During the Klondike Gold Rush the Yukon River system was heavily relied upon for transportation.

A network of steamboats were soon developed and they began ferrying passengers to the rapids at Canyon City just outside what is now Whitehorse.

During World War II, the Alaska Highway Project was routed along Marsh Lake, the military engineers were headquartered in Whitehorse.

During a nice summer day the daughters of one of the officers decided to explore the swampy area off the northwest end of Marsh Lake, during their hike they discovered a large shallow sandy and warm bay, with a huge crescent of clean sand beach.

During the late 1900s more people sought recreational land outside of Whitehorse, the government developed several subdivisions along Marsh Lake for cabin lots.