Voters overwhelmingly approved a $360,000 (equivalent to $8,561,455 in 2023) bond issue in a special election held in January, 1916.

[3] The facility was designed by pioneering hydroelectric engineer Hugh Lincoln Cooper (1865–1937), a Minnesota native with strong ties to the city of Rochester, and was built from 1917 to 1919.

The Lake Zumbro Hydroelectric Generating Plant was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991 for its state-level significance in the theme of engineering.

[4] It was nominated as a representative work of Cooper—one of the nation's leading hydroelectric engineers in the early 20th century—and his only project in his home state of Minnesota.

The Wabasha County Sheriff's Office ascribed the incident to alcohol and darkness, charging the driver with boating while intoxicated.