Mill Creek Park - From the History Book

The O'Brien County Conservation Board is celebrating the 75th anniversary of Mill Creek Park near Paullina with events held throughout 2011. A look back into the history book provides clues about the beginnings of the park.

*The idea of building a dam for a lake was first brought forward by Hugh Dealy, Fred Holms and George Harris in 1912. Survery work was completed and the idea was found to be sound. However, the Northwestern Railway objected to the plan claiming that the dam located closely to one of their bridges would endanger the railroad passage.

*The plan was dropped until 1933 when George Callenius and Robert Mattice again revived the idea. Sentiment grew slowly in favor of the idea.

*In March 1935, a bond election was held with the proposal to issue and sell bonds in the amount of $20,000 to be used for park improvements and the purchase of the land on which the park now stands. The transfer of land to the state was made in October 1935.

*On December 3, 1935 a small group of WPA workers arrived to begin work on the lake. In the next year the group expanded to a total of 300 workers. The original plan was that 35,000 yards of earth was to be moved by hand labor only. After realizing the process was to slow, draglines and dump trucks were brought in the next year. The work was completed by December 20, 1937. Water ran over the spillway for the first time on February 2, 1938.

*The watershed for the lake comprises approximately 3600 acres. The lake covers 52 acres of ground and is about 25 feet deep at the greatest depth.

*In October 1938, a crowd of 5,000 people gathered for the dedication of Mill Creek State Park. The park was decorated completely with flags and welcome banners.