In 1855, Morgan Cochran became the first settler on a two-mile plot of land in Central Minnesota. The village was originally called Lynden. In 1869, it was given the name of an adjoining lake. This was Howard Lake’s second City Hall. The red doors once opened into a garage for horse-drawn fire engines. Upstairs was a barber shop. In keeping with its multi-purpose role, it is now the Municipal Liquor Off-sale store. Profits help augment the government’s annual budget to serve its 2,000 residents. The 1904 structure is listed by the National Register of Historic Places.
