at Park Rapids was the only developed water power in the county.

1885: A wooden bridge financed by private donations was built across the Fish Hook River (where Highway 34 presently crosses the river).

1886: A new dam was built where the present dam exiéts. A new flour and feed mill was built beside this dam.

1886: Peter Turnbull settled 40 acres on the northwest side of the lake. During this year, he received receipt from the government to live on the property before buying it in 1887. This property is now the Zinniel farm. A story is told that before the dam was built on the river, Zinniel claims that he drove his cattle across the lake near the present boat access. Harry Jones, a retired farmer living on Fish Hook Lake next to the Portage Creek, said this story is possible because there is a ridge across the lake in the area Zinniel claims to have crossed.

1889: The railroad came to Park Rapids.

1890-1910: The “Lottie Lee” excursion boat operated on the Fish Hook River.

1890: Logging began in the area when one of the biggest logging companies, the Red River Logging Company, drove pilings for a sawmill in Akeley. In these days, Fish Hook Lake was used primarily for logging. The Pine Tree Logging Company logged Norway and White Pine from acreage near Itasca Park where steam haulers traveling along ice roads carried the huge lumbering logs to ice covered lakes. In the spring, a boom was formed around the logs by chaining a circle of logs end-to-end to keep the logs in order. Barges pulled the boom down the rivers and lakes. Men, called “river pigs,” as they were very skilled on their feet, would run on the logs with spiked shoes to break up jammed logs. Logs from the Two Inlets area traveled through Island, Eagle, Potato, and Fish Hook lakes for a destination of Little Falls, Minnesota.

1891: Prior to 1891, the Northern Pacific Railroad owned the Eagles Nest Plat. In March 1891, it was sold to Frederick Wayerhauser, M.G. Norton, and Peter Musser under the corporation named the Immigration Land Company of Little Forks, MN. In 1904, the property was sold to J.C. Peabody and in 1914, he surveyed and platted the property and designated it as Eagles Nest. (The acreage is north of the Potato River and part of Peabody Bay).

1892-93: A single circular sawmill built by Ellersick & Sons on the east side of the river was later converted to a band mill by the new owners, Sawyer & Burnet in 1897. This mill operated until 1911.

1892: The Great Northern Brick Company, a company partially responsible for the economic growth of the area, bought 40 acres on the east end of the lake from Libby Kindred for $400. The Brick Company delivered their bricks to Park Rapids by river barge. The barge was also used for pumping and hauling sand from the lake to a concrete block plant located on the river. A four-cylinder gasoline engine turned the barge, propelled by a paddle wheel.

1892: The Timber Act made possible the purchase of land and tree removal to lumber companies. Timberland sold for $1.25 to $2.50 per acre.

1896: Henry and Harriet Rose purchased a Homestead Patent of 145 acres on NE and NW of Portage Creek on the west side of Fish Hook Lake. One of two farms on the lake changed ownership several times until Harry Jones, the present owner, bought the farm (excluding Pine Park Acreage, part of the original property) from his parents for $2,000 in 1945.

Circa 1900: The lumber people changed the mouth of Fish Hook River in order for the logs to flow more freely down the river. The mouth originally took a sharp turn and made the transport of logs down the river difficult.

1901-1918: The era of logging—at times logs covered the entire lake surface.

1902: Dr. Stone built the first hospital in Park Rapids on the site of the present Park Terrace. Known as Park Sanitarium, the wooden building burned on Christmas Day and was replaced by a brick structure in 1903 according to Pauline Schleicher, granddaughter
of Dr. Stone. While the hospital was being built, Dr. Stone secured the Germania Hall on North Park Avenue as a temporary Hospital. The hospital later became the Rainbow Inn, a clubhouse or resort where per person weekly rates were $5 or $1 per night. The
Rainbow Inn was named for the Rainbow Division in which Herbert Stone, a son of Dr. Stone, served during World War I. Sons of Dr. Stone, A.W. and Herbert, managed the Inn. The property was in the Stone family until 1962. Dr. Stone also operated a health sanitarium on a 45-acre plot now owned by the Methodist Church Northern Pines Campground. The lake resort consisted of three buildings: a lodge, a girl’s dormitory and one cabin. These were used to house guests and recuperating hospital patients. Cottages rented for $1 a day, $20 a month or $50 a season. Dr. Stone sold his sanitarium for $4,000 to a group of Methodist ministers and laymen who were looking for a campsite to serve people of the districts in a camping program. The church then sold lots to ministers, laymen, and churches to pay back money borrowed to pay for the property. Lots sold for $100 to $200. In later years, some of the lots were given back or sold back to the Assembly Grounds.
Margaret Nygaard, a Park Rapids resident since 1904, says that a road existed next to the lake on the south side across from Deane Park. Folk lore from logging days indicates that road may be a remnant of a road around the lake used to transport loggers and supplies to supply boats in peak logging years. The existing road, built as a Work Progress Administration project, is between the cabins and Deane Park.

1908: At the peak of logging activity, 4,000 or 5,000 men were employed in the woods.

1912: A steel bridge with plank flooring replaced the bridge across Fish Hook River (Highway 34). The clatter of the loose planks could be heard in the quiet of summer evenings, and it became known as a “rattling good bridge.”

1914: A launch service was provided to carry supplies, fishermen, and passengers to local lakes. A page from the logbook of Captain Oscar Thomas says it took seven hours to travel from Fish Hook Lake to Island Lake for a day excursion. The journey cost $5 for seven people.

1917: Bill Taber gave property on Fish Hook River to the city in memory of his son Deane, who died during World War 1.

Circa 1918: River and lake logging ended and the big sawmill on the river was dismantled.

1920: After the cessation of big tree logging, the logging industry changed. Small logging companies started logging smaller trees such as Jackpine and Birch while moving around the area with their own mills. A process called deadheading where drowned logs
were picked out of the water became popular. Deadheading did not last long as it was not profitable. In later years, the farmers or local loggers brought their logs by truck and used the sawmills on the river for cutting the logs into rough lumber. The logging industry still brightens the economy of Park Rapids and logs are now sold for studs and planks. Potlatch owns much of the logging land in the area.

1923: Fred Fulton bought the Fish Hook Resort, which became White City and is now Loon’s Nest Resort. Fulton added the dance hall, restaurant, and eventually 15 cabins for tourists. The resort was a popular place in the Big Band days when an 8-piece band entertained locals two nights a week. This is the only resort that exists today on Fish Hook Lake. Fulton sold the resort in 1947.

1928-30: A box factory across from the present Heartland Park on Fish Hook River provided jobs for local people.

Circa 1930: When Mrs. Higgs, who owned one of the first cabins on the lake wanted to sell her property on the east shore for $3.75 a front foot people thought she was crazy to sell for so much.

1933: When a wider more heavily constructed bridge was constructed over the Fish Hook River (Highway 34), there was opposition to the large amount of fill used to shorten the span.

1937: Permits were required to fill public wetlands. Wetlands on Fish Hook Lake filled before 1976 were not considered public wetlands and were allowed to be filled.

1938: The dam on the Potato River was built on County Road 18 as a Work Progress Administration project.

1938-40: County Road 18 on the west end of the lake was moved into the lake to straighten out the original curvy and dangerous road. Horses pulled rail ore carts to the dirt pit to be filled with two tons of dirt, and then it rolled down to the lake with a brakeman riding in back to stop the car. Being a winter project, the pit was covered with straw on weekends to prevent freezing and dynamite was used to break up the pit, if needed. The Work Progress Administration did the construction. The road originally had water on either side, but homeowners on the road have filled in the area between their lawns and the road.

1940: Matt Michaels sold his farm (one of two farms on the lake) to Harry Jones’ father. The foundation of the present Jones house is made from hand-hewn logs.

1940-45: During World War II, barges roamed the lake searching for sunken logs to be hoisted out for lumbering. It was usually the “but cut” - the best part of a log that sank while being driven down the lake during logging days. Logs were grabbed from the bottom of the lake with ice pick-like grappling hooks and then towed to shore to be milled into lumber.

1945 and after WWII: Tourism opened up in Hubbard with the advent of bulldozers to the area and the building of roads. Without bulldozers and heavy equipment, access to lakes was difficult.

1950s: A 50-foot bank was bulldozed to build homes on the north side of the lake.

Circa 1976: The Corps of Engineers formulated regulations that required permits to fill in wetlands with certain characteristics.

1976: Hogs from a local farm bathed in Portage Creek.

1982: A new dam was built in the summer of 1982. The dam broke in October 12, 1982 after heavy rains and the upper river receded 10 feet (unofficial footage). It was rumored that one million dollars worth of damage was done. The dam was repaired by October 16, 1982.

1985: Fish Hook Lake Association formed.

1991: A mobile home park was built on property south of the lake and across from the Heartland Golf Course. Originally a wetland, this property was filled in the early 1970’s.

1991: Fishing in Portage Creek is almost impossible with the rampant weed growth, unlike the 1940’°s when boats easily trolled the clear creek.

1991: The Wetlands Conservation Act enacted state laws designed to protect wetlands not covered under previous regulations.

1991: The Fish Hook Association conducted a survey of on-site sewage treatment systems, and noted that 43 systems were installed since 1980, including 39 conventional systems with septic tanks and drainfields, and 4 with septic tanks and seepage pits. This
survey also identified 74 systems installed prior to 1980, of which only 16 had conventional tanks and drainfields. The remaining pre-1980 systems were cesspools, seepage tanks, or seepage tanks with drainfields. Eleven wastewater systems were identified as “unknown,” and three homeowners refused to participate. Additional background on this survey is included in the MPCA’s 1992 LAP study, Appendix L

1992: Flourmill stones were discovered in the river near the city park when the new dam was being built. They had been left in the bottom of the river with the destruction of the mill and probably covered naturally over the years. The millstones are at the Hubbard
County Historical Society. The housing development property North of White City Resort, filled in during the 1980’s, was once a wetland and cow pasture. While the plan was to build an amphitheater by Heartland Park, an abundance of sawdust on the bank north of the footbridge deemed the project unsafe and impossible. This is near where a planer and sawmill existed in the early 1900°s and an estimated 100,000 feet of lumber traveled through the mills each day. The planer mill continued operation until 1935.