Biohazard and Crime Scene Remediation in Forest Lake, MN

Forest Lake is a city in Washington County, about 27 miles northeast of Saint Paul, built around one of Minnesota's 100 largest lakes, which serves as the source of the Sunrise River.

Forest Lake began as a stop on the St. Paul and Duluth Railroad, and the first train reached the settlement on December 23, 1868.

The lake was named for the abundant timber that lined its shores, and German immigrant Louis Schiel, who settled south of the lake in 1855, was among its first settlers.

Forest Lake Township was organized on March 11, 1874, and the city of Forest Lake was incorporated in the 1890s with fewer than 200 residents.

In 2001, the city of Forest Lake annexed the entire surrounding Forest Lake Township, making the modern city about 35 square miles.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s Forest Lake was one of the major summer resort areas of the upper Midwest, and its Marsh Hotel hosted U.S. Presidents Grover Cleveland and William McKinley.

The steamship Germania sailed the Forest Lake chain of lakes in the late 1800s and was a major tourist draw.

The first Boy Scout troop in Minnesota, the Forest Lake Wolf Patrol, was formed in Forest Lake in July 1910.

Lamprey Pass Wildlife Management Area near Forest Lake is described as the oldest known Native American settlement site in Minnesota, with Hopewell tradition burial grounds believed to date back more than 2,000 years.

The 23,000-acre Carlos Avery Wildlife Management Area lies at Forest Lake's edge and was said at its creation to have the most diverse wildlife population of any urban area in the United States.