Lakeville, Minnesota, United States

🇺🇸 Lakeville is an exurb of Minneapolis-Saint Paul, and the largest city in Dakota County, Minnesota, United States. It is approximately 20 miles (32 km) south of both downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul along Interstate Highway 35. Starting as a flourishing milling centre, its agriculture industry and other major industries are still in operation. Lakeville is one of the fastest-growing cities in the Twin Cities area.

Lakeville first became notable in 1910 when Marion Savage built the Dan Patch Railroad Line to service his Antlers Amusement Park. While many of Lakeville's workers commute northward to Minneapolis, Saint Paul, and more central suburbs like Bloomington, Lakeville has had major industry since the 1960s—including the Airlake Industrial Park, which is served by Airlake Airport, a regional reliever airport.

History A military road was constructed between Fort Snelling and forts to the south. In 1855, J.J. Brackett, a Saint Paul lumber baron and mail carrier using the road, decided to plant a site halfway between Saint Paul and Saint Peter on a lake he named Prairie Lake. The village was established as Lakeville Township in 1858. Notoriety came when Colonel Marion Savage expanded his entertainment business by constructing Antlers Amusement Park in 1910. Riding on fame from his success with the Dan Patch racing horse and the park's popularity, the lake was renamed Lake Marion, and the rail line servicing the park named the Dan Patch Railroad Line.

With the mostly rural landscape, early settlers were farmers. A high percentage were Scandinavian. Other ethnic groups included Irish, Scots, and English, each of whom had spread out from Hamilton Landing and Burnsville. In Karen Miller's diary from 1840 to 1895, Danes reportedly outnumbered Norwegians; travel to Minneapolis was not uncommon for the rural township. Enggren's Grocery was a downtown staple since 1900 until it closed in 2006.

Lakeville's development later in the 20th century followed the typical pattern for the outer-ring suburban Twin Cities. The town was officially incorporated as the City of Lakeville in 1967. It remained primarily agricultural, as postwar development did not immediately absorb Lakeville (as well as Interstate 35's later completion date). In the early 21st century, housing and population increases were due to rising land costs in the metropolitan area, causing Lakeville to become a boomtown.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 37.83 square miles (97.98 km²), of which 36.06 square miles (93.39 km²) is land and 1.77 square miles (4.58 km²) is water. Lakeville includes the Argonne Farms post-World War I settlement project which failed in the early 20th century and was redeveloped in the 21st century into typical suburban retail. Since it was a semi-autonomous village within Lakeville Township before the city's incorporation, it continues to appear today on maps as Argonne.

A branch of the Vermillion River flows through Lakeville. Its headwaters are just west of the city limits in Credit River Township, and it flows eastward across Dakota County until it empties into the Mississippi River at the Wisconsin border. Much of Lakeville drains into the Vermillion River watershed. North Creek, a major tributary of the Vermillion, begins its flow in northern Lakeville and flows eastward to meet the Vermillion near downtown Farmington just east of Lakeville. The Vermillion River has been designated as a trout stream by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.

Economy Airlake Industrial Park, developed by Maynard Johnson with colleagues at Bloomington-based Hitchcock Industries, is home to as many as 200 companies and an estimated 4,500 employees. The 1,500-acre park, one of the state's largest contiguous industrial parks, has attracted companies ranging from start-ups to large corporations.

Airlake Industrial Park was a contrived name – “air” represented the airport that Hitchcock Industries built on the grounds and “lake” signified nearby Lake Marion.

Lakeville is served by the Airlake Airport, which has a single runway with an ILS approach. The airport is managed by the Metropolitan Airports Commission as a reliever facility to draw general aviation traffic. The FAA operates the Minneapolis ARTCC (air route traffic control center) in Farmington, several miles away from the airport. This centre provides traffic control services for Minnesota and surrounding states.

Large farms are still in operation, producing most of their revenue in corn, soybeans, and dairy cattle.

Post Consumer Brands has its headquarters in Lakeville since 2015.

Parks and recreation Lakeville has many recreational opportunities. The Parks & Recreation Department maintains a total of 62 public properties, including neighborhood and community parks, athletic fields, playgrounds, greenways, trails, tennis courts, skating rinks, picnic areas, conservation areas, nature areas, several public fishing areas, swimming beaches, the City's Central Maintenance Facility, Senior Center, and the Lakeville Area Arts Center. Notable parks include Ritter Farm Park, North Park, Antlers Park, King Park, Valley Lake Park, and Aronson Park, which features a Veterans Memorial.

Antlers Park features a large swimming beach with volleyball courts, baseball diamonds, a playground area, water equipment, a picnic area, a fishing pier, and horseshoe pits. Orchard Lake Beach has a picnic area, shore fishing, playground equipment, and volleyball courts. Valley Lake Beach includes playground equipment, a picnic area, a walking trail around the lake, a fishing pier and seasonal restrooms.

Transport Lakeville is directly served by Interstate 35, as well as Cedar Avenue/MN 77 to the east.

Before its abandonment in 1970, the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad's Hastings and Dakota Subdivision went through the centre of Lakeville and served various industries. Short-line railroad Progressive Rail is based in Lakeville, and owns the right-of-way of the MN&S Subdivision between Lakeville and Northfield. Between Lakeville and Savage the MN&S Subdivision is owned by Canadian Pacific Railway, but has been out of service since the 1990s. In 2009 Progressive Rail began using a segment of the out-of-service tracks for railcar storage, causing local controversy. The Dan Patch Corridor would go through Lakeville, but has been banned from discussion and funding by the Minnesota State Legislature since 2002. The City of Lakeville opposes public funding of a passenger rail line on the MN and S Subdivision through the community.