Lake Alice a special place all four seasons

By Tom Hintgen (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Thursday, November 8, 2007

Whether it's spring, summer, fall or winter, the beauty of Lake Alice makes it a special place for people who live here and also for those who visit Fergus Falls.

A case in point was Halloween evening when Lake Alice was one of the favorite places for trick or treaters. Many walkers, this time of year, take advantage of the opportunities to make the journey around the lake before the onset of winter. Others walk around the lake even during the winter months.

Outdoor ice skating also is a popular winter activity at Lake Alice.

In the mid 1980s the late Daily Journal editor Jim Gray co-authored a booklet with Marj Barton entitled “The Definitive Guide to Lake Alice.” Gray, who livd along Oakland Place near the south side of the lake, wrote often about Lake Alice during his news writing career at the Daily Journal. He retired as newsroom editor in 1980 and died in 2005.

“Lake Alice really does have a lot of character,” Gray said in a 2003 interview about his favorite lake.

Gray and Barton wrote in their booklet that Lake Alice has been an attraction since Fergus Falls was first settled in the late 1860s. In fact, the name honors Alice Faber, the first woman inhabitant in Fergus Falls.

Gray and Barton, in their booklet, provide a guide for a walking tour of Lake Alice. Approaching the lake from the south, they remind readers that what’s often referred to as “the lake on the hill” is just under 40 acres in area. Lake Alice, like most lakes in western Minnesota, was formed by glacial movement.

In 1884 a fountain was created in Lake Alice near the southeast shore. Later on, city officials added a second fountain, but neither lasted very long. Winter ice damaged the plumbing and it was not replaced.

In 1886 the city erected a floating bandstand on the lake, for summer evening band concerts. “That same year,” write Gray and Barton, “progressive citizens succeeded in having a sidewalk laid on the south side of Lakeside Drive. It then became possible to walk halfway around the lake.”

Debris (mostly wood) covered Lake Alice following the 1919 tornado. The twister destroyed the Episcopal Church on the southwest side of the lake. Gray and Barton write that the bell from the old belfry “is reported to have blown into Lake Alice during the tornado, and has never been recovered.”

The west side of the lake was one of the most severely affected areas during the tornado, also referred to as a cyclone on June 22, 1919. Gray and Barton write that nearly every home between the 400 and 800 blocks of Lakeside was either destroyed or severely damaged that day.

The little island near the northeast shore of Lake Alice is man-made, the brainchild of Fergus park superintendent A.T. Van Dyk just after World War II. His goal was to induce mallard ducks to nest on the lake. A native of Holland, Van Dyk was named park superintendent shortly after he came to town in 1919, the same year the tornado struck Fergus Falls. He remained in the park superintendent post until his death in 1966.

“Working with Jim Gray on the Lake Alice project was a complete joy,” said Barton who now lives in Inver Grove Heights near the Twin Cities. “There’s so much history all around the lake, and it’s a fascinating history at that.”