The Woodland Lakes area is located in the northeast portion of an area that is locally known as the Big Island. From the time of European settlement of this area until construction of the Fremont dike in 1910, the Big Island was an island and truly a big island, being about 1.5 miles wide and 2.5 miles long. Big Island was completely surrounded by the North and South Channels of the Platte River. When the Fremont dike was constructed another dike was placed at the west end of the island to move the Platte River permanently into a single channel and to give road access to the island. Prior to European settlement this area of Nebraska was predominantly occupied by the Pawnee Indian nation. The Platte River and its valley was a major thoroughfare for the fur trade, explorers, gold seekers and emigrants. In 1847 a site on the north bank of the North Channel, about 1/4 mile north of Woodland Lakes, was established by Brigham Young as a staging area to organize the Mormon emigrants into manageable parties for their westward journey. Young marked the site by erecting a forty foot Cottonwood pole and attaching a white flag to the top. It was named the "Liberty Pole" and could be seen for many miles in the then almost treeless Platte Valley. After Fremont was established in 1856 the Big Island always attracted a few residents and was used for light farming and grazing. In 1866 the Union Pacific railroad was constructed just north of the North Channel. In the late 1800's A.W. Murphy acquired much of the land in the north and eastern parts of the Island. A dairy farm operation was established by Murphy and the barn, silos and other buildings for this operation were built on the site where the horse barn and utility shed are located today. The dairy barn burned to the ground, probably in the early 1930's. Some beef cattle and a dairy cow were kept by the Murphy family here during WW II. Horses were always present in the area from the time they were needed for work and transportation, then for pleasure and showing. Sometime shortly after WW I, Murphy's mined part of this area for sand and gravel creating the original lakes now named Woodland and Crooked Lakes. After the mining operation Woodland Lake was then dubbed Murphy's Lake and sometime in the early 1920's, Murphy's Lake became popular as a local swimming beach with summer cabins being built around the lake and a miniature golf course set up on the east side of the lake. All of this came to an end prior to WW II and the last of the cabins were torn down in the 1970's.
			Jane Voorhies Premier One Real Estate 535 N Park Ave Fremont, NE 68025 jane@onestrongteam.com 402-727-1111/402-719-1006