Ten Mile Lake has a rich logging and railroad history dating back to the late 1800s.

The lake was given its name in 1881, "Ten Mile" comes from the distance between the Leech Lake Post Office and the shores of the lake along an old government wagon road. Several other lakes were similarly named, including Three Mile Lake (now Little Turtle Lake), Four Mile Lake (now Conklin Lake), Six Mile Lake (now unnamed), and Fourteen Mile Lake (now Birch Lake). Of these Ten Mile Lake is the only one to keep its original name.

In 1894 Northern Minnesota Railroad built tracks on the old government wagon road mainly for logging use, and the town of Lothrop was established. The small logging town sat along the eastern shores of Ten Mile Lake and consisted of a railroad station, three hotels, three stores, a drugstore, a doctor, a deputy coroner, a house of ill repute, eight saloons, and a dozen homes.  However, Lothrup was short lived, and by 1900 all the timber in the area had been cut and there was no longer a need for this small boom town.

After the logging era, the lake’s reputation for incredible fishing and amazing clear, blue waters resulted in resorts and private cabins beginning to pop up along Ten Mile's sandy shores. The Loufek’s were one family to build their cabin on the east end of Ten Mile Lake. In 1937 the Loufek family purchased their property and two generations of Loufek’s enjoyed the land until it was purchased by Minnesota Exclusive in 2002. The property that sits along what it now known as Loufek Point is the 4.4 acres currently for sale. This beautiful property has been well preserved for future generations to enjoy.    

*Map courtesy of the Ten Mile Lake Association

A complete history of Ten Mile Lake and the families that have developed the property surrounding the lake over the past 75 years can be read in the book Ten Mile Lake History: 200 Years, a compliation of interviews and articles edited by Tom Cox.