You Are Here… Lake Calhoun

You Are Here… Lake Calhoun. . , Missionaries Samuel and Gideon Pond arrived at Fort Snelling in 1834 and were immediately dispatched to work with Cloudman, Chief of the Dakota people, who had established an agricultural settlement on the eastern shores of Lake Calhoun near the present site of St. Mary's Greek Orthodox Church at 36th Street., The earliest European immigrants in Minneapolis settled predominantly on the high ground above the eastern shore of the lake between Lake Street and 32nd Street., By 1900, sixteen homes had been built. Another dozen cottages were located on the southern shores between Xerxes and Richfield Streets., Dredging at Lake Calhoun took place during two periods, from 1911 to 1915 and from 1923 to 1925. During these two periods nearly one and a half million cubic yards of fill were used to create the park, beaches, and boulevards that we enjoy today., The beaches at 33rd Street, Upton Avenue, and Lake Street were created in the 1911 - 1915 period. By the end of 1925, the famous Lakes Boulevard, circling Lake of the Isles, Calhoun, and Harriet, was complete., In 1906, the Minneapolis Park Board began dredging canals to link Lake of the Isles, Lake Calhoun, and Lake Harriet. The project was completed, showcasing six bridges, and was opened to great fanfare in 1911., The week-long water festivities, ceremonies, and celebration of the linking of the lakes was the nucleus for the annual Minneapolis Aquatennial festivities which were first celebrated in 1940.