History
The Lake Vermilion area has been active since the 1860s, between the Gold Rush, homesteading, lumber harvest and mining and Industrial Revolution development, and the tourism industry. We’re constantly researching different aspects of local area history and adding the information here. Keep checking back here, as each article is a living document and information is added as we find more. The pursuit of history is a never-ending endeavor!
If you have any further information about any of the articles here, or any new information that we could write articles about, please let us know at info*AT*lakevermilion.net and we’ll work to add the information.
1865 — The Vermilion Gold Rush Was On!
The September 19, 1865 announcement of the assay results from three pounds of quartz rock recovered from Minnesota’s Vermilion Range brought fortune seekers by the thousands to the shores of… [Read More]
1848 — Wisconsin Territory survey crew arrives at Lake Vermilion
J. G. Norwood, working in the employ of U. S. geologist David Dale Owen, spent the summer and autumn of 1848 surveying the northwestern most reaches of the Wisconsin Territory,… [Read More]
Vermilion Lake Iron Range
A copy of this rare map of the Lake Vermilion Iron Range was published in the Compendium of the Tenth Census of the United States by the Department of the… [Read More]
Goodwill’s Place on Lake Vermilion
Bay View Lodge waterfront
View of the Bay View Lodge waterfront, taken from the shore of Big Bay, Lake Vermilion. Date unknown.
Lake Vermilion Cultural Center hosts conversations on the fur trade
SATURDAY, JUNE 25, 2016 — Late in the 17th century the cultural intersection between the ancestors of Lake Vermilion’s Bois Forte Ojibwe Indians, and French Voyageurs and Courier du Bois… [Read More]
Notes on Trading Posts, border, etc.
Posts in the Minnesota Fur-Trading Area, 1660-1855 Author(s): Grace Lee Nute Source: Minnesota History, Vol. 11, No. 4 (Dec., 1930), pp. 353-385 Published by: Minnesota Historical Society Press Stable URL:… [Read More]
Game and Fish Men Here with Nets
State Fish and Game men lifting nets on the Pike River, circa 1912. SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016 — Today, in honor of the cold and snowy fishing opener, we… [Read More]
Ted Wheeler’s Livery
Tower Stage Line at Ted Wheeler’s Livery. The livery is believed to have been located on the site of The Tower News building. This Tower Stage Line provided public… [Read More]
Tower Boat Landing
This rare photograph depicts the Tower Boat landing, located at the site of the proposed Tower Harbor project. This landing was a very busy place in the late 19th… [Read More]