Lake Nokomis Park, 1937.
Lake Nokomis was purchased in 1907, but was nearly untouched until 1911 and not finally completed until 1924 at a grand total cost of $860,000. For all the expense and difficulty, the Park Board was proud of the finished product: a shallow hole of swampland and peat transformed into a clean lake with a newly-formed park to improve the quality of life in the neighborhood. Anyone visiting Lake Nokomis Park today can see the lasting positive impact of the project.
The lake was once named Lake Amelia, in honor of a captain’s daughter, in 1819. The name was changed in 1910 to Nokomis, the name of Hiawatha’s grandmother, who was cited in Longfellow’s famous poem The Song of Hiawatha. When the newly-renovated Lake Nokomis opened to the public, it boasted a stylish bath house and quickly became the most popular swimming lake in the city. The park included a walkway, baseball and football fields and a water-toboggan slide unlike any the residents had ever seen. Today, Lake Nokomis Park continues to be one of most vibrant and beloved community gathering points in Minneapolis, with ongoing improvements and ever-expanding devotees.
