09/02/2026
🌊 Lake Victoria - Douglas County, MN Lake History 🌊
On an early map, Lake Victoria was first labeled “Scocka” – a name with potential indigenous ties – but was renamed as Lake Victoria by Walter Scott Shotwell, apparently after Queen Victoria who reigned at the time. Walter was the son of Daniel Shotwell of New Jersey, who acquired the land between lakes Victoria and Geneva in 1859.
According to “The Red River Trails: Oxcart Routes between St. Paul and the Selkirk Settlement 1820-1870” by Rhonda R. Gilman, Carolyn Gilman, and Deborah M. Stultz, one of the branches of the “Middle Trail” of the Red River Oxcart Trails once passed on the north side of Lake Victoria, and later became part of the stage coach road.
Lake Victoria has hosted a few resorts in its time, though not as many of some of the larger surrounding lakes. Some of the resorts on Lake Victoria include the Broken Arrow Resort, Victoria Lodge Resort, and Lilac Lodge.
Lake Victoria was the namesake for the Victoria Heights neighborhood, which was the home of many “baby boomer” families as the neighborhood developed in the 1950s.
