Acorn Hill Resort

 Acorn Hill Resort is one of those old resorts that are still running.  It is a beautiful resort on Trader's Bay on Pine Point.  

I had the pleasure of staying at Acorn Hill several years ago on one of our family vacations after my grandpa sold his cabin.  It was great then an has improved over the years.  I remember the cabins were very roomy and nicely kept.  The harbor was great and really had all of the amenities you could imagine.

It's website is https://www.acornhill.com/ It is owned by the Walters!  Check out their website for more information.  

It has a really nice lodge.  We have stopped there for bait and snacks!  Everyone was really nice.

I found this picture on a Mobile RVing site.  I'm going to have to dig through our pictures and find some from the year we stayed there.  We stayed in the cabin on the right when we were there.

If anyone out there wants to share some of theirs with me, send them along!  

I would love to hear your stories about Acorn Hill Resort.

From the Walker Chamber of Commerce map from the late 50's early 60's:

ACORN HILL RESORT - Pine Point.  7 all new strictly modern housekeeping cabins.  Safe Beach.  Playground.  Lodge and store.  Cement launching ramp.  Guides available.  Dona nd Dot Sherard.  Walker, Minn.  Tel. KI 7-1015

Horseshoe Bay Lodge

 Horseshoe Bay Lodge has been around for quite some time.  I'm not exactly sure how long they have been around, but it is on the very early Walker Chamber of Commerce maps from the 40's.  The original maps didn't have any information about the resorts themselves.  

Horseshoe Bay Lodge has been updated quite a bit and has cabins, condos, restaurant , and all the modern amenities you might imagine.  It is owned by Anderson Resorts now.   https://www.horseshoebayresort.com/

I have some old pictures from Horseshoe Bay.   It is always interesting to see how things used to be and how they have changed!

This one has been around for a long time.  I would love to hear your stories old and new!  

From the Walker Chamber of Commerce map from the late 50's early 60's:

HORSESHOE BAY LODGE - Ultra-Modern housekeeping cottages, lake frontage, lake level, screened porches, gas stoves, electric refrigeration, oil heat.  Modified American Plan.  Fish cleaning, stamping.  Excellent beach playground equipment.  Walker, Minn.  Tel. KI 7-1366.

Updates

I'm not an expert blogger, so I hope you get this notice.  I'm not sure if they notify the followers when I update a post.  

I am in the process of updating the resort information that was listed on a map from the late 50's or early 60's from the Walker of Commerce.  I have many other maps, and I will update all resorts that are listed on those maps with info about the resort an who owned them at that time.

Enjoy.  I hope you will post to my blog with your memories of your time at Leech Lake.

Pine Cone Resort

 Have you ever looked at people on an old postcard and wondered what ever became of them or who they were?  Just a random thought.

Pine Cone Resort was on Kabekona Bay of Leech Lake.  According to the old map, it was located at the first spot after you turned off of 371 and on to the road that ran along Kabekona Bay.  If you drive in there today, you can see a beautiful beach and a strip of land between the road and the beach where the cabins used to sit.  It was right to the east of Bayview Resort.  

These pictures are from the 50's I believe.  I have seen postcards from the late 50's for Pine Cone Resort.

From one of the Chamber of Commerce maps from the 50's or early 60's judging by the cars in the picture on the Chamber map.  I wish they had put the dates on those old maps.    

Pine Cone Resort - Kabekona Bay.  Modern housekeeping cabins.  Excellent beach, boat launching, harbor, spacious grounds, boats, store.  Mr. and Mrs. Charles E. Tometie Jr. and Charles Tometie, Box 72 Walker.  Tel. KI 7-1474.

I don't know anything else about Pine Cone Resort.  I would love to find out more about it.  Let's hear your stories!   

Walker Bay Resort

 Walker Bay Resort goes back a long ways.   According to the maps, it was just north of Walker on 371.  It is a beautiful place on the lake.    

I have a couple of connections with Walker Bay Resort.  As a kid, we visited there because a friend of my dad KC Johnson operated his launch out of Walker Bay Resort and lived in a trailer house at the back of the resort property if my memory serves me correctly.  My Friend Roger Sasse used to stay at Walker Bay Resort until it closed.

Anderson's Cove bought some of the cabins from Walker Bay Resort in the mid to late 90's.  I'm not sure exactly when it closed, but it had to be in the mid 90's or near that time.

It is a beautiful picture and the grounds look fantastic.  I hope some of you out there will have some great stories to tell about your time at Walker Bay Resort.  I'll post any updates as I get them.

From the Walker Chamber of Commerce map from the late 50's early 60's

Modern family resort.  Beach, shady lawn, playground.  Harbor - cement ramp - individual docks - private lockers - deep freeze - guide service.  Jim and Nadine Livingston.  Walker, Minn.  Tel. KI 7-1567. 

Lake View Resort

A beautiful picture of Lake View Resort.

Renae Geving gave me the following information about Lake View Resort. 

Tom and Blanche Barker built Lake View Resort in 1938 and operated it along with his business, Barker's Jewelry & Gift Shop in Walker until 1941 when he sold the resort to Thomas Coleman in November.

Coleman sold to  Elos and Mary Ray in 1944.   

Fred and Gesina Turner bought the resort in 1953 and they sold to Paul and Gertrude Bantz in 1956.  

Fred Turner, Sr. returned to operate the resort in 1956 while he and his wife also operated the Sportsman's Grill in Walker at the location of the Outdoorsman Cafe. 

Paul Vantz and his son Bob became owners in the 1970s and they sold a portion of the resort to Walker Bay Resort. Harold Bruns, owner of Walker Bay resort moved half of the cabins to the Walker Bay resort in 1978. 

The postcard picture that is posted here was from this time when the Bantz's owned the resort.  I'm not sure if they sold it to Mr. Turner or if he just operated the resort.  

Anybody out there with some stories about Lake View Resort?   I'd love to find out more.

To anybody reading this post, Renae is writing a book about the old and new Leech Lake Resorts.  I can't wait for the book to come out and pour over it!  I believe that it will be out next year sometime.  

This resort wasn't listed on the Chamber of Commerce map that I'm looking at now. I will use some of the other maps that I have and list that information when I get it.

Paradise Point Resort

Here is another resort that was gone before we started spending much time on the west side of the Lake.  As I noted, we spent our time up at the lake on the west side near Brevik.  We didn't get on the lake at all on the west side, just got to Walker a couple of times while we were up there. 

These pictures are fantastic.  When I look at pictures like this, I wonder who the people were that were in the picture.  It looks like they had a launch at the resort as the boat on the right had the resort name on it.  Then the rental boats on the left and a guy in one of them.  All wood boats of course, I've driven a few of those wooden boats with a 5 1/2 horse motor on it!

I wonder what the stories about the resort and the people that are that are in the pictures.

I have been told that a lot of the pictures that were on these old post cards were just taken by the owners or someone that did it for them and they sent them in and had post cards made.

Paradise Point Resort was of course located on Paradise Point in Shingobee Bay.  There is nothing on Paradise Point now.  There is one white garage near the water to the north of the point.  It looks like it could have been a part of the resort.

I would love to hear anything that you might know about the resort.   The pictures look like the 50's I'm guessing.  I might be off, but that would be my best guess. 

Sigh.  What I wouldn't give to travel back in time and see all of these places.  I'm not sure when they tore it down, but I'm sure it was a sad day when the last owner closed the doors for the last time and they tore the cabins down.

Info from a Walker Chamber of Commerce from the late 50's early 60's

On sheltered waters of Shingobee Bay, leech Lake.  Modern, ultra-modern cabins.  Playground equipment equipment, swimming float.  A variety of fish.  Mervin K Johnson, Walker, Minn.  Tel. KI 7-1229.