About Mountain Lake
Located in southwestern Minnesota, along the vital Highway 60 corridor that links Minneapolis/St. Paul to Sioux Falls and Omaha, Mountain Lake has a population of 2,104 and serves eastern Cottonwood and western Watonwan Counties. The first settler, William Mason, arrived in the area in 1865 followed by the Sioux City and St. Paul Railroad (now the Union Pacific) in 1871. The area settled rapidly with the arrival of nearly 1,800 Russian Mennonite immigrants from 1873-1880. The town was not officially incorporated until 1886. By that time Mountain Lake was a thriving village and a center for homes, business, education, commerce, and service. And that remains true today.
Today, Mountain Lake enjoys a strong sense of its past while looking to its future. The historical Heritage Village, on the city’s southeastern edge, remembers the challenges German and Russian immigrants faced as they built new lives. The descendants of those nineteenth century immigrants enjoy a culturally diverse community with the recent addition of Mountain Lake’s newest immigrants, the Laotian, Hispanic and Hmong. The community continues to reflect the agricultural base on which it was founded.
Mountain Lake also enjoys a growing industrial base. A business/manufacturing subdivision with utilities was annexed and platted in early 2002. The site, with direct access to Hwy 60, is poised to provide economic development and job growth into the 21st century for the inhabitants of Mountain Lake. Two strong schools (public and private), a lake with public access, park and walking trail, golf course, medical clinic, excellent public library, low crime rate, a variety of senior housing options, employment opportunities, and a full service downtown will make you want to call Mountain Lake home!