3(b) Consideration of Comprehensive Plan

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INTRODUCTION I NTENT This plan is an update to the 2004 and 2009 Comprehensive Plans. This plan,like its predecessors,creates a unified vision for the City as well as a framework for achieving that vision over the next decade. The City of Pequot Lakes is committed to planning for the future. Participants in the planning process seek to build on past successes, learn from prior difficulties, and use their collective knowledge to ensure that the people, businesses and organizations of Pequot Lakes are well-positioned for continued prosperity long into the future. H ISTORY The Central Lakes Region is rich in history, having been inhabited by Native Americans for centuries before French explorers settled in the area. Thirteen recorded prehistoric sites have been identified near the Paul Bunyan Treil alone. The OJibwa and Dakota were present in the area until explorers entered the region and logging and railroad industries took over. The original Leech Lake Trail provided basic access to the outside world that helped establish the early City of Pequot, after being used by Native Americans to travel from the southern part of the state through the area. The Leech Lake Trail was simply widened and became the original Highway 371. Pequot first formed as a trading town along the Leech Lake Trail, formerly a Native American and fur- traders travel route. It grew as a logging town with the construction of the Northern Pacific Railroad, much like many other small towns in central Minnesota. In 1892,Crow Wing County bonded itself for a railroad from Brainerd to the northern boundary of the state, and the railroad was construrted northwest from Gull Lake into Cass County.The panic of 1893 halted any changes, but by the latter part of 1894 efforts were made to re-route this railroad and carry the line almost directly north from Brainerd. The railroad opened Pequot and Sibley Township to logging, both of which experienced large-scale clearing of their vast pine stands from the 1890s to the 1920s. The establishment of a large sawmill near the Pequot train station brought more settlers to the area. Lake development near most train stations occurred during this time,which marked the beginning of residential growth and tourist in Pequot. A passenger stage line ran three times a week between Brainerd and Leech Lake; settlers and tourist most likely came in with this line. In 1896, School District 41 formed and the Pequot Post Office was established with F. M. Lawhead as post master. The post office had originally been a Northem Pacific Railroad station. On December 4, 1990, the Crow Wing County commissioners accepted a petition for organization as Sibley Township. Sibley was named from Lake Sibley,a name given by Nicollet on his map, published in 1843, in honor of Henry Hastings Sibley, for whom Sibley County was also named the town of Pequot, located within Sibley Township, had been platted nine months prior. Pequot had first been named for an early logger, but it was renamed by a postal official for a tribe of Algonquian Indians in eastern Connecticut. The historic parts of Pequot Lakes were developed in the railroad era. The original town planners of Pequot Lakes designed the city on a traditional grid pattern centered on the railroad stop. This was in deference to the two major modes of transportation at the time:the railroad between towns and simply walking within. The original housing was located between the railroad stop and Sibley Lake. The original development pattem was mixed-use, so residential and commercial ventures were interspersed throughout the grid. The typical buildings of this era were erected at the edge of the property line. This provided for a pleasant public space in front of the building with room for things like outhouses and garbage bins to the rear. 3 � Page