Como Lake is a lake up to deep in

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

, United States. It, along with the neighboring Como Park, has been a recreation area for residents of the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

for more than a

century A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. ...

. It was named in 1848 by local farmer Charles Perry. A pavilion sits on the west side of the lake, and plays host to theatrical performances and concerts during the warmer months. The park features a variety of attractions, including the

Como Park Zoo and Conservatory The Como Park Zoo and Marjorie McNeely Conservatory (or just Como Zoo and Conservatory) are located in Como Park at 1225 Estabrook Drive, Saint Paul, Minnesota. The park, zoo and conservatory are owned by the City of Saint Paul and are a divis ...

and the Como Regional Park Pool.

Environmental history

Como Lake was originally mostly a wetland with some open water but was expanded and deepened when the surrounding Como Park was developed. The lake is fed by storm sewer water run off. In the summer algae blooms were frequent and visitors complained about the smell of the lake. Attempts to improve the lake quality have been made which include replacing invasive plants with native plants, installation of other water filtration methods, application of herbicides, and

alum An alum () is a type of chemical compound, usually a hydrated double salt, double sulfate salt (chemistry), salt of aluminium with the general chemical formula, formula , such that is a valence (chemistry), monovalent cation such as potassium ...

treatments. These changes have reduced algae growth and improved the quality of the lake water as of 2022.

Human history

After James-Younger Gang member Charlie Pitts was killed in the chaotic aftermath of the disastrous September 7, 1876

Northfield, Minnesota Northfield is a city in Dakota County, Minnesota, Dakota and Rice County, Minnesota, Rice counties in the U.S. state, state of Minnesota. It is mostly in Rice County, with a small portion in Dakota County. The population was 20,790 at the 2020 U ...

raid, his body was boxed up and temporarily submerged in the lake by Dr. Henry Hoyt, a local physician who wanted the bleached skeleton as a display piece for his office. The skeleton was on display for unknown number of years at the Stage Coach Museum in

Shakopee, Minnesota Shakopee ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Scott County, Minnesota, United States. It is southwest of Minneapolis. Sited on the south bank bend of the Minnesota River, Shakopee and nearby suburbs comprise the southwest portion of Minneap ...

. In 1981 the remains were donated to the Northfield Historical Society. Currently the skeleton is housed in the Physical Anthropology Lab at

Minnesota State University Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU, MSU, or Minnesota State) is a public university in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. It is Minnesota's second-largest university and has over 145,000 living alumni worldwide. Founded in 1868, it is t ...

Mankato Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth, Nicollet, and Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The population was 44,488 at the 2020 census, making it the 21st-largest city in Mi ...

awaiting analysis.

Fish

The lake contains

black bullhead The black bullhead or black bullhead catfish (''Ameiurus melas'') is a species of Ameiurus, bullhead catfish. Like other bullhead catfish, it has the ability to thrive in waters that are low in oxygen, brackish, turbid, and/or very warm. It also ...

black crappie The black crappie (''Pomoxis nigromaculatus'') is a freshwater fish in the sunfish family ( Centrarchidae). It is endemic to North America, one of the two types of crappies. It is very similar to the white crappie (''P. annularis'') in size, s ...

bluegill The bluegill (''Lepomis macrochirus''), sometimes referred to as "bream", "brim", "sunny", or, in Texas, "copper nose", is a species of North American freshwater fish, native to and commonly found in streams, rivers, lakes, ponds and wetlands ea ...

golden shiner The golden shiner (''Notemigonus crysoleucas'') is a species of freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Leuciscidae. This fish occurs in Eastern North America. It is the sole member of its genus. Commonly used as a bait fish, it is pr ...

green sunfish The green sunfish (''Lepomis cyanellus'') is a species of aggressive freshwater fish in the sunfish family ( Centrarchidae) of order Centrarchiformes. The green sunfish does not always grow large enough to be an appealing target for anglers, ...

, hybrid sunfish,

northern pike The northern pike (''Esox lucius'') is a species of carnivorous fish of the genus ''Esox'' (pikes). They are commonly found in brackish water, moderately salty and fresh waters of the Northern Hemisphere (''i.e.'' holarctic in distribution). T ...

pumpkinseed The pumpkinseed (''Lepomis gibbosus''), also referred to as sun perch, pond perch, common sunfish, punkie, sunfish, sunny, and kivver, is a small to medium–sized freshwater fish of the genus ''Lepomis'' (true sunfishes), from the sunfish fami ...

walleye The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', Synonym (taxonomy), synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the walleyed pike, yellow pike, yellow pikeperch or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern ...

white sucker The white sucker (''Catostomus commersonii'') is a species of freshwater cypriniform fish inhabiting the upper Midwest and Northeast in North America, but it is also found as far south as Georgia and as far west as New Mexico. The fish is common ...

yellow bullhead The yellow bullhead (''Ameiurus natalis'') is a species of bullhead catfish, a ray-finned fish that lacks scales. Description The yellow bullhead is a medium-sized member of the catfish family. It is typically yellow-olive to slate black on the ...

, and

yellow perch The yellow perch (''Perca flavescens''), commonly referred to as perch, striped perch, American perch or preacher is a freshwater perciform fish native to much of North America. The yellow perch was described in 1814 by Samuel Latham Mitchill fr ...

. Some fish consumption guideline restrictions have been placed on the lake's bluegill, bullhead, crappie, largemouth bass, northern pike, and walleye due to mercury and/or

PFOS Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) (conjugate base perfluorooctanesulfonate) is a chemical compound having an eight-carbon fluorocarbon chain and a sulfonic acid functional group, and thus it is a perfluorosulfonic acid and a perfluoroalkyl su ...

contamination.

References

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Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...

Geography of Saint Paul, Minnesota Lakes of Ramsey County, Minnesota Tourist attractions in Saint Paul, Minnesota