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f <br />I <br />I <br />I <br />with a major rural building boom and the growth of railway villages and rural trade <br />centers, including Long Lake, a railway village platted along the main line of the Great <br />Northern Railway (Upham 1969:222). The project area's close proximity to Minneapolis <br />favored the development of dairying, truck fanning, and orchards; by 1925, agricultural <br />output from western Hennepin County consisted chiefly of specialty crops (Bureau of the <br />Census 1925). <br />The project area remained essentially rural in character until after World War I, when the <br />automobile opened up western Hennepin County for suburban land uses. Non-farm, rural <br />development was concentrated in the small towns and along the trunk highway corridors. <br />Lakeshore residential development, which had commenced during the railroad era (see <br />Upham 1969:225-226), was also rapid between the 1920s and 1940s. The rapid influx of <br />commuters after World War II transformed the country-side into a mosaic of rural non­ <br />farm, suburban, industrial, and agricultural land uses (see United States Department of <br />Agriculture (USDA) 1937-57). The area around Long Lake was also an important focus <br />of recreational development, including parklands, conservancy open space areas, and <br />country club-type leisure centers (see Roberts 1988:106-111). <br />The pre-settlement vegetation of the Long Lake area was dominated by prairie grasses <br />and mesic hardwood forest; now, relatively few undisturbed natural communities remain <br />(see Marshner 1930; Trygg 1964:sheet 7; Winchell 1888). Historically, the tracts with <br />rolling, irregular topography were better suited to specialty crops and pasture land than <br />row crops. Only on undulating upland surfaces, where topsoil formed in glacial till <br />tended to be deep, well drained, and rich in organic material, was the traditional northern <br />Com Belt type farming system prevalent. Wetlands, ravines, and steep slopes were <br />generally not subjected to intensive farming. <br />A site files search was conducted at the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul. A <br />portion of the project area was suireyed in 1994 for a highway project (Mather and <br />Nunnally 1995). This sun ey resulted in the recording of one historic archeological site <br />within the proposed area of impact for the golf club (Olmanson 1995). <br />I <br />I <br />I. <br />L <br />L