[3] Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the area had long been inhabited by Native American groups.

At the time of European contact, the principal Native American groups in the region were the Dakota (Sioux) and Ojibwe (also called Anishinabe or Chippewa).

The economy of these groups was based on hunting, fishing and gathering, with wild rice being of particular importance.

A spur of the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad was extended to the Lake Superior shore, and a settlement quickly sprang up at the terminus.

[5] Commercial fishing on Lake Superior became important during the late 1880s, spurred by the arrival of Swedish and Norwegian immigrants to the North Shore.

Ten years later, five Two Harbors businessmen signed the articles of incorporation for a new mining company named 3M.

Today, 3M Corporation has over 70,000 employees worldwide and produces more than 50,000 adhesive household products, now has its headquarters in Saint Paul.

In 1944, one of the first HMOs in the United States was created in Lake County to serve railroad employees.

However, the Canadian border is inaccessible from Lake County due to the heavily wooded terrain of the Superior National Forest and rugged terrain in the northern part of the county.

Its terrain consists of rolling mountains and hills, heavily wooded, and dotted with lakes and ponds; which makes any border crossing to Canada from the county impossible, but the Canadian border can be accessed through Grand Portage, International Falls or Baudette.

It was the top county for Socialist Party of America candidate Eugene V. Debs in 1908,[17] 1912,[18] and 1920.

[19] The last Republican to carry the county was Herbert Hoover in his failed run for re-election in 1932 against Franklin D. Roosevelt,[20] although in the 1932 election Socialist Norman Thomas received 19.32% of the county's vote, one of the highest percentages in the country.