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• • City of Lino Lakes PAGE 38 City of Lino Lakes Lino Lakes is located in the southeast corner of Anoka County, Minnesota, has an elevation of 880 feet and covers an area of 33 square miles on the north side of the Twin Cities in Anoka County at Latitude 45.17 N and Longitude 93.10 W. The pristine 2,700 - acre Rice Creek Chain of Lakes Regional Park Reserve is situated within the heart of the city, guaranteeing the area will maintain its natural settings and habitats for wildlife for years to come. When the first settlers arrived in the area, Native Americans had already been making their home in the area where Reshanau, Baldwin, Rice and Marshan Lakes cluster. The Dakota Indians found this to be a land of plenty with wild rice and an abundance of small game. Today, several Indian burial grounds are still located in the area. White hunters and trappers began coming to this area from both Canada and the eastern states around 1850. Those who settled on the west side of the lake had names like Ramsden, Speiser and Wenzel. Families including the Cardinals, LaMottes, Houles and Dupres settled the east side of the lake. Many of their descendants still live in the area today. The first unit of local government in the area was the township of Centerville. It was organized August 11, 1857 and encompassed an area of 36 square miles. The population was less than 300 persons and organized into three loosely knit communities known as the "German settlement" west of the lakes, the "Swede settlement" south of the lakes, and the "French settlement" east of the lakes. In the 1950s neighboring villages started annexing land away from Centerville Township. To protect the boundaries and allow for the financing of public improvements, the residents of the township voted to incorporate into a village. Several names were suggested for the new village, and most contained the word "lakes." Although the origin of the word "Lino" is unknown, a Lino post office operated for about 10 years in the late 1800s. The town board decided to name the new village "Lino Lakes." On May 11, 1955, the new Village of Lino Lakes was incorporated. The village covered the original Centerville Township, with the exception of the Village of Centerville. At incorporation, the new village was comprised of 21,000 acres of land, and 1,800 citizens. In 1972, the State Legislature passed a law changing all Minnesota villages to cities, hence Lino Lakes' current status.