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Frontenac is comprised of two unincorporated communities
located about a mile apart. Old Frontenac was
founded in 1839 along the shores of Lake Pepin
near its widest spot. The area was settled and
developed by two brothers, Israel and Lewis Garrard,
who were enamored with the natural beauty of the
bluffs and prairies that surround the lake. The
community is now a designated Historic District
due to the several large homes on tree-lined streets
that were built around the civil war era.
Other significant buildings include the Lakeside
Hotel, which was very popular in the 1880s when
Frontenac became known as the "Newport of
the Northwest" - a fashionable vacation spot
for visitors traveling upriver during the summer.
The largest building is the Villa Maria, which
was originally a girls' school, but now is used
as a conference/retreat center.
What won't be found in Old Frontenac are any commercial
businesses.
Back at Frontenac State Park, cross-country skiers
can enjoy 4.7 miles of groomed trails. Within
park boundaries, snowmobilers can ride 5.5 miles
of groomed trails through ravines, or on the bluff
top with great views, and then connect with more
than 400 miles of trail outside the park. Still
others can quietly snowshoe in the park or bring
sleds, toboggans and tubes and try out the park's
sliding hill.
Frontenac has something to see every season of
the year.
Frontenac tidbits
- Frontenac is really two small
communities, Old Frontenac and New Frontenac.
Neither is incorporated. Old Frontenac has no
retail businesses.
- Old Frontenac was considered
the "Newport of the Northwest" during
the late 1880s.
- Old Frontenac was platted
and developed by a Dutch immigrant, Evert Westervelt,
and two brothers, Israel and Lewis Garrard,
who were sons of the family that founded Cincinnati.
Their stepfather, John McLean, was a U.S. Supreme
Court justice in the mid-1880s who wrote the
dissenting opinion in the Dred Scott case.
- James "Bully" Wells,
from New York, started a trading post at Old
Frontenac in 1839. Through his wife, Jane, a
Dakota woman, Bully owned a large expanse of
land that was to become Frontenac. He later
sold most of this to Evert Westervelt and the
Garrards.
Jeptha Garrard, brother to Israel and Lewis,
experimented with "flying machines,"
jumping off the bluff top of Point-No-Point.
Israel, Kenner and Jeptha Garrard and their
stepbrother Nathaniel McLean all became generals
in the Civil War.
- Some guests of note at the
Lakeside Hotel included President Grant, Henry
Ward Beecher (brother of Harriet Beecher Stowe,
author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin"), the
Randolph Hearst family, and 19th century stage
star Marie Dressler.
- The entire community of Old
Frontenac is on the National Register of Historic
Places, the first such community in Minnesota.
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Old Frontenac's
sister community, Frontenac Station or New
Frontenac is located on the railroad and highways
61/63. The Florence Town Hall, "oldest,
continually used town hall in the state"
has achieved the status of being listed on
the National Register of Historic Places and
serves as the local township government center.
Here visitors can catch a meal, a few groceries
or supplies, or a variety of items including
outdoor motorized sports equipment. |
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Frontenac offers the best
views of Lake Pepin and the Mississippi River
Valley. From an overlook 430 feet above the
lake in Frontenac State Park, visitors can
see nearly the entire 26 mile long lake, the
river valley and the Wisconsin and Minnesota
bluffs on either side. The park offers several
other spectacular vistas of the lake and inland
valleys from various points along the 13 miles
of hiking trails. |
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In addition, hikers will
see several varieties of spring woodland wild
flowers, hundreds of species of migrating
birds, including bald eagles, tundra swans,
turkey vultures, hawks, ducks, geese and warblers.
Also along the trails are a couple of limestone
quarries where tons of stone were quarried
for buildings in Frontenac and Lake City and
elsewhere. Some of this stone was sent to
New York to be used in the nave of the Cathedral
of St. John. |
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For a water level view of
the bluffs, stop at Hansen's Harbor, a full
service marina with a boat ramp and ship's
store.
Another place to catch great vistas of the
valleys is at Mt. Frontenac Golf Course. The
course offers 18 holes of golf on the bluff
top with lots of views. |
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