Rice Lake is a

ghost town A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence, Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

and Steele

counties A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. It is located east of Owatonna, and just north of

Rice Lake State Park Rice Lake State Park is a state park of Minnesota, United States, just east of Owatonna, Minnesota, Owatonna. Park lands entirely surround Rice Lake, an important stopping point for migrating waterfowl. The lake covers with an average depth ...

. The nearest community is the city of

Claremont Claremont may refer to: Places Australia *Claremont, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Queensland * Claremont, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart * Claremont, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth * Town of Claremont, Perth * Claremont Airbase, an ...

, to the southeast. The Dodge County portion lies in the southwest corner of Ellington Township, while the Steele County portion lies in the southeast corner of Merton Township. Havana Township and Claremont Township are also in the immediate area.

History

Rice Lake was officially platted in 1857, although it started thriving two years before then. Stephen L. Wilson opened the first store, and became postmaster in 1857. After that, a number of businesses continued to develop until 1865, when a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

bypassed the settlement, causing the village to disappear. All that remains from the village of Rice Lake is a

Carpenter Gothic Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic or Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architecture, Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massin ...

Methodist church built in 1857 and a small cemetery in the northeast corner of the state park.

Notes

{{authority control Former populated places in Steele County, Minnesota Former populated places in Dodge County, Minnesota Former populated places in Minnesota Ghost towns in Minnesota

History

See also

Notes