Resorts of Crane Lake - rural Crane Lake, MN - Minnesota Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

This sign is one of two historical markers located at the Voyageur rest stop. The text reads:

Opened by logging activities, Crane Lake became a tourist haven in the late 1800s. The railroad brought travelers to Tower where they boarded steamboats to Vermilion Dam. A portage road, built in 1890, connected Lake Vermilion and Crane Lake. The resulting traffic encouraged settlers to establish resorts.

Chase Lodge, built by entrepreneur Josiah Chase, was one of the first. Bill Bayliss purchased the big island on Crane Lake in 1908 and logged it off, earning it the name “Bare Island.” As the trees grew back, it became “Bear island.” Bill Gund, who settled Crane Lake in 1910 to improve his health, maintained the road for the county. His daughter, Ruby, married forest ranger John Handberg, and they constructed Handberg’s Northwood Lodge in 1924. Bill Randolph and Kate Bowser, later known as “Aunt Kate,” wed in the 1920s and started Randolph’s Borderland Lodge.

Fresh air prescribed for his wife’s typhoid fever drew John Nelson here in 1927. He leased Chase’s Gateway Lodge before buying Rollo Chaffee’s property across the lake. Known simply as “Nelson’s,” the family business continues to prosper. In the 1930s and 40s, Clifford Olson, Clarence and Walter Scott, Al Ostlund, and Don Bowser, nephew of “Aunt Kate” Randolph, were added to the roster of successful Crane Lake resort owners, joined by Ed Congdon who bought the Chase property in 1946. Pictured: Main Lodge at Nelson’s Resort, Early 1940s.

Marker Type:: Roadside

Visit Instructions:
A photo of the 'Marker' or 'Plaque' is required to identify the location, plus a picture of the 'Historic Site'.

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