I was over by Lien's Resort this summer and it is now up for rent as a resort. It is listed on it's own site. It is such a beautiful spot on the lake. Beautiful sunsets and a wide open view of the big lake. They have been beautifully remodeled and would be a great place for a family vacation as there are 6 cabins there for rent by the week during peak season.
For those of you that have followed my blog, you know what a fan of resorts I am. I'm just so happy about Lien's being up for rent again as a resort.
Here is the listing for the resort. If your looking, this is a great place remodeled, and a lot of history.
https://liensresort.com/
My brother Pete is going to be my guest blogger for Lien's. Pete spent 2 summers working at Carlson's resort in the 70's. He knows a lot more about the history of the Brevik area than I do. I'm really glad that he is going to do some writing for me.
My memory of Liens was the small cabins, and their sign on County Highway 39 that said Modern Cabins. They had indoor plumbing! I think that they were one of the first ones on the east side of the lake that had that! It is still there, but I'm not sure if they are renting any longer. Leins sat between Sunset View and Bear Island View.
This resort was family run for many, many years.
This picture is from the 60's.
My memory of Liens was the small cabins, and their sign on County Highway 39 that said Modern Cabins. They had indoor plumbing! I think that they were one of the first ones on the east side of the lake that had that! It is still there, but I'm not sure if they are renting any longer. Leins sat between Sunset View and Bear Island View.
This resort was family run for many, many years.
This picture is from the 60's.
From the late 1950's early 60's Chamber of Commerce map:
Lien's Resort - Popular fishing and vacation resort. Modern summer home style cottages. Large boats, harbor, docking ramp. Close to best walleye, muskie, northern fishing. Write for folder. Phone VE 6-2230, Walker. P. O Longville, Minn
My brother Pete wrote this about Lien's Resort. A great memory of Leech Lake!
ReplyDeleteLien's sits on a trianglar shapped lot with more lake front then at the top of the hill. It sat between Bear Island View Resort and Sunset View Resort. Depending on who you ask, it became the oldest resort on Leech Lake after Merritt Lodge was bought by Huddle's. It was also one of the first with indoor toilets!
I've been told it was orignally called Lien's Landing and was a steamboat stop and the place a small girl's family landed to homestead (farm) the unforgivenly rocky soil at the top of the hill. Martha Brevik (Gilmore) used to tell of the Indians lurking in the edges of the farm, watching with curiosity. Lien's was renting cabins to fishermen before WWII. I have seen photos with cars vintige 1930s parked next to the cabins. The early ones were log (one still exists and can be seen in the photo posted by my brother. It is behind and left of the white cabin on the right. Its screen porch was almost as big as the cabin!). The photo also shows the store on the left by the lake with the round parapet on top.
In it's post WWII heyday, it was run by Iver Lien and his two sisters, now all passed. It is owned by their heirs. The store is closed and it appears they don't rent the cabins anymore (except possibly to a very few long term customers). The buildings and harbor are still there and still well cared for. Like all resorts of the time, the first cabins were log (one still exists and can be seen in the posted photo behind and to the left of the white cabin. This one had a screen porch almost as large as the cabin. Further to the left and closer to the lake is the store/office.
Unlike other resorts of the time, Lien's charged extra for a boat while other resorts included one with the cabin fee. My earliest memories included the fact they had "wood core" boats. These were made between wood boats and metal boats and were wood boats covered in fiberglass. Motors at Lien's like at all resorts were an extra charge.
Lien's cabins were small, but clean and well kept. The newer ones had wide, flat redwood siding instead of the more popular half log siding and were all painted white. At some point, like most resorts in the 50s and 60s, a harbor was added. Also like most resorts they offered bait, guides and gas. Unlike most others they had a well stocked store ( the other in the area at the time was the Carlson (later Sunset View Resort) store and post office at the top of the hill. At one time, this was important as poor roads and old cars of the past, made trips to town impractical.
While the store is closed and I don't think you can rent a cabin anymore, the buildings and harbor are still there and kept in good repair. It is a fun place to visit the past.
On my annual trip up to Leech Lake, I found out that Lein's Resort is now for sale. Although they haven't rented cabins at Lein's for quite some time, it is still a sad day. I would find it highly unlikely that Lein's Resort will be run as a resort in the future. Another of the disappearing resorts on Leech Lake. I also saw that Sugar Point Resort and PIne Point Resort are both for sale. I hope that they get bought by someone that is interested in running them as a resort.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your post. I very much enjoyed it and added my own comments. Most years, since I returned to fishing at Leech, I've fished alone, which is very OK for me. If I go again this fall and you'd like to join me, that might work fine. I'm looking at, roughly, Oct. 2 to 9. Afterwards, I'll help my sister drive from Minneapolis to Mesa, AZ. She's a "snowbird." Three of her four kids still live in the Mpls. area.
DeleteMy parent's and I started fishing Leech in about 1949 when I was about 15. On the recommendation of a friend of my Mother's, we stayed at Safe Harbor Resort, owned my Joe and Margaret Slavik - fine people. We loved it. No running water or inside toilets in those days. We went there almost every year until my Father could no longer handle the rough water the weather sometimes created. I had a hiatus of 20 or 25 years, returning to Chippewa Lodge (which had purchased Safe Harbor when the Slaviks retired to Grand Rapids) in 1991. I've been back quite a few times since then, but not every year. I like to fish Leech in the fall after the Walleyes are, hopefully, biting better - usually including Oct. 1st. I'm hoping to fish Leech, again, this fall. In the earlier days, we used to use the Brevik Post Office and do some grocery shopping at Lien's store.
ReplyDeleteOne year in the early '90s, I stopped by Lien's Resort and talked with a very elderly gentleman, I assume to have been Iver. He expressed frustration that the younger generations of his family weren't interested in keeping the resort open.
I have a cousin living in Cohasset, outside of Grand Rapids, so, most years, I took a day to visit my cousin and the Slaviks. My last visit with them was shortly before they passed away - both from cancer - about 3 months apart.
Lien's has been sold. It now is a private compound. It has been remodeled and looks great! I'm very glad that the old cabins were put to use. It still looks pretty much like it did before.
ReplyDeleteFor those of you that are familiar with Lien's Resort, the cabin that sat right by the lake empty for years has been remodeled and made into a common area it looks like.
I am very happy that the cabins are still there!