Rich in historical lore, today’s Lakeville had its origin back in 1853 when Captain William Dodd came from the east to serve the military forts in the MN Territory, designed and directed the construction of a road that would serve as a practical land route connecting the military forts in St. Paul to the southern forts. The road was named for Captain Dodd after he was killed in the Sioux uprising in 1862.
Joseph Brackett platted the original Lakeville Village in 1855 between today’s Antlers Park and Dodd road. He named it for Prairie Lake, todays Lake Marion. Brackett was a land speculator and operated a wagon stage line between St. Paul and Faribault. Brackett was the first settler, followed by his employee Griffin Phelps. By 1858 Lakeville had two hotels, a blacksmith shop, carpenter shop, gun shop, shoemaker and saloon.
By 1900 combined township and village populations neared 1000. The townships’s eastern half was rich open farm land, shipping its bounty through Farmington to Hastings and St. Paul. the western half boasted trees, lakes and rolling hills with an increasing number of summer cottages and visiting fishermen. The Dodd Road was built in 1854 by Captain William Dodd. This became Lakeville’s major north-south roadway. A telephone service was installed in 1897, hitching posts and cement sidewalks in 1899, a new village hall and fire station in 1901, and electricity in 1914.
From 1900 to 1950 Lakeville’s population grew slowly from 1,178 to 1,984. Post World War II suburban growth increased Lakeville population to 3,047 in 1960, 7,556 in 1970 and 20,500 in 1990. Lakeville’s population at the turn of the century surpasses 42,000.