LEISURE
An aerial photo from the Prior Lake Naturist Preservation Committee shows another Prior Lake, in Canada. (Submitted photo)
THE OTHER PRIOR LAKES BY HANNAH JONES
With its Lakefront Park, boat parades on the Fourth of July and Lakers football team, Prior Lake feels one-of-a-kind to its residents. But in a way, it’s not. There are other Prior Lakes scattered across the country, and one in Canada. Though the lakes share a name, their namesakes lived very different lives. The Prior Lake in Minnesota gets its name from Charles H. Prior, a railroad pioneer who lived in Minneapolis. U n f o r t u n a t e l y, P r i o r ’s grandson, Henry D. Rhame, couldn’t guess how Prior Lake
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took on Prior’s name. “I do not know who named your beautiful town Prior Lake. He [Prior] loved it, but it would appear a bit egotistical for a man to name something after himself. As I knew him, he was very reserved and perhaps even self-effacing... But perhaps he did name it because he grew to love it when the railroad was being constructed.” There’s only one written record of Prior visiting his namesake town. In May 1877, a diary entry mentions a “fishing party to Prior Lake” with several friends. According to “Prior Lake, Minnesota: a Brief History,”
Prior Lake was incorporated into a village in 1891, about 30 years before Prior died. The historical record says it’s unknown when the name “Prior Lake” came about. Prior Lake’s unintentional sister lakes extend across North America. Perhaps the most interesting, Prior Lake in View Royal, Canada, is home to the Prior Lake Naturist Preservation Committee, and also a clothing-optional beach. That Prior Lake gets its name from Edward Gawler Prior. Prior was born near Yorkshire, England and arrived in Victoria in 1873, four years before Charles Prior took a fishing excursion to
the Minnesota Prior Lake. In 1919 Prior was appointed the 11th lieutenant governor of British Columbia. He died in office a year later. Prior Lake was named for him in 1941. According to the Naturist Preservation Committee, the Canadian Prior Lake has been used by naturists as far back as anyone can remember. Naturism may be the furthest thing from a Fourth of July boat parade. But, though the two lakes differ in terms of specific usage, they are both b elove d co m m unit y h ub s . That’s something for which both Priors could take pride.