Lake Okabena
Encyclopedia
Lake Okabena is a small lake located in Nobles County
in southwestern Minnesota
. It was first noted on a map made by French explorer Joseph Nicollet
in 1841, based upon his explorations of the 1830s. The name okabena means "home of the heron" in the Sioux
language. Lake Okabena is located entirely within the present-day city limits of Worthington, Minnesota
.
In 1872, a large influx of settlers arrived in the region and a town was built. The town and the railroad station were christened Worthington
, after the mother-in-law of A. P. Miller, one of the town's founding fathers, and it was located between West Okabena and East Okabena.
When the Burlington Railroad (later the Rock Island Railroad) built a line connecting Round Lake
, Worthington, and Wilmont
in 1889-1890, it was built across the dried lake bed of East Okabena. Precisiely when East Okabena was drained remains a mystery. East Okabena was thoroughly described in an 1882 geology report on the state of Minnesota and clearly visible on an 1884 county map, yet by the time the Burlington Railroad was built, the lake was gone. A 1914 plat map of Worthington refers to an area as "formerly East Okabena lake", "Now dry, having been drained". No one knows who ordered the deed to be done, but one photograph exists of men digging the trench which drained the waters of East Okabena away forever.
The Burlington/Rock Island Railroad greatly changed the complexion and character of the eastern shore of the remaining Lake Okabena. Once a gently sloping shoreline with beach, boathouses, and picnic pavilions, the region came to resemble an industrial area. A large coal powered electrical generation plant was built. This plant hummed night and day, vibrating the ground of the surrounding neighborhood as it generated electrical power and steam heat for the city of Worthington.
Nobles County, Minnesota
Nobles County is a county located in the U.S. state of Minnesota. As of 2010, the population was 21,378. Its county seat is Worthington.-Geography:...
in southwestern Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
. It was first noted on a map made by French explorer Joseph Nicollet
Joseph Nicollet
Joseph Nicolas Nicollet , also known as Jean-Nicolas Nicollet, was a French geographer and mathematician known for mapping the Upper Mississippi River basin during the 1830s....
in 1841, based upon his explorations of the 1830s. The name okabena means "home of the heron" in the Sioux
Sioux
The Sioux are Native American and First Nations people in North America. The term can refer to any ethnic group within the Great Sioux Nation or any of the nation's many language dialects...
language. Lake Okabena is located entirely within the present-day city limits of Worthington, Minnesota
Worthington, Minnesota
Worthington is a city in Nobles County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 12,764 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Nobles County.The city's site was first settled in the 1870s as Okabena Station on a line of the Chicago, St...
.
History
Though Nicollet's map shows only one Lake Okabena, the earliest survey map of the area made in 1868 shows two lakes - East Okabena (no longer in existence) and West Okabena.Effect of the railways
When the St Paul & Sioux City Railroad (now the Union Pacific) was built through the region in 1871, tracks were laid between the two lakes. A station house was built along the southeastern shore of West Lake Okabena and was named the Okabena Railroad Station. Steam engines of the day consumed enormous quantities of water, and water stops were required every 8 to 12 miles along any route. The Okabena Railway Station was one of these, drawing water directly out of West Okabena.In 1872, a large influx of settlers arrived in the region and a town was built. The town and the railroad station were christened Worthington
Worthington, Minnesota
Worthington is a city in Nobles County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 12,764 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Nobles County.The city's site was first settled in the 1870s as Okabena Station on a line of the Chicago, St...
, after the mother-in-law of A. P. Miller, one of the town's founding fathers, and it was located between West Okabena and East Okabena.
When the Burlington Railroad (later the Rock Island Railroad) built a line connecting Round Lake
Round Lake, Minnesota
Round Lake is a city in Nobles County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 376 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.0 square mile , all of it land. A lake, also called Round Lake, is just outside the city to the...
, Worthington, and Wilmont
Wilmont, Minnesota
Wilmont is a city in Nobles County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 339 at the 2010 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land...
in 1889-1890, it was built across the dried lake bed of East Okabena. Precisiely when East Okabena was drained remains a mystery. East Okabena was thoroughly described in an 1882 geology report on the state of Minnesota and clearly visible on an 1884 county map, yet by the time the Burlington Railroad was built, the lake was gone. A 1914 plat map of Worthington refers to an area as "formerly East Okabena lake", "Now dry, having been drained". No one knows who ordered the deed to be done, but one photograph exists of men digging the trench which drained the waters of East Okabena away forever.
The Burlington/Rock Island Railroad greatly changed the complexion and character of the eastern shore of the remaining Lake Okabena. Once a gently sloping shoreline with beach, boathouses, and picnic pavilions, the region came to resemble an industrial area. A large coal powered electrical generation plant was built. This plant hummed night and day, vibrating the ground of the surrounding neighborhood as it generated electrical power and steam heat for the city of Worthington.