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| Breakwater on Lake City Concourse |
The hike atop a breakwater for the Lake City, Minn., marina runs about 700 feet one way. The walls on the shoreline are an example of National Park Service Rustic Style, popular for public amenities during their construction.
To reach the concourse, in downtown Lake City park in the turnout off of U.S. Hwy. 61 near Elm Street.
Stone side walls and the concourse – a large, curving wall around a viewing bay – were constructed in 1938-40 as a rest area for weary Hwy. 61 travelers. The National Youth Administration erected the walls.
The side walls, built of tan and rubble limestone, were completed by October 1938. Rising 2-feet-6-inches high – perfect for sitting on – they are 18 inches thick.
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| Lake City Concourse map |
Stone for the walls was quarried locally in Lake City and nearby Frontenac. Exactly where the limestone came from has been lost to time, but the same kind of Shakopee and St. Lawrence dolomite caps the local bluffs.
Originally flagstone was set in the concourse walkway. Some of it is still exposed, but most of it has been covered with asphalt or replaced by concrete. When constructed, the parking lot was gravel with limestone curbing.
Little else has changed during the past eight or so decades. A flagpole and potted plants have been added. During the 1960s, for a years a standard wooden hanging-arm sign stood announcing the roadside parking area. A stone marker was added in 1971 and a metal marker in 1988.
Openings in the stone wall allow visitors to head to the breakwater. The path first passes a small sand beach on the wall’s southeast side.
As heading onto the breakwater, the tall masts of sailboats in the Lake City Marina rise to the north. Blue Lake Pepin spreads out in front of you, with the high bluffs of the Wisconsin shoreline on the lake’s opposite side.
In the days before plastics, the lake was a busy spot. Clams from the Upper Mississippi River supplied shells that made almost half of the world’s buttons. Lake City was among those production centers; workers here sawed button “blanks” that then were shipped to La Crosse, Wis., and Muscatine, Iowa, for finishing.
And in the days before the overlook was constructed, you might have spotted someone waterskiing on the lake. Ralph Samuelson in 1922 invented waterskiing in Lake City when he stuck boards to his feet, used clothesline for tow rope, and had his brother Ben drive the boat.
To extend the walk, head up the city’s River Walk, which the concourse joins.
Learn about trail guidebooks available in the Hittin’ the Trail series.
